George Poveromo | 45 Years in Saltwater Fishing, TV & the Seminar That Tied Alice Cooper | Ep. 1005
George Poveromo — host of "George Poveromo's World of Saltwater Fishing" (26 seasons), Saltwater Sportsman columnist since 1983, and founder of the longest-running fishing seminar series in the country (39 years) — joins Tom for a conversation about building a career in the fishing industry from the ground up. George shares the story of how buying a Mako instead of an Aqua Sport changed the trajectory of his entire life, the three-piece suit that landed him the Saltwater Sportsman gig, Mark Sosin's career advice that still holds up 40 years later, getting speared in the rear end by a sailfish, the shark population crisis in South Florida, and why AI-powered fishing forecasts are already here. ⏱️ TIMESTAMPS 0:00 - Introduction 1:30 - George's First Industry Job: The Miami Billfish Tournament 3:30 - First Story Sold to Outdoor Life for $300 4:10 - Joining Saltwater Sportsman in 1983 5:00 - Mark Sosin as Mentor 6:50 - The Embarrassing Boat Show Seminars That Started It All 7:55 - Launching George Poveromo's World of Saltwater Fishing (Year 26) 8:30 - The One Mako Trip That Changed Everything 10:55 - Pivotal Career Moments 12:30 - The Three-Piece Suit Interview at Saltwater Sportsman 15:40 - Mark Sosin's Advice: Never Take a Staff Position 17:00 - Building the Seminar Series Business Model 19:30 - How Technology Changed Seminar Attendance 22:00 - Peak Seminar Years and Tying Alice Cooper 24:00 - Stage Fright vs. Food Court Seminars 28:30 - COVID Pivot: Televised Seminar Series Hitting 1M+ Viewers 31:00 - 2026 Plans: TV This Year, 40th Anniversary Tour Next Year 33:45 - Studio vs. On-the-Water Production 35:00 - Finding Cameramen Who Don't Get Seasick 36:30 - The Sailfish That Speared George in the Rear 42:30 - Tom's Mutton Snapper Bacteria Scare 48:30 - FADs, Technology, and Modern Offshore Fishing 51:15 - Electronics Evolution: From LORAN to Bathymetric Charts 52:30 - Generational Shifts in Fish Populations 56:50 - The Shark Population Crisis in South Florida 1:04:00 - Conservation, Access, and the SHARK Act 1:08:00 - AI in Fishing: Ross Fish and Ocean Forecasting with Simrad 1:11:00 - Can AI Replace Fishing TV Hosts? --- 🔥 DEALS AND DISCOUNTS ⭐ STAR BRITE - Title Sponsor of the Tom Rowland Podcast The best marine cleaning and maintenance products on the market. 👉 https://bit.ly/4o80cws 🔪 DANCO - Premium Fishing Tools 👉 https://bit.ly/tomrowlandpodcast2 💪 1ST PHORM - Premium Supplements 👉 https://bit.ly/4liX1Rz 🏔️ MTN OPS - Use code TOMFREESHIP 👉 https://bit.ly/40niijr 🎒 GORUCK - Use code VEST20 👉 https://bit.ly/3NsHVwj 🪢 FREE KNOT GUIDE 👉 https://bit.ly/3UnAeIP --- 🎧 LISTEN ON: 🎙️ Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/tom-rowland-podcast/id1317802830 🎙️ Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/0LMwExvuYKzGQOCbghndXh 🎙️ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@TomRowlandPodcast 🎙️ iHeartRadio: https://www.iheart.com/podcast/269-tom-rowland-podcast-136412962/ 👤 CONNECT WITH GEORGE: Instagram @georgepoveromo 👤 CONNECT WITH TOM: @tomrowlandoutdoors #TomRowlandPodcast #GeorgePoveromo #SaltwaterFishing #Fishing #FishingTV #Sharks #OffshoreFishing #SaltwaterSportsman #Conservation #OutdoorLifestyle
Michael Holland | M I N D B O D Y E N E R G Y | Ep. 1004
Mike Holland is the creator of the MINDBODY Energy Movement — a daily practice that blends movement, breathwork, and mindset into a simple system you can do anywhere, with zero equipment. In just 8 months, Mike went from posting on a personal account to building an audience of nearly 900,000 people, all around one mission: help people take control of their health and live life on their own terms. In this conversation, we talk about why movement is medicine, why breath is the bridge between mind and body, and how discipline compounds the same way money does — one small decision at a time. We also get into what Mike’s doing with ManyChat, why he wasn’t charging anyone while it was blowing up, and how he’s building an app to turn this into a real community. Some of the moments I found most meaningful in this conversation were: The simplest reframe that changes everything: you don’t have to do it — you get to do it. Why breathwork can unlock performance (and how it keeps you calm even when your heart rate is high). Movement + rhythm = clarity — the way your brain settles when your body gets in sync. “What you consume is what you become.” Not just food — information, people, and energy. The real goal isn’t followers. It’s a million people taking ownership of their health. 📘 Free Resources: 🎁 Saltwater Knot Guide → https://bit.ly/3UnAeIP 🎙️ Tom Rowland Podcast → https://bit.ly/3O4lgn0 📺 Subscribe for More Unfiltered Conversations → https://www.youtube.com/saltwaterexperience?sub_confirmation=1 📱 Follow the Show: Instagram → https://www.instagram.com/saltwater_experience/ TikTok → https://www.tiktok.com/@saltwaterexperience Facebook → https://www.facebook.com/tvswe #MindBodyEnergyMovement #Breathwork #Discipline #Mindset #MovementIsMedicine #TomRowlandPodcast #SaltwaterExperience
Mike Loughran | "Fish Like Mike" | Ep. 1003
Fish Like Mike — is a former PE teacher and varsity hockey coach from Buffalo, New York who built a massive audience by doing what he genuinely loves: getting outside, learning the woods, and telling the story like a buddy would. He started fishing in high school with a cheap kayak and a GoPro duct-taped to a hockey stick… and years later, he made the big call to step away from a “safe” career to go all-in on content, travel, and the freedom to fish on a Tuesday when nobody’s around. In this conversation, we get into the real stuff: the grind of teaching + coaching + building content on weekends, the moment he knew it was time to rip the band-aid off, why Instagram views don’t pay like people think, and why those “little creeks” in New York might be one of the most underrated fisheries in the country. Some of the moments I found most meaningful in this conversation were: How he built his entire audience with almost no “fancy” gear — just consistency, curiosity, and telling the truth on camera. The mindset shift from “posting videos” to “building a business” — and why reputation matters more than follower count. The possum video lesson: when your face is on camera and you teach like a friend, people stick around. Great Lakes tributaries that can give you a 5-pound smallmouth and a 30-inch “steelhead” in the same day. Leaving teaching wasn’t about money — it was about freedom, time, and not waiting until retirement to live the life. 📘 Free Resources: 🎁 Saltwater Knot Guide → https://bit.ly/3UnAeIP 🎙️ Tom Rowland Podcast → https://bit.ly/3O4lgn0 📺 Subscribe for More Unfiltered Conversations → https://www.youtube.com/saltwaterexperience?sub_confirmation=1 📱 Follow the Show: Instagram → https://www.instagram.com/saltwater_experience/ TikTok → https://www.tiktok.com/@saltwaterexperience Facebook → https://www.facebook.com/tvswe #FishLikeMike #Fishing #GreatLakesFishing #Steelhead #SmallmouthBass #TomRowlandPodcast
Aquaphobix: The Full Q&A! | Ep. 1002
As saltwater anglers, we've all dealt with the ugly reality of bottom paint. You spend six figures on a beautiful boat, only to have someone slap what looks like an "ugly wig" on the hull. Then you're paying divers constantly to scrape it clean, dealing with toxic chemicals leaching into our fishing waters, and repeating this expensive, environmentally damaging cycle every single year. But what if I told you there's a game-changing technology that could eliminate bottom paint forever while actually protecting our marine environment? That's exactly what Dan Dillon from Aquaphobix has developed, and it's unlike anything I've seen in 30+ years of saltwater fishing. All of my other socials can be found here : https://linktr.ee/TomRowlandPodcast The Tom Rowland Podcast is presented by Star brite! Clean and protect with Star brite, a leading manufacturer of appearance, maintenance, and performance chemicals and accessories, serving the marine, RV, automotive, powersports, hardware, and home care industries for over 50 years. Headquartered in Fort Lauderdale, FL, and with its manufacturing plant in Montgomery, AL, the company produces "Made In The USA" products, including its flagship ethanol fuel treatment, Star Tron Enzyme Fuel Treatment. https://bit.ly/48tNW0y
Sam Root | Fishing Photographer and Social Media Star | Ep. 1001
Sam Root is a content creator in the fishing industry and a key part of the team at Pure Fishing — one of the biggest fishing companies on the planet. We go way back (forums, early DSLR days, the first years of Saltwater Experience), and in this conversation we get into what’s actually changed in fishing media… and what hasn’t. We talk about the death of gatekeeping, why attention spans are getting weird (3 seconds or 3 hours), why polished “commercial-looking” videos often underperform, how AI is already changing photo/video work, and the wild travel stories that remind you fishing is fishing — whether you’re in the Everglades or 30 hours from the nearest runway. Some of the moments I found most meaningful in this conversation were: The gatekeeping is gone — and that’s a blessing and a whole new kind of grind. High-end production can actually hurt performance because people can smell an ad in half a second. New product hype sells… until it doesn’t — credibility is what carries the long game. AI is powerful, but the “soulless” stuff gets blocked fast (and I’m with him on that). The Everglades might be the best “short trip” fishing on earth — but the sharks have changed the whole release game. 00:00 Introduction + “Apollo Beach Sam” 02:05 How we first met (forums, early show days) 06:10 Gatekeeping is dead — and what replaced it 10:35 3 seconds vs 3 hours (attention span whiplash) 14:10 How Sam ended up at Pure Fishing (and what he does) 18:15 What actually sells product now (and why “polished” can flop) 23:40 YouTube/shorts vs longform — and how channels get confused 28:55 Travel fishing: Indonesia, Seychelles, Amazon, Argentina 37:40 The “sketchy mothership” story (28 hours back in a storm) 41:30 Weirdest food: sea turtle eggs + coconut crabs 46:10 AI in fishing content (Nano Banana + photo fixes) 52:15 Sharks in the Everglades/Keys — what’s happening? 58:05 Rapid fire: best, worst, strangest, bucket list 01:02:10 Where to find Sam + closing 🔗 Visit Sam Root’s Website – [custom link] 🔗 Connect With Sam Root: Instagram → @scssam (search “Sam Root / ROOT”) 📘 Free Resources: 🎁 Saltwater Knot Guide → https://bit.ly/3UnAeIP 🎙️ Tom Rowland Podcast → https://bit.ly/3O4lgn0 📺 Subscribe for More Unfiltered Conversations → https://www.youtube.com/saltwaterexperience?sub_confirmation=1 📱 Follow the Show: Instagram → https://www.instagram.com/saltwater_experience/ TikTok → https://www.tiktok.com/@saltwaterexperience Facebook → https://www.facebook.com/tvswe #SamRoot #PureFishing #FishingContent #SocialMediaMarketing #SaltwaterExperience #EvergladesFishing #GT #FlyFishing #AIEditing