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Call (501) 276-3819
Email: ron@fishwithron.com
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 Ron grew up in small town Malvern, AR. Living in town didn’t give Ron much
opportunity to enjoy the outdoors as young boy. Most of his young life consisted
of cub scouts, baseball, going to the skating rink, and occasionally a movie on
the weekends.As a young boy Ron cherished his weekend trips out to his grandmother’s house who lived 20 minutes out of town. Her house was surrounded by 360 acres of hardwood timber, creeks, and ponds which all played a role in the development of Ron’s love for the outdoors. During the summer when Ron had the opportunity you would find him wading in the creek, fishing his uncle’s pond, or floating down the Caddo River. At the age of 12 Ron’s family moved out of town and next door to his grandmother. For a young, adventurous boy falling in love with the wilderness, this gave him the opportunity to enjoy the outdoors year round. All of his spare time was spent hunting and fishing. Starting a new school in the county also gave him the opportunity to meet new friends who shared the love for the outdoors Many times Ron’s dad and uncles would take him floating on the Caddo River. Little did he know at that time he had gained vast knowledge on the river terrain which would later play a role in his professional fishing career. Two miles from where Ron lived, the Caddo River was dammed to form Lake DeGray in 1972. This lake is where Ron learned and developed many of the techniques he uses today. He began his fishing career on this lake and to this day still uses it for practice. After graduation from high school Ron married his high school sweetheart and took a job with Reynolds Aluminum. Now that he had a good paying job and had settled down with his wife, in 1975 Ron bought his first bass boat. It was a Roughneck with a 115 hp Mercury motor on it. In 1976, Ron had his defining year for his future in competitive fishing. That year he received the Malvern Bass Club Angler of the Year award along with a fully rigged bass boat in a Ray Cooper Evinrude sponsored tournament on Lake Ouachita in AR. This was a defining moment in Ray’s career; because he not only realized that you could win trophies and bragging rights, but you could also win boats and motors that could be turned in to cash. From that point on, Ron spent every spare moment fishing and refining techniques even occasionally missing work to compete in various events. Throughout the 70’s and 80’s Ron fished any tournament he could on his home lake. All of those float trips and memories of various terrain features from his earlier experience on the river made him a dominant force to deal with in any tournament there. In 1980, Ron joined the Mr. Bass of Arkansas circuit. He began competition on the circuit against some of the many recognizable fishing names today; George Cochran, Jerry Williams, Ricky Green, and Rob Kilby to name a few. Though his competition was tough, Ron went on to dominate the circuit by scoring 11 wins and 7 consecutives Angler of the Year titles. During the early 80’s the economy took a down turn forcing Ron’s current employer to start downsizing. It wasn’t until 1983 that Ron was finally laid off and had to find other work. At that time he was receiving supplemental unemployment benefits each week. Ron and his wife used that money towards entry fees for local tournaments till Ron struck it big on Lake Sydney Lanier in GA where he posted a 25th finish. From there Ron’s fishing career took off and he began to fish B.A.S.S. tournaments. While on the B.A.S.S. Tour, Ron qualified for the Bassmaster Classic 15 times, won seven events and earned more than $1.3 million dollars doing what he loves. Today Ron fishes exclusively on the FLW Tour and is sponsored by PTSI, the official transportation company for FLW. As PTSI remains extremely active in the sport, Ron takes his off season to become active within PTSI. Having his A CDL, he drives for PTSI when he gets the opportunity. This allows him the chance to meet and talk with the drivers and get feedback from them about PTSI. Ron feels his relationship with PTSI is a very fulfilling one. Ron has two sons who are obsessed with competitive fishing. His son Spencer fishes for PTSI as a co-angler on the FLW Tour. As Ron’s career may be nearing the end, he’ll sit back and watch his son along with the other young guns chase their dreams and make a mark for themselves in the world of competitive tournament fishing, hoping that somehow, someway, he has influenced someone to chase their dreams as “the dream is still alive”. |
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