7 minute read
Ron Ryals
THE LIFE OF FISHERMAN RonRyalsBy Susan K. Lamb Tammy Johns Photography
Ron Ryals is not your ordinary sherman or shing guide. At 43, he’s already won several shing awards, traveled the US competing in shing tournaments and, when he’s home in Suwannee County, Ron works daily guiding tourists around the best shing spots at Bienville Outdoors (formerly Bienville Plantation) property in Hamilton County.
Ron is a professional angler, someone who fishes with a rod and line, who travels the US fishing and hoping for the big win. This 43-year-old angler has already become quite famous for his Outdoor Magazine interview in addition to many other online articles and videos. He is also the Paralyzed Veterans of America Bass Tour’s winner in 2010, as well as its 2013 Angler of the Year. Ron began fishing at a young age. Later, his dad helped him get a boat and he became an angler guide at Bienville at the age of 18. By that time, he was getting involved in national tournaments.
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Ron was born with faulty heart valves but had to wait until he was five to get surgery to correct it. Unfortunately, a complication during the operation led to paralysis of both his legs as a five-yearold, but Ron said since it happened at such a young age, he quickly learned how to deal with it and moved forward with his life.
These days, Ron has numerous sponsors who support him in his angler career such as Yamaha, WileyX, Bass Cat Boats, Lowrance, St. Croix Rods and Not Finished Fishing. Ron will be the first to thank his sponsors and tell you having them is essential as it’s extremely expensive to enter and participate in many tournaments every year.
Over the past several years, Ron and numerous others have played a small part in getting a professional fishing class underway at Florida Gateway College in Lake City. Students are now competing across the US utilizing their new skillsets they obtained from their coaches at FGC. “They now have a coach, and I talk with the kids all the time as they text or call me and other coaches, even during a tournament,” he said. “These students have the ability to get in the Bass Master Classics through this class!” What is Ron doing this year with his angler friends? “I’m fishing the Bassmaster Southern Open (starts in Florida in February, Tennessee in April, and next one is early fall in South Carolina) and also plan to be part of the Bassmaster Northern.”
Ron has guided fishing expeditions for 25 years at Bienville for all levels of fishermen and women—some who have never even fished before. “We also do a lot of company events. Though, a normal day starts at daylight, we go in for lunch and then quit at 5 p.m.,” Ron said. “It honestly depends on how the fish are biting. Most of where we fish are ponds, and there are about 15 out there.”
“Bienville has five cabins with five individual rooms with baths and one large living room in each cabin; it also has a pro store,” Ron said. “You don’t even have to cook or have a rod and reel, and we can seat 100 people in the main building with a screened-in porch, 65 in the main lodge.” The property also has a restaurant run by Bienville’s long-time chef, Chef Rose, who pleases visitors with her delicious offerings. Bienville, an 11,000-acre property just north of White Springs, was purchased in early 2021 by Chris King and Adam Baker. Chris, his wife and two young children live on-site of the now Bienville Outdoors. Ron is excited to know the new owners are bringing in skeet shooting and more guided fishing tours. While Ron works daily at Bienville, he also is constantly entering tournaments all over the US. “I actually started tournaments when I wasn’t old enough to drive! I probably average 10 to 12 a year now and fish out of my own boat,”Ron explained. Some of Ron’s favorite places to fish are New York and Florida. Ron and his buddy Hunter Bland of Gainesville, another angler headed towards bigger wins, always travel together to multiple, yearly competitions. Because Ron spends his life in a wheelchair, some may underestimate his ability to load and unload a boat, but he completes the task with ease. Help is always welcome, but Ron’s completely capable, independent and thinks nothing of what some might consider a miracle. When Ron’s not guiding people across the Bienville Outdoors’ lakes, he’s fishing for sport. Ron has fished the Bassmaster Opens three times. He has entered some of the biggest fishing tournaments across the US over the years but said the Bassmaster Opens is the largest and the one he hopes to win one day. “The Bassmaster Opens, it’s the biggest prize money, but usually has about 225 boats,” he said. Ron believes these events are friend-building events and attends as many as possible. “It’s pretty good, seeing the crowd, getting to talk with them…that’s the one thing I like about it, when the anglers weigh-in they just go out and talk with the people. I’ve had the privilege of getting to talk with some of the biggest fishermen in the tournament and not even talk about fishing! It’s very relatable to a lot of people,” he said. Ron hopes to have a future in professional fishing, if possible, but jokingly says he’s never sure how that will happen. “If I don’t catch any more than I have this year, it doesn’t look good,” he said with a laugh. “But seriously, I think it’s pretty good. I never even pictured myself doing the tournaments. My mom and dad and I always just went to Peacock Lake to fish, and I never even really thought about it back then.” Today, there are big goals Ron is working to achieve. “Since becoming an angler, I always wanted to qualify for the Bassmaster Classic,” he said of his fishing career. “That’s kind of my goal now, and I think that’s the goal of everybody who competes in it…winners get $300,000 plus endorsements!” For Ron, it seems it’s not so much about the money, as it is about accomplishing a goal on his fishing to-do list with his determined mindset.
Ron is supported by his wife Vicky that he met through a mutual friend after he graduated from Suwannee High School, as she graduated from Branford High School. They have been married now for nearly 19 years. Ron is a rare find in this life where many people never reach nor even establish goals. Some claim the world has cast them nothing but difficulties, but Ron sees his obstacles as motivations. Ron is a shining example of establishing goals and doing everything possible to accomplish them, regardless of a challenge. Just knowing Ron and his determination would brighten any person’s views on life. Maybe it’s fishing that brings about this determination, but this Suwannee County professional angler never sees a red light to his goals, only green lights all the way into his future. ■
