Capt. Ben AldermanI grew up with a fishing rod or a gun in my hand in the small, rural town of Manning, SC. All-nighters on my Santee-Cooper lakehouse dock catching bream and catfish were an early sign I was born to fish. Marathon sessions on the community dock at my family's condo in Litchfield Beach in the 1970's were my introduction to saltwater. Flounder was king and spottails were trash fish; funny how that trash fish would become the centerpiece of my career! My teens were consumed with deer hunting and bass fishing. I was fortunate to have several family farm ponds to choose from and that's where you could find me. My heroes were the Bassmaster guys and I had dreams of competing against them one day. All that changed abruptly in one inshore saltwater trip to Bull's Bay in the mid 1980's. We caught spottails (redfish) one after another, along with speckled trout and a few flounder, all out of one honey-hole! I was hooked deep, so upon graduating from Wofford with my B.A. in Philosophy (perfect for being a fishing guide) in 1990, I moved on down to Charleston. I waited tables at night and fished all day. In 1992, I got a job downtown at Ludens in the Orvis fly shop, bought a little Malibu Skiff with a home-made poling platform from Richard Stuhr, and became serious about tying flies and fly fishing. A couple of my flies were even featured in "Fly Fishing in Saltwater" and "Fly Fish America" and I enjoyed giving fly casting instruction at the shop. A short stint at Scout Boats in 1995 working in a cubicle, dreaming about fishing, led me to get my ticket in 1996, and start Superfly Fishing Charters. I believe sharing my love of the marsh and entertaining guests was what I was meant to do, and I truly feel blessed to do what I love for a living. After 28 years and thousands upon thousands of charters, I still thoroughly enjoy thrilling my clients with just one more fish! Throughout the years I've been featured on numerous TV shows like "Guidelines", "City Limits with Mike Iaconelli", "Reel Animals", "Inshore Angler" and was thrilled to help film an episode of "The Walker's Cay Chronicles" with Flip Pallot in the 90's. I've written in and been featured in national and regional publications including, "Fly Fishing in Saltwaters", "Sport Fishing", "Shallow Water Angler", "SC Sportsman", "FLW Outdoors", and many others. I'm fortunate to have been sponsored by some great companies over the years and their help has enabled me to live my dream of being a professional angler and guide, but joining Team Power-Pole was the icing on the cake. I'm truly honored to wear that jersey and represent the best company in the industry... by far! I enjoy public speaking and regularly give seminars, and was even the co-host of an outdoors show, "Carolina Wildside" on our local Comcast station. Most recently I filmed an episode of "Guidelines" with my friend Capt. Jay Withers (airing on Waypoint TV January 2023 and "Reel Animals" with my buddy Capt. Mike Anderson - Season 18 episode 1. Check them both out anytime on waypointtv.com. In 2003, my dreams of competing against the Bassmasters became a reality, and for Redfish! One of my mentors and former Bassmaster pro, Bobby Wilson and I signed up for the inaugural season of ESPN's O'Boy Oberto Redfish Cup. Bobby and I did really well, but parted ways after a few seasons. I learned a great deal from him about tournament fishing that served me well when I joined forces with Ronnie Pitts. Ronnie and I were Redfish Cup All-Stars with 7 top 10s, 4 top 5s, and two HUGE wins. Bassmaster legend Roland Martin joined the tour in 2006 and I won his first tournament. Needless to say, I was flabbergasted when he found me after the tournament and picked my brain! The prize money and being on ESPN was great, but the angler camaraderie and good times with friends made throughout the fishing industry were the best things about fishing the Cup. Since it's demise in 2009, I've fished the IFA Redfish Tour and the Lowcountry Redfish Cup including a recent Championship victory in 2015. locally, I've been Guide to Team Grand Champions and Guide to Grand Champion Angler (and Guide to the Runners Ups), as well as Guide to Fly Division Champion in the Lowcountry RedTrout Celebrity Classic and always enjoy fishing for such a great cause. Most recently, my partner Mikey Cogan and I won the Charleston leg of the Professional Redfish Series in 2022, then went on to win the Power-Pole National Redfish Tour East Coast Go-Live in 2024 after finishing 1st and 2nd in the East Coast Go-Live One Man event. Currently chasing team of the year in the 2024 National Redfish Tour, sitting in 5th place. There's nothing quite like the thrill of fishing tournaments... I may be addicted! So...that's a little about me. I'd love to take you out on the water to get to know me better! |
The "Gun Show" started early!
Captain's License in 1996
Feb 2006 - 10 Years!
Fishing with My Boy
Fishing with Ike!
BGA Jr "Best Dad Ever"
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