Tom Rowland Podcast — Episode 1015: Tfue (Turner Tenney)

In this episode: walking away from the number one spot in Fortnite, daytime swordfishing 120 miles out, the Seafue channel, and retiring at 28 — in the exact words spoken.

00:00 · Cold Open

Tfue: I'm Tfue and this is the Tom Rowland Podcast.

Tom Rowland: Right on. Right on. Turner, man, how you doing, man?

Tfue: Good dude, you know. Living the dream.

01:05 · Living the Dream: Why He Walked Away From Fortnite

Tom Rowland: I guess so. I guess so. I've been following some of your new videos, really like the fishing content that you're putting out.

Tfue: Yeah, I've been I've been trying, you know. kinda like a side gig, you know, hobby turned to more like taking it more serious now, so but it's been fun.

Tom Rowland: Yeah. Well, I looked into your story as much as I could in the in the time when we set this up and I want to thank Ariel for for hooking us up. but it looks like in twenty twenty three, like in twenty eighteen, twenty nineteen, you were the number one Fortnite player in the in the world. You were like the most popular streamer there is.

Tom Rowland: And you decided that you were gonna walk away from that at in twenty twenty three.

Tfue: Yeah. Sure. Yeah, that's just pretty accurate.

Tom Rowland: Okay. So that's eleven million Twitch followers, eleven million YouTube subscribers, one point seven billion views, and you just decide I'm gonna do something else.

Tfue: Yeah, I mean I kinda I grinded for so long and you know y you do anything for too long, you get bored, you know. I was just tired of of not really streaming necessarily, but like the games I was playing, you know?

Tom Rowland: Okay. So w but you're still interested in streaming now and the games?

Tfue: Yeah, no, I I still enjoy streaming. I just don't really have a game that I want to play right now. there was a game that was really popular called the Arc Raiders that came out. I probably wanna say like a little less than a year ago.

Tfue: That was really fun and I I started streaming again and actually was really enjoying it. And then, you know, my personality is like I get like fixated like super heavy on one thing. So like I got I decided to like pretty much dedicate my life and, you know, the past

Tom Rowland: Okay.

Tfue: You know, the first like probably six months the game came out and just playing every day and I got really good and people started watching me. But I was streaming like, you know, anywhere from like eight to like fifteen hours every day. And then, you know, you do that for a few months and it'll it'll burn you out really quick, you know? Especially since these games are designed for, you know, people that get off work and, you know, get a couple hours in after work and

Tom Rowland: I can imagine.

Tfue: s you know, slowly grind their way, you know, through the content, but it was I just end game way too fast, I guess.

Tom Rowland: Yeah, well I mean that's your that's your personality apparently because to become the number one f what does it take to become the number one Fortnite player in the world? I mean you have two hundred and fifty million people playing this game and you I mean the odds of that to me sound crazier than the Olympics. Like crazier than th just the the math on that is amazing.

Tfue: And Yeah. I think back back in the day when I was like, I guess one of the best, it was probably, you know, a lot easier then. I just got lucky 'cause I had such a such a unique background in that field that not a lot of people did and I was still young. But nowadays it's crazy, dude.

Tfue: nowadays you just like I don't even know if it's possible to pick up the game and become the best 'cause it's But the age gap to be the best nowadays is like eighteen because because the reflexes and genetics are so important. It's the what's one of the most like like I I think Fortnite probably has the highest skill gap, like skill ceiling out of any game ever, probably.

04:45 · The H1Z1 Background Behind a Number One Player

Tom Rowland: So this unique background that you had, what what enabled you to be so good so fast?

Tfue: before Fortnite, there was there was games pretty similar to it, but not a lot of people played them. Like H1Z1 and PUBG. Actually, I don't know if PUBG. Mainly H1Z1.

Tfue: That's what I was playing at least. Which is like another battle royale game. And not that many people played it, but I played it professionally and For a few years, so by the time Fortnite came out, I was already kind of familiar with the genre of game where a lot of people today, like when they're talking about, you know, I used to play Fortnite, like none of really played that genre of game before. So I just got lucky with like already kind of playing battle royales.

Tfue: And I was young, so it was like I was just kind of destined for success, I guess.

Tom Rowland: Mm-hmm. And so like at home it was a battle for us with my kids. too much video games, but you're showing this incredible well, obviously incredible money making skill and incredible business creating skill. And how did your parents kind of deal with the with the amount of time that you're playing video games?

Tfue: Hmm. I think I mean people used to fuck with me when I was like younger about like yo get off let's go outside but I think when I was like 16 years old they started making money playing like games so it was like kind of early enough to where like they were like you know whatever like let's see let's see what he does, you know. But my brother had already been making money off YouTube.

Tom Rowland: Mm-hmm. Hmm.

Tfue: videos and the internet 'cause we started our first YouTube channel in like two thousand I think seven or eight. And he had already been making money on YouTube before I started making money on streaming and video games. So it's kinda like already like, well he's already doing it, you know, like maybe this, you know, maybe this will turn into something financial in the future. Yeah.

Tfue: Yeah.

Tom Rowland: It did, right? I'd say so. I mean it seemed like it worked out pretty well for you. and so where does fishing fit into this?

07:08 · Indian Rocks Beach, Skimboarding, and the First Boat

Tfue: to be honest, I actually didn't really like fishing that much growing up. I prefer to like skimboard, surf, play video games. And I grew up on the beach and all you know, all my friends fished and stuff. I didn't really like fishing that much.

Tfue: Probably because I was just wasn't that good at it. I didn't I didn't like I didn't really fall in love into fishing until I like had a boat. Could afford a boat and like go around and like do that whole thing.

Tom Rowland: Mm-hmm.

Tfue: But once I got a boat, I kinda you know, probably back in like twenty I wanna say like twenty eighteen or something. No. Maybe it was later. Maybe it was like twenty twenty.

Tom Rowland: You got your first boat? What was your first boat?

Tfue: date it's a f it's a it was a twenty two Simmons flats boat. Yeah.

Tom Rowland: Really? Okay. That's a fast boat, isn't it?

Tfue: Yeah, that boat was crazy. It was it was pretty fast. Yeah. Yeah.

Tfue: that boat was like a j basically it was like a giant racing paddle board. That's what I used to call it. Cause you literally get on plane in like a millisecond. And that thing's crazy.

Tfue: Yeah.

Tom Rowland: I mean that's like a that's like a built off a race boat hull, if I'm not mistaken. Yeah. And so you started like inshore fishing or just kind of started out like were

Tfue: Yeah, just inshore. I started fish kinda fishing off my dock actually. No, before I got a boat.

Tom Rowland: Mm. And is your brother a fisherman?

Tfue: Catching redfish. not really. He does a little bit.

Tom Rowland: Okay. So you get you get into this this boat and and you start to develop a an appreciation for fishing or or you're having more fun with it 'cause you got freedom, you're you're in a boat. It's pretty awesome.

Tfue: Yeah. I think I think my my love for fishing and boats go kinda hand in hand, for sure. Like I just like to be on the water. Even if I'm not fishing, I love to be on a boat.

Tom Rowland: Mm-hmm. Right. I mean who of course. Like and and so your backyard, where where'd you grow up?

Tfue: Yeah, you know, yeah, of course. a place called Indian Rocks Beach.

Tom Rowland: Okay, and Indian Rocks Beach, you got redfish snook, I think, there. So redfish and snook i and trout probably.

Tfue: yeah. Yep. Yeah. Trout, a lot of tarpon, yeah.

Tfue: I mean we have we have a very kinda diverse and good inshore fishery, but it's also very populated. There's a lot of fishermen out here. But I mean, overall pretty good pretty good inshore.

Tom Rowland: Mm-hmm. Okay. And so what's the what's the the stair step of of boats look like? You have this you have this Simmons and then when did you decide you think you might want a bigger boat or a different boat?

Tfue: Mm-hmm. Yeah. Dude. I don't know.

Tfue: My girlfriend almost killed a girl on the boat and I was like, this thing's way too fast. I was like, yeah, like I'm gonna hop on my jet ski and you can, you know, cruise this boat home and she hit awake and just like jammed the throttle down and this girl busts her knee open. I'm like, this boat is fucking dangerous, dude. Like these boats are these are fast.

Tfue: I mean like I I feel good driving them, but like I if I have like a girlfriend and other people on this thing, I'm like, dude, this thing's dangerous. Like

Tom Rowland: man.

Tfue: And on top of that, you know, this this thing is literally water level. So if you try to take it off the beach, you know, or do anything if there's any little bit of swell, you know. It's all it is just for the flats, you know. And I I I got more into like tarpon fishing on the beach and more beach fishing as time went on, where in the beginning I was just, you know, red fishing and snook fishing and drought fishing, stuff like that.

Tom Rowland: Mm-hmm. Right. Yeah. Right.

Tom Rowland: So where does the tarpon fishing lead you as far as like did you get another boat? You step up to a

Tfue: Yeah, I think I think I've had a lot of bows. I wanna say I sold that and bought a twenty six Costa. which Yeah, I bought that from a buddy because you know it's you know, a little cat, higher gunnels, a little bit better for, you know, more versatile. And that's when I started, you know, kinda dabbling, going offshore and stuff like that.

Tfue: I remember one time I was coming in and it was like four foot in that boat, and we ripped the teetop, cleaned off the boat.

Tom Rowland: Boy.

Tfue: And we're and we're like hold like strapping, like holding this T top onto the boat to try to keep the electronics plugged in. And every single time we're hitting a bump, this thing just wants to just fly off. That was pretty crazy. Short shortly after that, I think I sold it.

Tom Rowland: When did you start when did you start going to the Bahamas?

Tfue: that's a good question. I think the first time I went was like maybe like twenty nineteen, probably. I didn't grow I didn't really grow up going there. I n obviously never been on a cruise.

Tfue: I wish I grew up in East Coast that you those young kids are always just bouncing over there. I'm like, dude, you're so lucky. Yeah. dude.

Tfue: It's so nice.

Tom Rowland: Yeah, that's pretty sweet. Like like out of Jupiter, you just like go straight out and yeah, it really is is super nice. but you're fishing offshore in the Gulf? Most most of your fishing now is in the Gulf?

Tom Rowland: Yeah. And what what is I mean, I see you doing a lot of sword fishing. do you have something that you really like? Is that what you is that what

Tfue: Yeah. Yeah, for sure. Tons of swording, yeah. Probably sword fish.

Tfue: Probably sword fishing, yeah. And sure wise I like snooking tarpon and then sword fishing, I just I just daytime mainly. Yeah, I just daytime sword. Yeah, yeah.

Tfue: I've done it a bunch at night.

12:47 · Daytime Swordfishing, 120 Miles Out

Tom Rowland: You do that at night or just in the day? Just daytime. Yeah. Have you done it at night?

Tom Rowland: It's crazy, isn't it? Like being out there in the middle of the ocean. I've only done it a couple of times, but I mean the stars are amazing. You have this if you're successful you pull this sea monster up from the bottom of the of the ocean.

Tom Rowland: It's wild. I I've I've liked that, but I like the daytime better because I'm I go to bed early.

Tfue: Yeah. yeah. No light pollution. Huh.

Tfue: Mm-hmm. Yeah, no, for sure. The night timing, like my favorite thing about nighttime sorties, you see so much cool stuff in the lights. Like if you got like you know, like underwater lights or whatever, you just see so much like crazy, like deep sea little critters and bugs and squid and Crabs and dude, I've seen that so much weird stuff in the light.

Tfue: But I'll just sit there like it, you know, it'll be like one, two in the morning, and we got our buoys out. And I'm just looking at all these little bugs in the light. It's crazy.

Tom Rowland: Yeah, there's stuff out there that you definitely do not see in the daytime. I mean, it's it's pretty wild at at night. So as far as like what fishing like where fishing lives in your life, like if you're gaming as much as you were, are you using it to like get out and and get away from the computer and when you're out there are you away from your phone too, or is it like a total break?

Tfue: Mm. Yeah. Dude, I don't know. I mean, I usually I'm not really I'm never I'm never really gaming and fishing, dude.

Tfue: I'm either one or the other. Like I said, I get like fixated on it. I've kind of just been fishing lately and I haven't been gaming it much at all. this is the first time I probably turned my computer on in like a month.

Tfue: Probably. Probably. That's a lot. Yeah.

Tfue: I tell I told my audience though, I'm like, dude.

Tom Rowland: Mm-hmm. A month? For you, that's a lot, man. I mean, like so

Tfue: I came back I I I'll come and go when it comes to streaming. I just I I just tell them straight up I'm like if I don't have like a a love and passion for a game, I'm just not gonna stream. So like don't expect me to stick around, you know? Like I I do it for the love of the game.

Tfue: I mean they're dude, they're like, yeah, like dude, I mean they watch, you know, they watch the fishing content too, and they're they're all supportive, you know.

15:04 · A Gaming Audience Discovers Fishing

Tom Rowland: What's the what's the response from from your audience? I mean you got a crazy Hm. You think you y are are some of the young kids showing an interest in fishing that might not have shown an interest before? Because you're I mean I I that's what I see is like you're you're opening this up to a whole different audience than has ever really seen seen it before.

Tom Rowland: Because like they're probably not watching a Saturday morning TV show. They're probably not watching YouTube videos on fishing unless you're on.

Tfue: for sure, yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.

Tfue: I mean I got I got a bunch of gamer buddies that are like, dude, don't even fish but I love like watching your fishing content. Like I don't even know what's going on. So I've been, you know I've been trying to be be more f informative and and and such on the videos, but there's you know

Tom Rowland: Well you're you're doing it in a way also the edit style and things that you're doing is is new and fresh in the fishing world. It's more like the gaming videos, I think. It's pretty cool.

Tfue: Yeah. We've it I mean like I said, I just started out as like, you know, making the channel a hobby. I kinda just had like a bunch of like I was just fishing a lot, so had a bunch of fishy videos and I was like, I don't wanna just spam on the main feed and then made that account. And it's been doing really well.

Tfue: My daughter said we're like the f one of the fastest growing or the fastest growing fishing channel or something. That's what he said.

Tom Rowland: I can imagine.

Tfue: But I don't know, I want to start taking it little bit more serious and actually, you know, not just post whatever fishing video that we film.

Tom Rowland: What what would taking it more serious look like to you?

Tfue: Just just catching more fish, better editing. You know?

Tom Rowland: Well, you seem to be catching some fish.

Tfue: Shit. A little bit here and there.

Tom Rowland: Yeah. so who who are you fishing with? You got v buddies that that are good, captains or or like are you learning a lot of this yourself?

17:01 · Learning to Sword and the Mongo Tournament

Tfue: Yeah. I would say the sword fishing I learned pretty much like just from other people and like YouTube and like whatever. Kind of or just like on my own, just like figuring it out. But like, I don't know, that's probably I'm probably better at sword fishing than any other fishing, unfortunately.

Tfue: Cause there's n you get I don't know. I just like

Tom Rowland: Why do you think that?

Tfue: I don't know.

Tom Rowland: H have you caught some big ones?

Tfue: No, but I've caught a lot. There's not that the big ones in the Gulf are kinda w it's kinda hard. I'm looking. I'm looking.

Tfue: Yeah, I mean the min the the closest sword guns 120 miles. which kinda stinks, but the the good the good thing about that is there's no one really that goes out there. You know?

Tom Rowland: Yeah. Are you going way out? Mm-hmm. Right.

Tom Rowland: That's a pretty healthy boat ride. You gotta you gotta have you gotta have a the right boat and the right setup and the right crew that wants to do that because it's not like you take somebody out there that just wants to kinda hang out for a little while. That's a serious trip.

Tfue: Yeah, it is, I know. Yeah. I know. I f I'm yeah, my buddies are like, take me fishing, take me fishing.

Tfue: I'm like, all right, well, you know, bring a cot. Yeah, it's a little it's can be a little intense for sure.

Tom Rowland: Yeah. And C sick. For some.

Tfue: Yeah. Some people yeah. My like my took my little brother like a hundred miles and he got really seasick. It felt terrible.

Tom Rowland: Mm. Yeah, because once you get out there. You're not turning around. I mean, anytime soon.

Tom Rowland: That stinks. And the so on these videos you're pulling in all your or or some of your gamer friends, looks like some of your surfing friends, you just take just that's your crew that you're taking fishing.

Tfue: Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, I fish with like I mean, offshore wise usually just fish with my buddy Alex, Applefield.

Tfue: He's he does like commercial stuff. they mainly just, you know, red snapper fish for a living, but me and him kinda, you know, got the sword itched together and been doing that whole thing. And then we're in the we're in the Mongo, so we're trying to catch a a monster out there, but it's it's tough 'cause there's so many littler ones. Yeah, it's a it's a golf tournament.

Tfue: It's

Tom Rowland: Mm-hmm. That's a tur Is that a tournament?

Tfue: Nothing primarily a Marlin tournament, there's like swordfish and tuna and mahi and wahoo caucus. And we just enter the Wahoo and the sword because we don't really care to go troll out there.

Tom Rowland: That was kind of a little bit of a surprise lately about the Red Snapper season. Just all of a sudden doesn't exist this year.

Tfue: Yeah, that's crazy. I don't know.

Tom Rowland: I didn't really see that coming.

Tfue: I haven't really read Sniperfish in a while, I'm gonna be honest. But people love I mean, people love going out there.

Tom Rowland: Yeah. and so what are you what are you preparing for? Like you got any trips that you're that you're looking forward to?

20:09 · Exumas, San Salvador, and Bahamas Plans

Tfue: Dude, don't know. My buddy wants to go out Thursday and Friday and go sword, but I didn't get that. But trips wise. I don't know.

Tfue: I want to plan a Bahamas trip with my girl, maybe some friends, and I kinda wanna just like go for like a non fishing kind of chill ride, go to Exumas, go island hop, just relax. So beautiful, yeah.

Tom Rowland: Exuma's nice. That's one of my favorite places. I like that. The Abacos e kind of easier to get to maybe, but man, there's so much good fishing over there.

Tom Rowland: It's amazing. And if you got your own boat to go f from island to island, that's man, you're not doing any better than that. Yeah.

Tfue: Yeah. Yeah. the dream, yeah. No, the exumas is my favorite.

Tfue: If you're just if you don't you know don't really care about fishing, just want to go chill. I've never really fished over there. so that'd be cool.

Tom Rowland: There's some pretty good fishing over there. There's some really good bone fishing. Yeah. You could actually take like a a bigger boat and wade, do do a lot of wading on these huge white sand flats off of Exuma.

Tom Rowland: You gotta be careful that the tide doesn't go out and leave you stranded. Which I think it has for a lot of people, but some really good bone fishing there.

Tfue: Yeah. Ha ha ha. I know. I need to go bone fish.

Tfue: I've only done it once and didn't catch one, but I saw some giants. San Salvador. Yeah. That's probably one of the better spots to fish in the Bahamas.

Tfue: For any for anything.

Tom Rowland: Where was that? Really? Wow. San Salvador.

Tom Rowland: I've never been there. I'm sure. They have a lot of Wahoo too, right?

Tfue: Yeah, big Wahoo, really good billfish, fishery up there as well. Tunas, obviously giant bone fish. I mean it's it's that island's got it all. It's got everything.

Tfue: Good deep drop. There's just nothing there, you know. But that that's my pro that's probably my favorite island.

Tom Rowland: Yeah. It does.

Tfue: I ha if I had to pick one.

Tom Rowland: Yeah. I'd like to go to the Bahamas for about a month. Like like you're talking about and just just go from place to place. I mean exactly the trip you just you just outlined, it's like that is that I don't know that you can get a lot better than that.

Tom Rowland: If you if you've got everything planned out, you know where your gas stops are and you know where you're you're gonna stay. That's it's pretty awesome. We had we had really good fishing off of Grand Bahama. we went there

Tfue: Me too. Yeah. Yellowfins? Yeah.

Tom Rowland: we yeah, there were yellow fins there. and a lot of like we had a couple of really windy days and we just stayed inshore and just kinda we did this trolling thing for groupers and snappers with these diving plugs. We would just stay I mean, we were right off the beach. It was right there.

Tom Rowland: And the wind was blowing so hard. But even when the wind was blowing that hard, you had an option where you could catch some quality fish right there.

Tfue: Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.

Tom Rowland: And those things when they slam one of those one of those deep diving plugs, man, they'll ri that is like no joke. That's awesome. well

Tfue: yeah. Yeah. Yeah, grouper hitting a plug is something else, huh?

Tom Rowland: Yeah. Do you you have some really good stuff near you, right? The the gag groupers and stuff? D you do that?

Tfue: For what? Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. A lot of gags. Yeah, big gags.

Tfue: yeah. all the time. You can catch you can catch gags here like in like, you know, frickin' five feet of water, you know? Like under a dock.

Tom Rowland: Yeah, that's a fun thing. Yeah. I mean, it's w we don't have in the keys as much, like under docks and stuff is like that, but I always found like the gag was the was the fish that if you get a really bad cold front, like a really bad one and everything else is like shut down, you could still catch those. And yeah, it was they they they were they were good like that.

Tom Rowland: To keep action, you know, on on days where nothing else was happening.

Tfue: Yeah. Probably For sure. Yeah, I was trying to frickin' catch him yesterday, but it was a little it was a little rough. Yeah, we were just like messing around in the skyway at night.

Tom Rowland: You were? Yesterday? Cool. That that Skyway bridge is a hell of a fishery.

Tom Rowland: That that thing has everything. I've only fished it. We used to fish that when you know, when we would do the the redfish tournaments, that was always if you were in that area, that was always like, Well, you could probably go to the bridge and catch you know, but we didn't know it like the locals do. So we always felt like, Man, are you gonna go right in there and try to compete with those people in their in their backyard?

Tom Rowland: It was

Tfue: D yeah, yeah. I mean, bro Yeah. Yeah. I mean, dude.

Tom Rowland: We we thought maybe it was better to find some other fish.

Tfue: Two Yeah, so that was there last night and of course it was Memorial Monday and obvious we were the only boat out there. But they Yeah, it was it was rough it was it was rough dude and it was late. But they closed the the South Pier, the South Fishing Pier. I don't know if you that.

Tfue: a little while back.

Tom Rowland: Really? On Memorial Monday? it was rough. I didn't know that.

Tfue: And dude, the north side of the pier last night looked like the craziest shit you've ever seen. Like there is just cars and lights, and there's so many people on that thing, dude. It is crazy. Like if you've never been to the Skyway fishing pier, dude, that is that's a sight to see.

Tfue: That is a zoo up there. But people do catch fish, man. They're catching tarpon, you know, gags, mangrove snapper, golias, even kingfish. All off that pier.

Tfue: So I mean, kudos to those guys.

Tom Rowland: But nobody goes out in the boat. I mean, but not last night. Right. Yeah.

Tfue: No, they do. They just some people, you know, not everyone can afford a boat, you know. Especially one that could, you know, be in that slop. We were in a you know, me and my buddy are in one of his boats, so

26:06 · Selling Boats and Settling on a 33 Conch

Tom Rowland: Did you just get a new boat?

Tfue: I well I just sold I I had a Gause. That was it was a great boat. Great little tarpon boat, you know. Got got skinny, you could, you know, flats fish on.

Tfue: It was a great boat, but I'm just I'm at a point now where, you know, you know, I've gotten better at, you know, boating and fishing and I don't really want to inshore as much. I wanna, you know I'm I'm mainly kind of just pass fishing, tarpon, beach fishing and like offshore fishing. I'm not really doing much red fishing.

Tom Rowland: Yeah.

Tfue: and snook fishing as much anymore. But I do love it, you know. I got buddies with flats boats they'll let me hop on, you know. So but yeah I sold my Gause and then I had a 43 furnace.

Tfue: I still have it. I'm about to sell it actually and kinda I I didn't really have room for it. It's a it's a big boat. I couldn't keep it on my lift.

Tfue: I keeping on my buddies lift. that's a great boat. I think it's a tank. but I was also gaming and streaming a lot again.

Tfue: I kinda like quit fishing for a little bit and was just strictly like I said, playing ten hours a day. So I was like, dude, I don't need this giant boat just depreciating, you know. So I'm like, I'm just gonna get my money out of it. Hopefully make a buck or two and then buy something kind of in the in the middle in the meantime.

Tfue: So I have a just a twenty two or not twenty two, a thirty three conch. Kind of in between. No, it's a great boat for sure.

Tom Rowland: It's nice boat.

Tfue: Versatile I can kinda get around, so

27:34 · All In or All Out: Retired at 28

Tom Rowland: Yeah. What what is it that in your personality where you'll be fishing a ton and then you'll make the switch back to video games or or vice versa? Like what what what is the trigger there that makes you do that?

Tfue: Just the game. Just the game. If I enjoy a game a lot, I'll stream it. Cause I I mean, I've already done my long contracts with, you know, Amazon and Twitch and made a a very fortunate amount of money, so I don't really necessarily need to do anything.

Tfue: So if I don't enjoy something, I don't really feel as if I need to do it, if that makes sense. So I'm just kinda

Tom Rowland: Mm-hmm.

Tfue: A young retired lad now, I guess. Part timer is what is what my chat calls me. Twenty eight. Yeah.

Tfue: Yeah.

Tom Rowland: Yeah. How old are you? You're twenty eight, retired. Wow.

Tom Rowland: That's incredible. But at at the same time it's like you feel like you could stay retired or you feel like you gotta get something going on. Like you you you seem like you're like when you get into something, you're all in. And if you don't if you don't have that, I wonder wh where where that leaves you.

Tfue: Yeah, we can tell. Yeah. Sh shit. I mean I d I don't feel I need to really stream ever again if I don't have to.

Tfue: I just do it for the love of the game, you know. I I have a a large passion for for gaming and fishing as well. And if I'm not, you know, if I don't have a passion for a game and I don't really feel I need to to to play anything, you know. Like I like I said, I told my chat.

Tom Rowland: Yeah.

Tfue: And honestly I didn't think I was really gonna, you know, be full into streaming again in that game that came out I really enjoyed. So you know, I picked it up and kinda went full nerd on it for a while.

Tom Rowland: Yeah.

Tfue: And and now I'm back on the water. It's summer, you know, the water's warm, the weather's nice. So now

Tom Rowland: So if you go out, you fish for thirty days in a row, are you gonna say, You know what, I'm gonna take a little break, get back on the game?

Tfue: Yeah, for sure. No, I probably wouldn't do either. Probably just sit on my couch. dude, thirty days is a lot.

Tom Rowland: Thirty days is a lot. That's when you're like especially if you're doing it for a living, it's it it's

Tfue: I mean gaming to wear you out, but being in the sun, fishing will wear you out probably little more, I'd say. Yeah, completely different.

Tom Rowland: a different if a it's a different fatigue I would imagine though. Like the the gaming like when you're doing that when you after you go for what you're saying six, eight hours at a time, are you just wiped out?

Tfue: Yeah, sometimes more yeah, it's pretty exhausting. just 'cause like you're you're trying to keep up with, you know, the chat and, you know, thousands of people talking all day and you're trying to trying to keep like, you know, them entertained because obviously, you know, there's you know, millions of people streaming, but like you gotta be entertaining. Or you gotta be funny. Or both.

Tfue: I mean if you if you can be both then then you're golden.

Tom Rowland: Did you have to work on that or did that just you just were one of those?

Tfue: I was I mean, some people think I'm funny. I mean who knows? I always just try to be good, you know. Because if I can just focus on being good, then you know, people just watch me for being you know, being good at a game instead of you know trying to have to be funny all the time, which is really difficult, you know.

Tfue: Twenty four seven Yeah.

Tom Rowland: Mm-hmm. Yeah. Yeah. I mean and then you're probably not good at the game.

Tom Rowland: Like if you're working really hard at being funny, then you're probably not paying attention to the game like you should. Yeah.

Tfue: Exactly. it's kinda hard to find a balance for sure. Being being funny, you know, on stream every day is t that's tough. I I give, you know, kudos to those guys that are just terrible, but, you know, are just massive because they're just such a good personality, you know?

Tfue: Like these guys like like Kai Cenat or Speed or Jynxzi, like these guys, they're not like super gamers. I mean Jynxzi is a little bit of a, you know, super gamer, but

Tom Rowland: Well, it's like a different level of entertainment.

Tfue: Some of these other guys, you know, they can't play video games for shit, but they're just amazing entertainers, you know.

Tom Rowland: Well, that's I mean it's you gotta have one or the other and they got the audience I would imagine. So people are tuning in to watch what what they're doing. so where do you think that the the fishing videos are gonna take you?

Tfue: Yeah. yeah. Crazy. I don't know, it's good question.

Tfue: I'm kind of just like just dabbling, yeah. I mean, I've been, you know, trying to, you know, get a little bit of sponsors here and there to try to, you know, save me some money on this expensive hobby that we love so much, you know. Take the load off. But I don't know, I'm just gonna just going with the flow and seeing where I end up.

Tfue: I've been enjoying it, so you know, for me that's all that matters.

Tom Rowland: Dabbling right now. Mm-hmm. Yeah. Yeah.

Tom Rowland: I mean, I would think so. Like it in your position you gotta do what you what you like to do. It seems like that's what's driving you is doing things that you like to do. I mean, rather than like you don't need a job anymore.

Tom Rowland: But I mean I don't know, d ha would you ever have you ever had a job?

Tfue: Yeah. Yeah. No. Yeah, little little side quests and you know little little side gigs, but nothing like

Tom Rowland: So the little side gigs, like like what did you do?

Tfue: like I when I was, you know, younger. I started well the I started making money gaming when I like sixteen, so it was hard to find like I I couldn't really get a real job that young, you know, like fifteen, sixteen. So I just, you know, do like you know, landscaping with, you know my buddies and then, you know, I used to teach kids how to skimboard because before

Tom Rowland: Mm-hmm.

Tfue: video games I used to, you know, skimboard professionally. So I'd teach, you know, instruct kids on how to do that and get paid a little bit and deliver paddle boards at the surf shop. Just little little beach gigs, but nothing crazy. I know I never really worked a real like you know, you never I never worked at like McDonalds or anything or Publix.

Tom Rowland: But even th even those jobs, I mean, is there a point is there a point at one of those jobs where you're like, I'm working pretty hard here, I'm making more money playing video games at night than I am here, I'm not coming back here again.

Tfue: No, I mean dude, yeah, I mean once I started making money playing video games, I was like, this is fucking cool. Like yeah, this is nice. but yeah, I don't know.

Tom Rowland: Yeah. Yeah. That's how I felt when I first started guiding was I would pay someone to do what I'm doing right now and I'm getting paid for it. Pretty sweet.

Tom Rowland: Like I just I I remember that feeling, like I can't even believe that they're paying me for this. This is amazing. And, you know, you do it for a hundred and seventy five days in a row, you feel a little different about it, but but that's how I felt too, is like just I can't believe I'm getting paid for this. But you're getting paid, like real getting paid.

Tfue: Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, of course.

Tfue: At the at the start not really that much, you know, it took it took years, but

Tom Rowland: for video games. I mean, and it's changed between w how much how much has it changed how much has it changed from when you started to today?

34:57 · How Streaming Money Exploded After COVID and Fortnite

Tfue: my god. A lot, dude. More than fishing could have changed in my lifetime, that's for sure. It's gotten crazy.

Tom Rowland: What are the biggest changes?

Tfue: Dude, I mean, like when I started streaming, there wasn't really that, you know, I think the you know, the biggest guys were pulling, you know, a you know, a couple thousand viewers on the platform. Now people are freaking hundreds of thousands some days, you know, on big events and it was really honestly Fortnite and COVID that kind of blew up streaming, but before then it was it was kinda like a niche, you know, area. But yeah, COVID and Fortnite Fortnite was such a mainstream popular game that it just kind of blew up Twitch and streaming as a whole. But back in the day, I mean you I wasn't really making shit though.

Tfue: when I was playing H1Z1 professionally, I think I was getting paid like a thousand bucks a month to be a professional esports athlete, which was like I mean, I was I think I was like eighteen, so I was like, Dope. Perfect, yeah.

Tom Rowland: Yeah. Sounds pretty good. And fast forward to today, if you were doing that in the same kind of situation today, what are those creators making?

Tfue: I could live off this. Dude, I don't know. Six figures probably. For the bigger ones.

Tfue: For sure. Yeah.

Tom Rowland: Jesus. That's wild. And so everybody's inside during COVID streaming, watching streaming, and then it just continues on from there and only gets bigger.

Tfue: Yeah. Yeah, I mean it was like for the industry it was like, you know, a gold mine. Everyone's stuck inside. Everyone's like, fuck.

Tfue: Can't go out and fish or go to the bars or whatever they may do. You know, everyone's just at at their house gaming and it just so happened that like one of the biggest games to ever, you know, grace our presence in the world is freaking Fortnite, and that's blew up right during that period. So it's just like a, you know, double whammy. Just straight rocket ship in the industry.

Tom Rowland: I mean, man, I did I have this right here. It says Fortnite is one of the most played games in human history, six hundred and fifty million registered players worldwide as of twenty twenty six, a hundred and ten to one hundred and twenty million monthly active users, thirty million daily active users, fourteen point three million concurrent players during one event in two thousand twenty four.

Tfue: That's probably true, yeah. That's crazy. Yeah, it's insane numbers.

Tom Rowland: Forty four million logged on in a single day in twenty twenty-three. Twenty-six to thirty-nine billion dollar in lifetime revenue since the launch in twenty seventeen. Sixty-two percent of the players are eighteen to twenty-four years old. And the Fortnite World Champ World Cup finals in twenty nineteen, that's where you were, had two point three three million concurrent viewers.

Tfue: Yeah. That's crazy. Yeah, that's insane. I mean think I mean think about it.

Tfue: I wonder I wonder what those stats look like versus like a Super Bowl. Like I I don't even know.

Tom Rowland: Yeah. I th I think bigger, like way bigger. Right?

Tfue: Yeah, that's crazy. I don't know, you have to look that up.

Tom Rowland: Huh, Jake, see if see how many people look at the Super Bowl.

Tfue: I

Tom Rowland: I mean and then

Tfue: mean,

Tom Rowland: then that's what I was saying like what I think is like just the craziest thing ever is that that you won like so tell me about the thing that you won, the world club. And and they have two point three three million people playing and somehow you rise to the top of this. Like how is that

Tfue: No, I I didn't actually win that. No, some my buddy No, my buddy Bugha won. I think he won I think I don't know, correct me if I'm wrong, but it's one of the biggest like sports, like prize pools to this day. I think he won like three something million dollars.

Tfue: Which is like more than like I think it's more than like like a big like tennis or like masters or like any like I don't know. Like that's just a sh

Tom Rowland: You didn't win it? Okay. Jeez. I mean, maybe in golf you could win that kind of money.

Tom Rowland: Maybe.

Tfue: Yeah, I think golf was like and like maybe tennis or something was like the only sports where you could even touch that number of of prize money, but

Tom Rowland: I watched this dude the yesterday, in the enhanced games. Do you know what that is? And the swimmer set the world record and if you set a world record in the enhanced games you get a million bucks. And that same guy set a mil set the world record last year when they announced the enhanced games, they let people give it a shot.

Tom Rowland: And he set the world record there, so he's two million in. but I was surprised there there weren't that many

Tfue: Yeah, yeah, I do. Yeah. Yeah.

Tom Rowland: world records. I think they only set one world record in in the enhanced games this year.

Tfue: Yeah. Yeah, I see see the problem with that is like if you're like on that level of like a you know, a god gifted athlete, whether you're a swimmer or a runner or whatever it is, I think you taking steroids and like you know, Xing out all like the mainstream, you know, whatever it is, like a l like 'cause you can't do steroids in the Olympics, obviously, you know. Some of these guys, their their goals are, you know, get an Olympic medal or whatever. I don't think That if you're like in your peak, you know, age, whatever it may be, and you know, you're this God gifted swimmer or runner or whatever it may be, like I I don't think that you're gonna take steroids and, you know, piss off all, you know, the other opportunities away.

Tfue: So I feel like are these are kinda like maybe not the best athletes doing it in terms. Yeah.

Tom Rowland: Well, I think that's kind of by design almost. Like the the it was interesting because there were natural athletes there and then there were enhanced athletes. And so they had natural athletes competing against enhanced athletes and they they claimed their status. And what was interesting I thought is that if you're gonna claim natural, you're gonna have to prove it.

Tom Rowland: So contrary to every other sport where they're trying to catch you

Tfue: Okay. Yeah. Okay. Yeah.

Tom Rowland: doing drugs. On this one, they're trying to say, if you're gonna claim natural, you have to prove it. So we're gonna test you to see if you're actually natural. But a lot of the the unenhanced athletes won.

Tom Rowland: Yeah.

Tfue: Mm-hmm. Really? That's because they're you know, they probably they're better and I mean, but if the the non-atrol athletes decide to hop on steroids again, I'm sure they would see a little bit of a bump. But I mean that's just just because you're taking, you know, PEDs or doesn't automatically make you, you know you know, we y it's you gotta have you gotta have God gifted genetics first.

Tfue: Yeah.

Tom Rowland: They're better. Well No, no, no. There's no amount bro, there's no amount of of performance enhancing substances that could make somebody that is yeah, no, there's no amount. There's no amount.

Tom Rowland: You're you're you're not going to get there no matter what you do. But if you take that guy and you put him on some stuff, is he going to be two seconds faster? Maybe. I don't know.

Tfue: That's gonna turn you into Michael Phelps, yeah. Like it's like definitely not. Yeah. Yeah.

Tfue: For sure, yeah.

Tom Rowland: And and so I don't know, that whole thing is like this this experiment. I mean that's how I see it, is it's just an experiment. Like they brought back the the the suit that they banned a long time ago where the it's like a rougher shark skin kind of suit and they let wear it one time in the Olympics, I think it was ten years ago, and everybody swam faster. And they're like, This is too much.

Tom Rowland: Like that's too much of an advantage. We're gonna ban this suit, we're not gonna allow this.

Tfue: Mm-hmm. Okay. Yeah. Mm-hmm.

Tom Rowland: And I think those records that they set have like a asterisk by that it was set in the suit. So in the enhanced games, they not only let do whatever they wanted to. Well, it wasn't actually whatever. They said it had to be an FDA approved substance prescribed by a doctor.

Tom Rowland: Okay. So there's some of those things that are and some of them that aren't. But there's a lot of performance enhancing things that aren't

Tfue: Yeah. Mm. Yeah. Yeah.

Tom Rowland: FDA approved. I mean

Tfue: For sure. I don't know I don't know what exactly they're approving. If it I mean, you could get a doctor can prescribe you some crazy some crazy PEDs, I'm sure.

Tom Rowland: Yeah, well I think I think we just witnessed it in the in the enhanced games. But the thing was is that they just yeah, but they didn't win. some of didn't win. Like they they didn't win.

Tom Rowland: I think Fred Curley was the hundred meter they had running, swimming, weightlifting, maybe a couple of other events. But I saw the running and the swimming and Fred Curley, like he's like a a legit runner, like

Tfue: Yeah. I mean just testosterone alone, right? It's just crazy. Yeah.

Tfue: Mm-hmm.

Tom Rowland: really like Olympic world world you know, world champion kind of guy. And he ran unenhanced and did not break the world record. But when he went when you win the race you we won two hundred fifty thousand dollars. And then if you w set a world record it was another million.

Tom Rowland: They have a lot of billionaires funding that thing I think. But it it was it was wild. Well, yeah, I don't know if it's gonna take hold.

Tfue: Yeah. Yeah, it looks like it. It's definitely an intriguing idea, for sure.

Tom Rowland: When the people were doing their when they were doing their interviews, it was everyone was very guarded in the interviews. Like they were they seemed coached in the interview, like you're you this is what you have to say. And they were very careful in what they said and especially the unenhanced ones. They were like, I'm not on any protocols, I'm not doing anything, I'm just here to because I think it's gonna grow the sport.

Tfue: Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.

Tom Rowland: I mean and I'd like to win a million bucks.

Tfue: Ha ha. I dude, I it's kind of a flex if you go in there unenhanced and go beat some enhanced guys, right? yeah.

Tom Rowland: I would say so. Like the most the most flex. Like but, you know, I think everybody else, if they set a world record, I think that the people that weren't there would be like, Yeah, but they didn't test. Like you know, how do you you could have been on some stuff.

Tom Rowland: I don't know. There's always that. There's always that. Is there enhancement in video gaming?

Tom Rowland: I would imagine, like Adderall and

Tfue: Yeah. Yeah, a lot of people take Adderall. I never did. I mean the craziest thing I'd done was buy caffeine, so I mean

Tom Rowland: mean you gotta you I mean you're playing for eight hours. I would think caffeine would be helpful.

Tfue: Yeah. For sure. That's what that's like what the main thing that people do. people do take Adderall as well.

Tfue: That's been a big thing, especially in esports. A lot of people take Adderall. to me, like, it just makes me kinda anxious, so I don't really like it. But some people, you know, it does help for sure.

Tom Rowland: Mm-hmm. That's a wild that's a wild world, the the gaming. I just I'm just can't believe the math. I I can't get over it that that you could have that many people and that a few people could consistently be at the top.

Tom Rowland: I guess it's like anything else, right? Like there's skills involved. Like what are what are the what would you say are the skills like you mentioned reflexes and and other things earlier that you that you had acquired.

Tfue: Yeah.

46:46 · Genetics, Reflexes, and the Golden Age of Gaming

Tom Rowland: And you were already good at. What are the most important things for gaming?

Tfue: Yeah. I mean I mean the most important things generally speaking, I mean obviously depends on the game you're playing, right? Because like there's people that play you know competitive chess, right? Where like you don't need to be, you know, a genetic freak.

Tfue: You just need to have, you know, you should be smart and have a good mindset, right? But overall, I I would say genetics are probably the most important

Tom Rowland: Mm-hmm.

Tfue: genetics and then, you know, mindset, age is really important depending on the game you're playing. like Fortnite that

Tom Rowland: Age is important wait, age is important because you lose some things or

Tfue: Yeah, you I mean you're like I would say you like genetically and like reflex wise you probably peak around like 18, maybe younger, maybe 16, like mechanically. and then I would say you probably start losing like reflexes around like 21 maybe But I mean, don't get me wrong, some of the, you know, some there's still some of the best Fortnite players in the world that are like, you know, 21, 22. But, you know, like I think currently some of the better players are on like 18. Because I think when you're when you're like 16, yeah, maybe your, you know, reflexes are a little better, but your brain isn't developed.

Tfue: You know, your game sense and and awareness and stuff might not be as good. So I think there's a kind of like a like a good middle ground. Where like you're you know, you're you're you're getting smarter in terms of like game sense, but you're still like you're still really quick, you know. I think that age around like, you know, nineteen probably, eighteen, nineteen, twenty is that is kind of that golden range.

Tom Rowland: Mm. Yeah. not entirely different than just regular athletics where like the more you do it and the more experienced you get, you understand the sport and the whole thing better, but your body's just not capable of doing what it needs to do at a certain point. I guess that's the same with gaming.

Tfue: Yeah. Yeah. I mean I think sports as well, I think the age gap's actually getting lower as time gets on and it gets more competitive. I mean you can even look at tennis, right?

Tfue: Like you look at freaking center and Alcaraz, like those both those kids are like relatively young, you know.

Tom Rowland: Mm-hmm.

Tfue: When back in the day I feel like, you know, people like, you peek at tennis when you're like twenty eight. I'm like, nah.

Tom Rowland: Mm-hmm. But that's always been the way with like women's gymnastics. Like I mean, back in the in the seventies and eighties and like you they would be like really young. And and you would never see an Olympic gymnast that was like twenty.

Tom Rowland: Like but yeah, I know. There's like a s there's like a body type for everything.

Tfue: Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Or tall.

Tfue: There really is, yeah. Game gaming, I feel like the body type is like some of the best gamers like I've ever seen in my generation are literally like rails. Like their arms are like this this skinny. Like this kid, there's a couple people I have in mind.

Tfue: Like there's this one kid, Peter Bot, he's like nineteen. He was like one of the best Fortnite players for the past few years and and this kid's like frickin' five eight, like eighty pounds. Like the kid literally is like tiny. And I don't know what the science is behind that, but there's gotta be something because like I don't know, maybe maybe muscle mass is like slows you down or something.

Tfue: And you could be faster if you literally are just like sc just skin and bone. I don't know. There's another there's another kid that's like he's an unbelievable CSGO player and this kid is like freaking five five, like also same build, like skinny as can be, and he is just dude, he is so good, it is just unbelievable to watch. His name is Donk.

Tfue: He's a little Russian kid.

Tom Rowland: It could.

Tfue: But he played more CSGO than he's lived life.

Tom Rowland: Does he stream?

Tfue: No, I don't believe so.

Tom Rowland: So when you s so you're seeing these people in person playing? How do you watch them?

Tfue: I just watch on Twitch. Live stream like tournaments and stuff and then like yeah, tournaments and and and highlight clips and yeah. Tournament clips usually is where I I'll watch

Tom Rowland: well yeah, on Twitch.

Tfue: Highlights.

Tom Rowland: That's a that's a wild world. Does any of this translate for you into fishing? Like the the skills, the mindset, the or is is fishing like a a break from all that?

Tfue: I mean fishing can be a little bit competitive for sure, so you know there's definitely Yeah,

Tom Rowland: Well, it can be incredibly competitive. There's no question about that, but as far as w n we don't have the numbers. Like the math is different, but the the personalities are certainly competitive.

Tfue: Yeah. I mean I'm probably gonna get I'm probably gonna get hate from this, but you gotta keep in mind I did I I tournament fish a shit ton. but dude competitive fishing and competitive gaming is just two completely different things. Like dude, I don't think I don't think fishing could ever be as competitive as as how, you know, gaming is, dude.

Tfue: It's just these kids are like frickin' twelve hours every day grinding, you know. You can only fish so much, you know. Gaming you just you can just dude, the competitive level of some of these kids are just on it's an it's another realm, for sure.

Tom Rowland: Yeah. think that's personality driven? That they get into it like that?

Tfue: Dude. Yeah, I mean, dude, I don't know. A lot of kids still get burnt out too, but it's definitely I mean mindset is is is really, really important for competitive gaming.

Tom Rowland: So when you say mindset for competitive gaming, what what is the mindset? Describe that.

Tfue: Like just just discipline and I don't know, determination. You just you just gotta want it more than everyone else, dude. I don't know.

Tom Rowland: And and to want it more than everything every anyone else and then to put the time in, you're developing skills just like any other sport that that you just once you put the time in

Tfue: Yeah.

Tom Rowland: and you're at a certain level, you're you're you're getting better and better all the time.

Tfue: Like Yeah, you know, just you know, if if you're getting beat by somebody that's playing eleven hours a day, maybe you need to play twelve or you know, maybe you need to start researching more on, you know, you know, different tactics or or play styles from other people. Gaming and streaming has gotten so advanced with like people, you know, like it's it's everything's so accessible in the gaming world, right? Like If you get beat by some dude, you know, you can go review his games and and go watch and see what he did, you know, okay, this is what he did. This is smart.

Tfue: I wouldn't have thought of this. I need to implement this into my, you know, strategy or game and Where it's fishing, you're like, you're like, you know, you get beat by a team, you you you go up to them in person, you're like, all what were you guys doing? You know? And they're We're not taking you, we're not telling you shit.

Tfue: You know? But gaming's just such an it's such an open book, you know? It's just that's why I think like the skill ceiling in gaming in general is just so much higher. It's because like all that knowledge and like information is just so accessible at your fingertips.

Tfue: Where at fishing, it's like everyone's

Tom Rowland: Right. That's exactly what they're gonna say.

Tfue: You know, trying to keep it to themselves, yeah. Which what's what's that makes it fun though fun though at the same time because you know, you're trying to figure it all out. And back in the day when, you know, I first started gaming, it was more like that where it was like you had to figure it out. Where nowadays it's like, here's you know, here's the the open playbook.

Tom Rowland: There's lot of secrets. Yeah. There's a lot of secrets and there and unless it's How does AI play into gaming these days? I mean, can you use AI to get strategy and and

55:09 · Chess, AI, and Getting Caught Cheating

Tfue: not not no not really. I mean I'm sure there's some people that have dabbled in it, but I don't it's not it's it's not smart enough. Gaming's too is too too niche.

Tom Rowland: Hm. Wow. It seems like I mean they they do it with chess, right?

Tfue: Like if you Yeah, chess is a different story. A little bit. I do watch it and and stay in the loop, you know. one of my buddies is a is a GM.

Tfue: He used to host my stream all the time. His name's Ha Hikaru. He's a really good speed chess player. I love chess though.

Tfue: It's very interesting. You don't need to be, you know, you don't need to be a genetic freak.

Tom Rowland: Do you ever play chess? Did you ever play when you were a kid?

Tfue: To be good at chess, you just gotta be smart. It's all you know, obviously it's just a strategy game. But people people have been getting caught cheating in that a lot the past few years.

Tom Rowland: Yeah. Cheating in what way?

Tfue: Just I don't know, like When somebody plays too perfect, it's you know, raises a red flag, like it's it's very in depth, but like there's ways to counter certain playstyles and like people will sometimes just counter it perfectly and they'll be like, Wait, how did you know, you know, that always could do that? And and you know people can always assume, but it's kinda hard to prove. But there was

Tom Rowland: How would they be doing that?

Tfue: I mean you could literally download like like I can go to like chess dot com and play chess and download like basically like AI, right? To just be like do this move and it will so impossible to lose, you know? But they can track that shit and you know, they'll know if you're cheating. Yeah, yeah, you can't.

Tfue: Yeah, no, you could yeah. I mean you could a robot can play

Tom Rowland: Mm-hmm. So that's against the rules though, right? I mean to do th to do that. I mean I don't know, I'm not a competitive chess player but

Tfue: Play us in chess and we would lose every game. Thousand games in a row, right? 'Cause it just knows every outcome, you know, fifty steps in advance.

Tom Rowland: Right. But if you're playing in person and you're pl and you don't have any access to any kind of electronic thing and you've just downloaded these things and and learned these it's kinda like card counting in Vegas. Like I always I always wondered like how is that illegal if you're just sitting there and you're doing it with your mind, you're just observing things and counting the cards and you're capable of doing that with your mind, how is that cheating?

Tfue: Ha ha. Yeah. Yeah. Mm-hmm.

Tom Rowland: But they say it is, man. They'll kick you right out if you're I I've ne I'm not smart enough to count cards. So I've never noticed. I've never been kicked out of something like that, but it just seems like it's with your brain.

Tfue: Yeah, I d I don't I don't think Yeah. I I don't think it's really cheating. it'll it really only like if you're counting cards, it really only increases the odds by a small margin if you're good. It's not like you're just automatically gonna win and win and win.

Tfue: But they don't like you to increase your odds, yeah, because they want to steal money from you. I mean you can go dude, you can I know people that have gone to casinos and they're not counting cards and they're winning too much, they'll get kicked out.

Tom Rowland: Yeah, but they don't like that. Yeah. Wow.

Tfue: You know? I mean

Tom Rowland: I always thought that like if you were winning a lot then they would invite you back because they know they're gonna get it back f eventually.

Tfue: No, no, definitely not. I spent I've unfort I actually don't really like gambling, but I spent a lot of time in casinos. And dude, there'll be times I'll go in a casino and I'll be like just playing blackjack, not counting cards, just having a good time. Up money, like I'll be betting like freaking, you know, five hundred bucks a hand or a thousand bucks a hand and you know, I'll go up like, you know, a few thousand or whatever, and I go to the bar and try to grab a beer and they're like, nah, you can't get one.

Tfue: I'd be like, what? Y y you know, you lose a few thousand dollars, they'll they'll you what do you want to drink? We'll get you one right away.

Tom Rowland: And they'll they'll refuse they'll refuse to give you a beer because you're you're up too much.

Tfue: Yeah. Unl unless you're a frequent at the casino and you've burned like i if you've have a history of losing money, they you know, they they have yeah, you're a welcome guest. If they know that you're overall under, you can go in there and win and they'll still treat you right. But if you go in there and you have like a history of like winning or not a history at all and you go go in there and you win, the then won't treat you the same.

Tom Rowland: I don't gamble. Mm-hmm. You're a welcome guest. Hm.

Tom Rowland: Well, I've never I've never I don't gamble, so I don't I don't know anything about that world, but it seems like the odds are definitely in their favor, judging by the giant casinos that they build.

Tfue: It's all a scam. Yeah. Yeah. yeah.

Tfue: I mean, dude, the more money you lose, the better they treat you, dude. That's just that's just the that's in their playbook.

Tom Rowland: Yeah, your preferred customer.

Tfue: Yeah, especially if you play slots too. They're gonna they're gonna treat you better if you play slots because they know you're gonna lose more money on that because the odds are lower. So if you're a big slot player, you're they're gonna they're gonna get you comp rooms, they're gonna get you cars, transportation, whatever you want. Especially if you're losing.

1:00:39 · Dream Fish: Bluefin Tuna and a Thousand-Pound Swordfish

Tom Rowland: So that's different in the fishing world because it's all expensive, whether you win or lose. but I don't know. Like in the what what do you have videos that you want that something you'd like to catch and ha put on video? On your on your new yeah, like on your new channel?

Tom Rowland: Seafue is your new channel.

Tfue: Hehehe Yeah. What like dream fish or or like Yeah.

Tom Rowland: S. E. A.

Tfue: I don't know. I just been sword fishing lately. I'm about to post another sword fishing video. We went out one morning and went, you know, four for five on swords and then came in in the afternoon.

Tfue: So we're gonna post that. But in terms of like I don't know. I mean there's dude fish the cool thing about fishing is like, you know, the world is your oyster. You can go wherever and catch whatever you want.

Tfue: But I don't know. I kinda wanna I do wanna go bluefin tuna fishing at least once. I've never been. That seems like seems like an easier kind of mission, you know, I don't have to go to like Fiji to do that.

Tfue: I can just go go to the northern east coast, you know.

Tom Rowland: Yeah. Right. Yeah, Nova Scotia maybe. That that's something that I've thought too and I feel the same way as you do.

Tom Rowland: I don't really need to do it a whole lot of times. I'd like to do it I'd like to do it once and see one of those just see that. It's just I mean, that fish is incredible. And when you see them, like those videos that I watch and they get up, throwing stuff in the water and those things come along and eat that and they don't even make a ripple on the surface.

Tfue: Yeah. Yeah. For sure. Yeah.

Tom Rowland: And they're like this far underneath the surface and th that it's a thousand pound fish. And it just they're incredible fish. I can't imagine catching one of those. I mean, you catch a two hundred pound tuna and then you think about catching a thousand pound tuna, like, good luck.

Tom Rowland: I mean, seriously, that is

Tfue: Yeah. Yeah. Unbelievable, I know. Right?

Tfue: Dude. Yeah, no. Dude. Yeah, I've caught like a 200 pound yellow fin.

Tfue: That was the biggest tuna I've caught. And that thing, dude, couldn't imagine him being any bigger. And just imagine a thousand pounds, dude. Same with the swordfish.

Tfue: I mean, that's everyone's dream, right? Could you imagine a mean thousand pound swordfish? Like, dude.

Tom Rowland: It's incredible. I mean a two hundred pounder, that's that's a legit fish. I mean Yeah. A thousand pound sword.

Tom Rowland: No.

Tfue: Couldn't imagine that. Me neither. Couldn't even imagine one half that size. Yeah.

Tom Rowland: No. I I haven't even seen one half that size. And i it's just it's a sea monster. I mean it really is.

Tom Rowland: It's a total sea monster. But you keep doing it, you're gonna hook you're gonna get one.

Tfue: Yeah. here it'd be hard, but yeah, I'm trying. Yeah. I fish a Yeah.

Tfue: I it's pretty much a similar class fish than what I'm fishing, you know. You get a two hundred pounder here and there, but it's rarely somebody'll catch like, you know, a nickel or much bigger.

Tom Rowland: You ever fish in Louisiana? They have they have some pretty good ones up there, I think. Yeah.

Tfue: But in South Florida they they get some big ones down there. Miami and stuff.

Tom Rowland: Yeah. Yeah. I'm still waiting. Still waiting for for one.

Tom Rowland: But I don't do it that much. I you're you're definitely sword fishing way more than than we are. Yeah. Cool.

Tom Rowland: well, it might be time to go. What's the weather like today?

Tfue: Ha ha. I love it, dude. I I got the edge. pretty bad, I think.

Tfue: I think Thursday, Thursday, Friday will be a little better.

Tom Rowland: Now I got you to cur turn your computer on for the first time in a month, you might just start playing.

Tfue: No. No. Maybe I'll play some like Minesweeper or something.

Tom Rowland: Is that is that like are there different games that I mean, I'm sure that there are. Like some are just like so low key you just kinda go through the motions and others are like take every ounce of concentration you have?

Tfue: Yeah. Yeah, I just when I'm not streaming I usually just like if I do play a game, I'm not playing anything serious. Cause then, you know, I I can't like I'm s when it comes to video games I'm so competitive that I just if I'm playing like an a a competitive game I have to try. Cause I don't like losing.

Tom Rowland: I I I think that's to your personality from what I can tell. Yeah. And does that transfer into the fishing tournaments?

Tfue: Yeah. A little bit. a little bit. I think I mean like if I lose in a tournament in a video game I'm pissed off.

Tfue: If I lose in a you know a tournament fish it I'm like, at least I still had fun, you know. You know Yeah.

Tom Rowland: Right. I mean sometimes. Sometimes when the the fishing tournaments happen, it's not the best weather. It's not the day that you would choose on a regular month that you would go out there on these days, but that's when the tournament is and now th now you gotta go.

Tfue: Yeah. Mm-hmm. Yeah. But that's what everyone else is in though, you know.

Tom Rowland: That's right. It's all the same for everybody else in the tournament.

Tfue: Yeah.

Tom Rowland: So, how do people follow your your gaming channel and your your fishing channel?

1:05:55 · Where to Follow Tfue and Seafue

Tfue: Dude, I mean i gaming I'm Tfue and fishing I'm Seafue. Yep.

Tom Rowland: Seafue. And that channel's taking off. I mean you're getting a lot of really good views there.

Tfue: Yeah, I I don't I don't know how, I mean, freaking I I I think I was posting them on my gaming channel and they weren't doing that well and I made a new channel and they started doing better, which makes no sense, right? 'Cause you'd think the the channel with more subscribers would would get more views, but it's not always necessarily like that. But it seems like the algorithm really picked up my fishing channel recently and I've been pushing it, so very fortunate for that.

Tom Rowland: Well, th th some of the the videos are pretty good, man. They really are. I like

Tfue: Thank you. I'm gonna I'm gonna try to up the the quality a little bit and see where it goes.

Tom Rowland: Okay. Well, we'll be watching and I hope you get your thousand pound swordfish. That'd be a great video. Five hundred pounder.

Tfue: Watch it. Dude, if I get a thousand pound swordfish, I might just retire from that. I'll do it again. I'll retire from fishing.

Tfue: Dude, just go pick up golf at that point.

Tom Rowland: You've already retired. Damn. Golf is a is another sport that you could spend all of your available energy, focus, time on that guy. Do you play at all?

Tfue: Yeah, dude. Yeah, I do. I mean I dude, I just suck. No matter how how much I golf, I'm just so bad.

Tfue: it's just the hardest sport in the world, in my opinion, s is golf. Dude, I mean less sometimes, you know. You put all this time into your game and then you you're like, Alright, I'm gonna go golf and then you shoot higher than you did last time, you're like, What is going on? And you know

Tom Rowland: Does that make you want to do it more or less? Yeah.

Tfue: Golf is a is a hell of a sport, dude. Unbelievable sport, but very very very hard, very frustrating, but also rewarding at times. Yeah. You golf at all or?

Tom Rowland: It it is. It's very hard. Yeah. Huge mental component to it.

Tom Rowland: I played I played golf when I was a kid, and I played from probably right up until I got my driver's license. And then I thought, you know what, there's like I kinda wanna go to the lake and go water skiing and you know, do other things. but I played competitive golf from I don't know, six to eighteen, sixteen and mostly just summer league. I never played for the school or anything.

Tfue: Yeah.

Tom Rowland: But it's a you know, I think when you start something real young like that, it kinda sticks with you a little bit. 'Cause I can go out and hit balls and do okay, but I don't I don't play golf. I have too many other things that that I like to do. So I don't need another another incredibly time consuming hobby right now.

Tom Rowland: But maybe one day. Yeah. Yeah. I grew up in Chattanooga, Tennessee.

Tfue: Yeah. Yeah. Have you been fishing? Where where did you grow up?

Tfue: shit.

Tom Rowland: And then moved to Wyoming, Idaho, and Montana, lived in Jackson Hole and guided out there for about seven summers and then somewhere along there for for trout, fly fishing for trout on the south fork of the Snake River. And then I tried to spend a winter in Wyoming and it's very cold in Wyoming and there's no fishing for me. I I mean I wasn't that interested in ice fishing.

Tfue: For what? Where were you catching? Trout. Okay.

Tfue: Mm. Yeah.

Tom Rowland: and so I kinda looked around and ended up finding Key West and started guiding down there and did that for a long time.

Tfue: Dude, how was the transition from fresh to salt water?

Tom Rowland: it was actually pretty good because like I was a totally fly fishing guide out west and so when I came to Key West I thought, well, I'll just fly fish here and I already had clients that were fishermen from Wyoming and Idaho and they would come down to Key West and that was new for them too. So they didn't really have a lot of expectations to catch a lot of fish, you know. And and fly fishing is difficult.

Tfue: Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, very.

Tom Rowland: but I had, you know, when I showed up in Key West I was the greenest, most inexperienced guide there by far and I had a lot of a lot of catching up to do. And you know, I just tried to I spent a year on the water before I took a charter and that was very helpful. That was some advice that somebody gave me, Simon Becker gave me that. He's like, Don't don't start 'til you're ready.

Tom Rowland: You know, and I didn't even even when I did start, I didn't think I was ready.

Tfue: Yeah.

Tom Rowland: I mean, I just tried to I I had so much catching up to do. Everybody around was like a second generation guide and I was not. You know, I was like, What's a bone fish? Like but you know, if you just like what we're talking about with your gaming and everything is like if you are disciplined and you stay with it and you work really, really hard, sooner or later, you know, you you're you're w learning things and you don't even realize you're learning I didn't even realize I was

Tfue: Yeah. Mm-hmm. Yeah, it's tough. Yeah.

Tom Rowland: doing well until I entered my first tournament and then I was like, Wait a minute, why am I in third place? Like this is a big surprise. You know, I thought I'd be in last. And but, you know, you you just keep learning, keep learning, keep expanding your your your spots and your knowledge and looking at at what other people are doing and trying to learn from from everything.

Tom Rowland: Trying to learn from your clients, trying to learn from other guides, trying to learn from

Tfue: This is a Yeah. Yeah.

Tom Rowland: books and videos and stuff. and eventually

Tfue: Yeah. Well back in the day it was a lot harder to learn.

Tom Rowland: Well, there were there were there weren't as many resources, that's for sure. I mean yeah, there were th some of the fishing was better. Some of the fishing's better today. well in Key West we didn't have any bone fish hardly at all.

Tom Rowland: and today the bone fishing is fantastic there. And that's a natural progression from Yeah, yeah. Let's go. Let's go.

Tfue: Fishing was better though. Like what? Really. Mm.

Tfue: That's something I gotta go do. Bone fishing on the Seafue channel. You can take me out bone fishing.

Tom Rowland: We can do that. We can go you know when I first started Islamorada was the epicenter of bone fishing and Bimini was an epicenter of bone fishing and if you look back at the records then most of the records came from Islamorada or Bimini. And there was a cold front that changed the fishing in Islamorada. It it it it changed it and a lot of those big fish didn't exist there anymore.

Tfue: Mm-hmm. Yeah.

Tom Rowland: And then something happened and we started seeing more and more fish show up in Key West. And now I would think that as far as numbers go, Key West is I think it's I think it's the top spot for numbers of bone fish. There's still s some place I mean, it's good everywhere. But when I started the permit fishing in Key West was by far and away the best place.

Tom Rowland: And then on the other end, Biscayne Bay was really good. And then in the middle, all of that middle, you could find

Tfue: Mm-hmm. Yeah. Yeah. Mm-hmm.

Tom Rowland: You know, but it wasn't it wasn't quite Key West and it wasn't quite this game bay. And now that's changed too a little bit. but the tarpon fishing remained pretty consistent all the way through the keys. So it was like, you know, you wanna bo bone fish and you go here, you wanna go permit fishing, you go down there.

Tom Rowland: But I like the permit. Do you like fishing for permit?

Tfue: Yeah. For us. I don't really do it that much. You know, I've caught a few, but yeah.

Tfue: A lot of people do it out here. I don't really you know, I don't really do it but

Tom Rowland: Yeah. You'd like it. Yeah, well they get on the flats, you know, and they'll tail and you can see real clearly and yeah, that's that's fun.

Tfue: Yeah. That would be cool. Yeah. Usually the guys over here catching them a little deeper than a flat, but Yeah.

Tfue: Yeah, a lot of racks and structure. Mm-hmm.

Tom Rowland: Well a wrecks. Like you have some wrecks up there that you catch tons of them. Mm-hmm. Coral heads and stuff.

Tom Rowland: But that it's a good fish. It's all good. But we should we should definitely get together, go fishing. All right.

Tom Rowland: Let's do it. We'll set it up. but for today we're probably almost out of time. But I appreciate you coming on, man.

Tom Rowland: It's I I I learned a ton about gaming and fishing and and retiring at twenty.

Tfue: Let's do it. That'd be fun. Ha ha ha.

Tom Rowland: That's amazing. You got a you got an incredible story and and you're you're I don't know, you've lived a wild life, man. It's crazy.

Tfue: Shit. And very fortunate, man. Yeah.

Tom Rowland: You have been. You have been. It's cool to see that you you recognize that and you're you're grateful and and it's cool.

Tfue: Yeah. Yeah, dude. I I try to be at least. but I appreciate you having me on, dude.

Tom Rowland: Yeah. Well, thank you. I appreciate you being on. We'll do it again and let's get together and go fishing.

Tom Rowland: Okay. All right. Well we'll be in touch. If you want to follow, go to Tfue channel and Seafue channel.

Tom Rowland: Those are the two. Those are the two places you can check him out. All right, we'll be back next week with another great guest. See ya then.

Tfue: Let's do it. Yeah.