Our featured Angler for January is the Multi-Talented Ron Edmonds

by Peter Robbins
(Who is Pete Robbins & what else has he written?)

Among the ranks of the Virginia B.A.S.S. Federation, there are certainly a great many talented anglers, as well as people from every walk of life and occupation. Few, however, can boast of combining top angling skills with worldwide recognition as one of the leaders of their chosen profession. Ron Edmonds, of Region One’s Fairfax Bass club, is one of those few.

As a news photographer for the Associated Press, Ron has covered (and been on a first name basis with) every United States President since Ronald Reagan. His coverage of the assassination attempt on Reagan’s life earned him the Pulitzer Prize for news photography, the highest possible worldwide honor in the field. He has covered summits, inaugurations, shuttle launches, the Olympics, political races, and all of the Republican and Democratic national conventions since 1984. In addition to the Pulitzer Prize, he has been recognized by the World Press, the National Headliners, the Associated Press Managing Editors, the National Press Photographers Association, the Society of Professional Journalists and the White House News Photographers Association.

Ron virtually fell into photography as a career choice. While working for the phone company in California in the 1960s, and attending college at night, he found that he needed one additional course one semester. He elected to take a photography class, taught by a professional news photographer. Ron instantly took a liking to the subject matter, and became friendly with the instructor, who took Ron under his wing.

Buoyed by the excitement of news photography, Ron, who had saved enough money to survive for two years with only minimal additional income, attempted to break into this competitive industry. At that time, there was a great deal of civil unrest in California, which frequently manifested itself in riots and demonstrations. Ron acknowledges that he was “much braver, or maybe more foolish, back then” and was willing to take risks to get a good picture. United Press International (UPI) bought many of his pictures, and eventually had him on a retainer.

After honing his craft and establishing credentials in California, Ron accepted a job as staff photographer for the Honolulu Star-Bulletin and later became the chief photographer, a position which he held for 7 years. He left that post to take the job as UPI’s bureau manager in Sacramento, which eventually led him to spend 9 months on the road covering Ronald Reagan’s presidential campaign.

After Reagan’s inauguration, Ron moved on to the Associated Press in Washington, D.C., for whom he has worked ever since. In his second day on the job, while covering a Reagan speech in Washington, John Hinckley made his attempt on the President’s life, and Ron was the only photographer to capture the sequence of events, and those pictures eventually won him the Pulitzer. To see a slideshow of those pictures, check out Ron's website at http://mywebpage.netscape.com/roadsterguy23/index.html.

In addition to the great satisfaction of being recognized for his exceptional photography, Ron makes clear that the job has other substantial benefits. In addition to traveling to over 50 different countries, the job has enabled him to “do things that other people don’t normally get a chance to do.” For example, the elder George Bush on occasion would call Ron up to the front of Air Force One to talk about fishing. Additionally, Ron was able to serve as a member of the press corps for Bassmasters Classics held in Richmond and Baltimore. In that role, he fished practice days with pros including Guido Hibdon, Hank Parker and Zell Rowland, and established enduring friendships with several of them as well.

Raised in the Redding, California area, near Mt. Shasta, Ron’s fishing education began with his father, an avid bass fishermen. The Edmonds family (including Ron’s brother, who remains an avid tournament participant in California) was fishing California waters including Lake Shasta and the Delta, long before bass fishing became popular in that part of the country. He remembers slinging “live mudpuppies, and then the little crème worm with a spinner, and eventually a hula popper,” in his younger days.

Although Ron participated in various forms of fishing throughout his life, it was upon moving to Washington that his interest in competitive bass fishing was kindled. He was encouraged to join the Fairfax Bass club by AP sportswriter Dave Ochs, who also remains an active member of the club (and a frequent contributor to this website).

Ron’s aptitude for fishing was almost immediately apparent. His proudest moments as a fishermen include victories in consecutive Region One tournaments in 1995, on Kerr Reservoir and the Potomac River, no small feat when one considers that the region had swelled to over 300 anglers.

Although much of his tournament success has come on a jig and pig, Ron’s favorite tactic is topwater fishing. He was one of the first anglers in the area to use the Rico topwater bait, “because I won 5 of them in a raffle at a time when they were selling for $27-35 each, and I wanted to get my money’s worth. Under the right conditions, it’s virtually unbeatable.”

Although it’s unclear how he finds the time for additional activities between spending time with his family, traveling the world as a top news photographer, and tournament fishing, Ron has managed to cultivate other interests. A lifelong race fan, he owned a half-scale car which he enjoyed racing at the Old Dominion Speedway. More recently, he has lovingly restored a 1923 T-Bucket Roadster. When he’s not tinkering with it, he occasionally takes it to get together for enthusiasts. If that were not enough, he has combined his love of hot rods with his photography skills to create hot rod art for other owners, which can also be viewed at his website.

An article this short cannot do justice to the many facets of an angler like Ron Edmonds. Even his more expansive website provides only a snapshot view of his many interests and talents. While our federation, perhaps more than most, has a diverse cast of characters, I feel confident in saying that we are the only one with a Pulitzer Prize winner who has been called upon by the President to dispense angling advice on Air Force One. For someone who is usually behind the camera recording the news, this brief moment in the spotlight is an atypical position to be in, but it is one that Ron richly deserves, as he reflects the depth and diversity of the Virginia B.A.S.S. Federation.