Tom Rowland Podcast Episode 89 is my conversation with FLW Tour pro Miles Burghoff, host of our show Sweetwater and one of my very first podcast guests. Miles is having a breakout year, having just made the FLW Tour, so we get into the competitive bass landscape between FLW, B.A.S.S., and the rising Major League Fishing. We also talk about his deep connection to Paradise, California, the town hit hardest by the devastating Camp Fire.
Listen now: Apple Podcasts · Spotify · YouTube · Press play in the player above to watch.
Miles Burghoff is a professional bass angler who made the FLW Tour and is the host of the television show Sweetwater. Born in Florida and raised largely in California, he has fished competitively across many regions of the country. He is known for his versatility, his work building sponsorships, and his connection to Paradise, California, the town devastated by the 2018 Camp Fire.
FLW and B.A.S.S. use a traditional five-fish-limit format, where your best five fish per day are weighed and totaled over three or four days. Major League Fishing introduced a format with no live weigh-ins, where every scorable bass over a pound is weighed on the boat by trained marshals and released, and the aggregate weight of all fish counts. The MLF format rewards catching more fish, not just five big ones.
Miles did really well in his first FLW Tour event at Sam Rayburn in Texas, despite having zero experience on that water. He explains that his lack of local knowledge actually worked in his favor, because many veterans tried to force the lake to fish the way they expected and missed the boat, while he broke it down fresh with eight feet of high water changing everything.
Miles grew up in Paradise, California, the town hit hardest by the 2018 Camp Fire. On November 8 his mother called to say the house he grew up in was on fire, and he soon realized from friends' posts that it was a massive wildfire moving at a rate of about 80 football fields per minute. He shares the personal toll and the stories from that day.
Miles says one of the most important things in competition, business, or life is knowing your strengths and weaknesses. He tripled down on his strengths, like shallow-water power fishing, while still working on weaknesses on his off time. He warns that momentum stalls when you try to do too many things, and that learning to trust your gut matters as much as absorbing information.
Tom Rowland Podcast Episode 89 with Miles Burghoff is available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and YouTube. The video version is embedded at the top of this page.
Miles was one of my very first guests, and we produce Sweetwater together, so getting him back to mark a breakout year was easy to say yes to. He had just made the FLW Tour, which is a huge financial and personal leap, and the bass world was in the middle of a real shake-up with Major League Fishing pulling big names. I am a fan but an outsider in bass fishing, so I wanted Miles to explain the landscape. I also knew he had a deep connection to the California fires, and that part of the conversation hit hard.
Press play in the YouTube player above to hear it.
Miles made the FLW Tour and then did well at Sam Rayburn with zero experience on the lake. He explains why his ignorance of the fishery actually helped, while veterans beat a dead horse on patterns that no longer applied with eight feet of high water. It is a lesson about weakness becoming strength. Hear how he broke it down.
We get into the three competing tours and why so many big names jumped to Major League Fishing. Miles lays out the format differences, the no-entry-fee model, and his honest read that the draw is more about outside deliverables and exposure than the format itself. Listen to that breakdown.
The FLW Tour costs 35,000 dollars for seven tournaments, and Miles took a huge leap of faith to get there. He talks about doubling his sponsorship by learning what companies actually need, keeping overhead low, and how forward progress changed his mindset and confidence. Worth hearing in full.
Miles grew up in Paradise, California, and walks through the morning of November 8 when his mom called about the house and he realized the scale of the Camp Fire, moving at 80 football fields a minute. It is the most personal part of the episode. Press play in the player above to hear it.
Listen to the full conversation: Apple Podcasts · Spotify · or watch in the YouTube player above.
What stuck with me about Miles is how clearly he sees his own game. He made the jump to the Tour by knowing exactly what he is good at, doubling down on it, and refusing to chase everything at once.
And underneath the career milestone is a guy whose hometown burned, talking honestly about what that meant. Listen to the whole thing.
Press play in the player above, or grab Episode 89 on Apple Podcasts or Spotify.
Miles Burghoff · FLW Tour · B.A.S.S. · Major League Fishing (MLF) · Sweetwater · Sam Rayburn, Texas · Lake Chickamauga · Paradise, California · Camp Fire · Tom Rowland (host)
The Tom Rowland Podcast brings you long-form conversations with the most accomplished anglers, hunters, conservationists, and outdoor professionals in the game. Listen to every full-length Tom Rowland Podcast interview.
Miles Burghoff is a professional bass angler who earned a spot on the FLW Tour and hosts the television show Sweetwater. Born in Florida and raised largely in California, he has competed across many regions and is known for his versatility and his skill at building sponsorships around an angler's strengths. He grew up in Paradise, California, the town devastated by the 2018 Camp Fire, and speaks candidly about both his competitive career and that personal connection.
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