rAMIe COLSON jr.
KENTUCKY PRO’ S LIFE MOVES AT THE PERFECT PACE, ON AND OFF THE WATER by Colin Moore
PHOTOS BY D. W. REED II
Granny’ s Kountry Kitchen is on the right side of Highway 68 where it crests a long winding hill that begins near the entrance road to Lake Barkley Lodge and tops out a couple of miles from the city limits of Cadiz, Ky. Granny’ s serves the general purpose of being a gas station, convenience store, dry goods emporium, restaurant and neighborhood gathering place – a common arrangement in these parts.
Most mornings, not counting Sundays, a band of the local yeomanry is ensconced at Granny’ s, sitting around tables with their hands wrapped around coffee cups while they discuss the latest happenings. Their gathering is not so much a coincidence as it is a tradition in the time-honored fashion that small-town citizens express their views and clarify the world and its ways for each other.
Depending on the season, the main topics of such forums at Granny’ s include politics, basketball, hunting and fishing. The languid pace of the discussion is interrupted by comings and goings, with speakers chiming in in varying sorghum thicknesses of Kentucky twang when something germane to the subject occurs to them.
The tempo suits Ramie Colson Jr., who is likely to be there if circumstances allow, having been initiated into the ranks some years ago. He is at home in such company. His presence both defines him as an individual and suggests why he’ s been one of the more consistent anglers in the Walmart FLW Tour ranks. Colson is a grinder who, like the conversation at Granny’ s, most often progresses at an unhurried, deliberate pace.
As Forrest Gumpish as it sounds, working with concrete is like fishing for bass. At least Colson sees the comparisons, and he’ s made a lot of money doing both. When he’ s not fishing in FLW Tour events, the burly Kentuckian is likely to be found helping his father in their concrete finishing business. Once the concrete is poured, it’ s“ finished” in a series of stages that can’ t be rushed or skipped, until the slab is perfectly formed and harder than a tournament director’ s heart.
Colson’ s fishing style, too, can be maddeningly slow and painstakingly methodical. More often than not it involves picking cover apart, and he came by his skills honestly. Growing up near Kentucky and Barkley lakes as he did, where sinking Christmas trees and brush in not-so-secret spots is commonplace, the 12-year FLW pro has developed a knack for knowing the best places to plant fish-attracting cover. More importantly, perhaps, in the process of cultivating his home waters he’ s also learned how to identify such bass magnets in the lakes on the Tour schedule.
Granny’ s is ground zero not only for a hearty breakfast, but also for bragging about recent forays into the outdoors. Here, Colson shows off some trail cam photos to Randy Hefner( center) of Taylorsville, N. C., and local celebrity Harold Knight of Knight & Hale Game Calls.
deCeMber 2016 I FLWFISHING. COM
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