BACKLASH
Q & A
ILLUSTRATION BY RACHEL IDZERDA
RON LAPPIN Gilbertsville , Ky .
By Sean Ostruszka how long have you been with flw ?
More than 20 years . i fished with ( former tournament director ) dan Grimes a lot and worked for Mike James as a ranger rep prior to joining FLW .
many people don ’ t know you were also a guide on Kentucky lake , too .
Yeah , i started guiding … let ’ s see … i got married in ’ 74 , so i started guiding in late 1974 , and i did that until even a little after i started working here .
You know the Fishing Hot Spots maps ? My name is actually on the bottom of the Kentucky Lake map . i took those guys out when they were mapping the lake and showed them spots and things they didn ’ t know in the first 12 miles of the lake . That was probably back in the late ’ 80s .
And you ’ re quite the cook i hear . i enjoy cooking almost as much as fishing . My dad , richard , was in the catering business , and i was in the restaurant and catering business back when i was guiding . it ’ s now Gatti ’ s Pizza in draffenville , Ky ., but i used to own that restaurant when it was Gateway Steakhouse . i still love cooking for big crowds . i have a giant grill on wheels that i trailer to church events or tournaments . is it true that you used to have long hair ? i did . i played music for years , and when i had hair i had real curly hair . i had it down to the middle of my back when it was wet . When it was dry i had really big hair . i had trouble fitting through a regular doorway . i don ’ t have any pictures , but my wife and daughter do . When Grimes hired me i used to take a red St . Louis plastic baseball batting helmet and cut a hole in the back and pull my hair through . i was a real hippy of old .
what kind of music did you play ? rhythm and blues . Blue-eyed soul . Back then everything was r & B of some form or another , in the ’ 60s and early ’ 70s . i sang in a choir in high school and junior high . in junior high we had more boys than girls , so i sang the girl ’ s parts most of the time . i used to sing soprano , and then my voice changed .
how much work goes into being a tournament director ?
The things that go into it that anglers don ’ t see are plentiful . You have to secure a date and a site . We have a giant board ( to plan tournament schedules ), and it usually goes through seven or eight versions and takes two months to nail down . Then you have to apply for all the permits and work with the sponsors . And the most important thing is that a tournament director holds the lives of every angler in his hands with his decisions . i ’ ve always said if any angler had to set up just one tournament , they ’ d never complain again .
You ’ ve seen a lot in 20 years with flw . have any favorite memories ?
Several . There are so many opportunities now with the high school and college programs to meet some fine young people . The future of everything – a church , business , anything – is based on young people . in my opinion it ’ s the biggest step for the future of the sport . Anyone who has a job in this industry in 10 years will be because of that .
what ’ s your lasting memory of flw after all these years ?
People can believe what they want , but this company has changed the sport for the better as much as anyone . So many people owe their careers to what FLW has done . And beyond that , it ’ s encouraged every one of us to be the best we can be . i ’ ve been blessed to work here .
88 flwfishing . Com i november-deCember 2017