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troutbert
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Tennessee
foxtrapper1972
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KeithS
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Foxtrapper,
Are you defending this guy, or just trying to perpetuate the thread?
Are you defending this guy, or just trying to perpetuate the thread?
Tucker733
Member
I don't know if this is too much to post if it is please delete. This is an account directly from the person it happened to. (Not me but from the persons facebook page) This event seems to be what caused the outrage lately. I don't know if it is true and I hope the author does not mind me posting it as it has already been shared on FB for awhile.
The Morning of Jan 3rd 2015- Dustin and I have been seeing a lot of post from Ronnie and his few buddies of Large Male and Female Brown trout be caught at the Grates on the South Holston River. Many of you had seen these photos shared through Orvis, fly-fishing forums, Ronnie Kittredge FB, or his egotistic self pro claimed Trout Pro-Ronnie KIttredge Page. These pics as always spread like wild fire and especially during the heat of Brown Trout Spawn at the most popular section of the river. Everyone who is familiar with this part of the river and its surroundings had probably caught on to the same things I did. All the photos at the time taken at the same location below the pump house where a small creek flows in. All photos were taken right at dusk with descriptions with them to support that. Several Epic Fishing stories of how he had been pulling all nighters and fishing from 2 am to sun up. Even some stories were saying he left at 6 am or before the sun or crowds arrived. All but two photos from around 15 fish of 25inch plus photos were taken in the same spot at the same times of days. We thought to ourselves well maybe he just isn’t doing well at night and the fish are needing a little bit of light to hook up with his drag fee drifts with estaz eggs on 6x tippet or his sucker spawn goo bug patterns tight lined 45 degree and away on the swing. Or maybe he just even loved that 50 year old brown falling apart building as a back drop for his epic photos. I just couldn’t figure out why was all these fish so far up from the bridge on this side of the river? The Red that a majority of these fish sit on, especially at night Any of us who has ever hooked a big brown before (in the mouth) has had it turn its head and take us down river a majority of the time. Yes even go up river a ways but typically back down in the general area if not further down stream. 100 percent on 5x or 6x tippet as Ronnie had claimed. There was too many questionable things going on. We had also heard from plenty of other stand up guys in the fishing community that this guy had wore his welcome out on several other rivers in the past for unethical things. He had made a post day or so before saying he was doing fishing for the year that he had has fill and it was now our turn to get into some fish, like we have permission to dig through his seconds. We knew someone with such a ego couldn’t pass up not going back after these browns after Orvis had got him a couple thousand likes the day before. So we packed the truck and left home at midnight Jan 3rd/4th with the hope of seeing the truth. The whole two Hour Drive we wanted to give him the Benefit of the doubt. When big fish are caught a lot of people let jealousy rule their tongue and get competitive with others with no facts to base claims. We have all had it happened to us and we don’t want to point fingers with out knowing. 3AM we already see headlamps in the river as we pass over the bridge to the Grates Parking lot. We knew it. We double back to get on the SAME Side of the river as the post. When we got down there to the water they had actually made it to the other side River Left facing us. Our plan was to ust play cool and look like any other two guys fishing to them selves. Within Five Min I here it. The Ka Plunk….KA Plunk…..Ka Plunk….lift Rod Ka Plunk. I know this sound very well. Working as a Fishing Guide In Alaska you come to hear and see this action on a daily basis. The ole Sockeye fly, Nose Grabber, Flossing, Snagging, Foul Hook, Fish Brocking. What ever term you have come to use. It was Three seconds intervals of Heavy Weight being thrown over and over with a purpose. I was at lost for words. Then with Two VERY Bright headlamps (idk if they was packing LED light or what but it was like they was wearing car headlights on there head. When they looked around at us it was like a lighthouse spinning at sea) they would scan the water together as they would start at the bottom of the red about 150 feet below the bridge and start walking across and up together. PUSHING the fish and looking for them. They were Cornering fish for a few split seconds and having enough time to get a three second snag drift on them to try and stick one. They were just targeting the large 25 inch fish and bigger because those are the only ones you have a large enough mass to get a fast snag on before they swim off. Even sometimes it would look as if the fish were pausing when this bright light would hit them like a deer in the headlights. Enough time to drop the kitchen sink with a hook underneath in on em. This Large Red they were fishing only runs a foot deep for the majority throughout. Seeing all the way through the water was no trouble for them. It also clicked in my mind that this makes so much sense as well because his post would say “5 hours fishing through the night and hooked 4 fish! or went 2 for 3 tonight, and all the fish were always 25 inch plus. The fish wasn’t eating. He couldn’t catch the Browns and aggressive Rainbows that out number the large fish 5 to 1 on the same red because they weren’t a big enough target. Or maybe only big fish like to eat 1/4 ounce led balls and a hook? Who would have known? I guess Ronnie. Bombarding around in circles like its Drunken Nascar Race on the river. Stepping ALL Over every inch of the reds. crossing the river side to side up and down. Screaming “Oh theres one! You see that ONE? Get em he is Huge!” At this point Dustin and I had already retreated back onto the sidelines to under the bridge to watch this and talk about what is really happening here. We thought we were dreaming and we didn’t really get up at midnight to come see this circus. They hook up for the first time since our arrival aground 3:45AM. Fish goes straight UP Stream after hooked and they turn its head and yank it back to them like you would a 6 inch brookie. Fought the Fish ten seconds before it was in the net. Pretty tuff 6x huh Ronnie? Where did you buy that at cause I know we are all wanting some. More like 10lb test lets be real. 5x and 6x couldn’t even hold the amount of weight being slung around like nunchucks. When you think it can’t get any crazier it does. I was expecting camera flash’s and such for his post but wait thats right its still 4am and the soon isn’t up for three hours. No normal person can expect to take a picture of a fish when its caught. We have to wait, what was I thinking? The fish is then transferred from one net to another net from the 1970’s. You know the old metal nets with Green Nylon like in a cast net with a 4 foot drop hole. A fish around the 28 Inch Mark goes into this net and Ronnie walks this fish from down Below the bridge through the Water all the way up to the Grates holding the fish up OUT of the water the whole time. Would be a normal practice right if you was planning on keeping the fish? He walks to the far bank in the grass and hovers over this lil water hole. A back fill Mudhole that water stays in from when the TVA Generates and water gets up. 3 feet long by 2 feet wide 1 foot deep. Separated from any flow from the river. A standing Puddle if you will. Ronnie hits his knees, turns that net upside down and dumps out that brown on his head like a sack of potatoes. At this point Dustin and I had seen enough. We had confirmed on what was really going on here. On Our way out we wanted to Talk to Ronnie and explain to him TRY and educate him on what he is doing. Illegally Snagging fish and all the other Unethical decisions he was making by trampling over Spawning Browns and their eggs over and over and over. We called him by his name and it surprised him we knew who he was. As famous as he thinks he is he should have known all of us far and wide have heard of the Trout Pro’s Greatness. We told him what he was doing was wrong and we know what he is doing. We asked him if he was going to keep that fish? “Ill keep it if I damn Want to! Who the hell are you guys” We told him there is nothing we can do or the law can do for him not to keep his 1 fish of that size. We wanted to know Ronnie what happened to all the post that you have NEVER kept a fish from the SOHO. That all these fish live another day? We told him we know his technique, we have seen his rig, witness every bit of whats going on. He never had any comebacks or at least some kind of fabricated argument for what was going on and he had NOTHING. It blew us away that he knew EXACTLY what he was doing and felt no shame. “I can do whatever I want to do” is all he could say. "Ronnie this is true, but don’t claim to be something that your not. Don’t lie to everyone to us know here.” He said all these fish are Hooked!” Well really? I would imagine thats how they got in the net, unless he brought along his cast net, which wouldn’t surprise me. Hooked in the side, tail, and sometimes even lucky enough to floss those pretty whites right in the mouth. Yes all hooked by throwing heavy enough weight to knock someone out with a fly/hook 6 inches below it yanking it through reds like he trying to crank a chainsaw. "Ill show you these fish are going to live that I didn’t do nothing wrong”, as he reached for the fish he had just caught that he had trapped in his mud hole I catch a old green fly line sticking up. He puts the fish in this hole and runs a old fly cline through their gills like a stringer and stakes it off so they can’t flop out and escape. The kicker is he is not even worried if they flop out onto the grass bank surrounding the mud hole. The actual river is some 25 feet away. They would never get away from him if they had the chance. He needed the fish somewhat alive or if dead at least in cool water so they wouldn’t look dead when the sun came up for his pictures. Hero Shots of browns with rigamortis won’t get you to many likes on Orvis FB page will it? When Reaching for the fish another fish moved! I had been looking into this hole talking with him for a few minutes now and never even noticed that there was another 27/28 inch female in the hole along with the other brown of equal size and length. Thats how dirty this mud hole was he was holding these fish hostage in. I was shocked. Almost as if I had walked up on a open grave. He pulled one of the fish out and attempted to show us that they were ok. He carried it over and faced it towards the grates for a while for an attempted saving. Belly up was all that was being accomplished. The fish was trying but it wasn’t looking good. We asked him again if he really thought that this was ok? Agitated he said” if you guys really have a problem we can settle this like men!!” At this point we were so furious we didn’t even blink. We drop our gear, rods, and net and start walking over to him. Immediately he drops the fish from two hands to one hand sticks his other elbow up and hand over his face and screams “Stop ok!? Im sorry we can forget this, don’t beat me up on the river please.” Was his exact words. I am sure some of you are wondering where in the HELL is his fishing buddy at during all of this?!? He is 100 yards down river high stepping through reds looking for browns around spinning in circles with his headlamp like a merry go round. Dustin and I were done. We both looked at each other and seen where this road was going and didn’t want it to turn into something like that. A man like Ronnie wouldn’t have mattered. He lives with no Shame. He would continue and has to do what he sees fit at all cost. Live a life as a fraud. He probably wouldn’t even had waited the two weeks for his black eyes to heal before posting more brown trout shots. He would have worked it into this crazy elaborate detailed stories of browns taking him two hundred years down river and getting spooled twice. Falling over trees and going under water. He would have gotten his black eye from falling in the night on a rock or stump chasing the biggest brown of his life. We told him to enjoy this and that everyone would know the truth of what is happening. We turned around and walked. Later back at the truck Dustin and I were talking. Adrenaline rushing debating if right decisions were made and we knew they were. Trying to educate this crazy man on what he is doing was an honest attempt. QUICKY finding out how professional this guy is at what he does was to our hopeful mistake. Walking away was right. At the time I didn’t think it was but dustin helped ease my mind when he told me how his Father always told him to never hit nor hurt a coward. A coward doesn’t care for his own life why should he care for yours? The man you least to expect, A coward, will kill you. By all the comments I have seen Ronnie post throughout today about wishing he had his gun with him so he could have took care of us and all this just confirms to me what he is. A coward, and in that situation another time another place who knows what he would have done. Our truck was far off from their and we walked off as we were leaving. Hung low and snuck up on top of the bridge to watch what he would do. As you can guess the fish went back into his casket. His Buddy finally got bored or dizzy one and walked up to Ronnie. OF course we could hear Ronnie acting even tough for his buddy,” all these guys came out of the woods and assaulted me and harassed me. pushed me down, blah blah blah. lies lies lies. I don’t have time for #censor# like this, ego ego ego. Within half of hour they back at it. Break over Lets lets make some laps! They probably walk a mile and half every time they go fishing in the morning up and around the grates. We couldn’t believe he would go RIGHT BACK to this. We just watched at loss for words. The sun would be up in 45 min at this time. We agreed to bounce out and go get some breakfast and try and really put together what happened that morning. We get back to into town towards Stony Creek and Dustin realizes he left his net back on the SOHO when he dropped it from Ronnie asking us to fight and settle like “men.” We expected for it to be in tiny pieces when we got back or something but we couldn’t find it. At this point sun was just getting up and the Grates are SLAMMED. 13 vehicles in the lot now and looks like opening day on the Kenai. I wonder why the grates is so busy in January in crappy weather? Maybe because Social Media Butterfly Ron posts everyday about it that "BROWN TROUT ARE STILL HERE COME AND GET EM. EGGS ARE RIPE SPAWN IS ON BABY. HERE IS THE ADRESS!!” So we ask some people thats are now around that area where we dropped the net if they had seen him. It was a father and son. The father (Chris Monds) Who posted on the forum earlier today witnessing to this. The son points over at Ronnie and his busy and said he seen them pick up a net. “Ronnie have you seen our net.” All calm and normal like he don’t know who we are he says” oh yea man I seen some guys right after you left take it down river to the flats.” I knew he had it and he was trying to send us on a goose chase. I told dustin go act like you going down there to look and Ill sneak up in parking lot and check his truck. Sure enough what do I see in the back of his f-150 Cab? Our Net. I knew it was a mistake. Its a long handled Custom Built Oak Finish Ghost Net with Tail/Landing glove attached. There is a gentlemen in the parking lot in a white Tacoma(who if sees this please message me or dustin,) whitenesses this whole thing and we had a conversation while I was waiting on dustin to bring the truck over the bridge. This gentlemen was new to fly fishing back in March of 2014. He had been hooked up through Project Healing Waters and got introduce to our great sport. You could tell by the way he talked he was passionate and loved it and was excited to get better. He told me his goal for last year was to land 100 fish by ends year and he got to 96. But jokingly one of these big browns people are catching over here at the Grates would make up for that 4 right? Super nice guy. He said him and his buddy (both being from Johnson City) seen some pictures on FB of the browns here at the Grates this week and they wanted to see if they could cut into the pie. Direct result of EGO MANIC Ronnie! Hopeful and excited angler then had to see the very man that was the reason he came over to the SOHO start again with Dustin and I. He was screaming at how crazy WE were and he was doing nothing wrong. Made sure first before he walked up that both there rigs were cut off so no one would see there set up. ADMITTED that he stole our net and “was going to give it back” after we apologized to him OVER SOCIAL MEDIA. Its all about his image!!! He kept repeating Orvis this Orvis that, i don’t know what his obsession is with Orvis but guess what Ronnie, THEY TOOK YOUR LIES OFF THE PAGE! I was embarrassed for him as he kept arguing and cussing at us in front of other angles getting geared up in the parking lot next to him. the BEST part is he called the COPS on us! That we were Assaulting him. He tried to start/provoke a fight, he broke countless laws through snagging and other means, and then had stolen property and admitted to stealing it in front of a parking lot of fisherman! Call the Cops on US!?!? I don’t think I will ever understand him or that day. All we knew is that Everyone needed to know the truth. This man has huge following that is all a lie. Yes I’m sure he can fish and catch fish if he really WANTED too. Its what he IS doing. He is destroying a fishery at his own personal gain. He is killing two and three 25inch plus fish day in and day out. These browns are not surveying his torture chamber. I have seen it myself. Two fish in a hole so big they can’t even turn sideways. NO Running water to re supply oxygen. Tied up through their gills with Fly line. Carried in the worlds crappiest net for a 100 yards OUT of the water till they are bounced off the ground. Hours of sitting still waiting on the sun to come up so Ronnie can grab a couple good pics before people start showing up and seeing what he is doing. Generation Pulse them coming right after he throughs them back in. Yea they will do just find and hold their own in that. What is even crazier is he doing all this just for pics. He is not killing the fish to take home to stick on the mantle or grill up like we see time to time on a river. On a second note why in the world would you go through all this trouble and not get a little better camera? Im sure I’m not the only one to realize that haha. Worst photos all time. Ever. Least at night he would have a excuse. It kills me to think that people are looking up to him. NEW anglers even. He is speaking to classes about his fishing life as a “Trout Pro.” Discussing Gear and Tactics. Telling fishing stories! Yea they are stories alright. Dustin and I have never been the ones to get into Social Media Fueds but this about protecting what we all have come to love and appreciate it. The SOHO is such a good river but it could be GREAT. I think we are all in agreeance that it should be more protected and regulated than it already is. We have a WILD Brown Trout population that has been strong enough year and year out to produce good numbers of fish and BIG fish as we can clearly see. We want this to get better, not worse. We don’t want to see Hatchery Trucks having to back in over Emmett and Hickory Tree Bridge do we? Crowds of the nature I seen that morning over fishing spawning areas. Smaller and less fish year in and year out. It is a road we are headed. Rivers get more populated and more polluted. We all know the drill. We see it time and time again all over the country but we never think our home waters will be another number on that list. A topic of conversation “Back in the day when the SOHO was this and that.” Our great fishery doesn’t ever have to be something of the past. Doesn’t have to be a river that we should "got in on while the getting was good." We have the tools and beloved anglers alike that Love the SOHO and Watauga River to make sure that never happens in our life time nor our children’s. Lobby for changes with the ones that hold the power to make this river Catch and Release Only. The river is good why not make it great? I have dears friends who make their lively hood on this river. The great group of guys we all love at the SOUTH HOLSTON RIVER FLY SHOP " exist because of the SOHO. Protecting and Calling out men like Ronnie is a must. There will always be another Ronnie on every river. That doesn’t mean you shake your head and don’t try to educate as many people as you can. If they never listen then they never listen. He will always have a followers. Not everyone cares or understands enough to care. Even if we can only reach awareness of unethical practices to only one guy through all this, its all worth it. A perfect example is the younger kid who was with Ronnie that night. He contacted us through FB messaging not even half a hour after we left the parking lot apologizing for What him and Ronnie were doing. That he feels bad that he let Ronnie spoon Feed Him and bunch of BS and he now sees what they are doing is wrong. His long message of apology seemed sincere and very may well not really be, I will never know. Either Way, I did not want to throw him under the bus with Ronnie as he asked for us not to ruin his name as well.
As sad as what we experienced was, we are both very happy we went. We almost didn't and we would have thought maybe this guy was a legit and fishing was awesome and been jealous sitting at home the next day but now we know. It's relit our passion for this river and to protect it. I feel lucky to have to witnessed this first hand and see what man can do to nature and hate it.
They are always two sides of every story and as someone who respects this river, who loves this river, this is my story and my duty of what I KNOW about our beloved “Trout PRO”!!!
The Morning of Jan 3rd 2015- Dustin and I have been seeing a lot of post from Ronnie and his few buddies of Large Male and Female Brown trout be caught at the Grates on the South Holston River. Many of you had seen these photos shared through Orvis, fly-fishing forums, Ronnie Kittredge FB, or his egotistic self pro claimed Trout Pro-Ronnie KIttredge Page. These pics as always spread like wild fire and especially during the heat of Brown Trout Spawn at the most popular section of the river. Everyone who is familiar with this part of the river and its surroundings had probably caught on to the same things I did. All the photos at the time taken at the same location below the pump house where a small creek flows in. All photos were taken right at dusk with descriptions with them to support that. Several Epic Fishing stories of how he had been pulling all nighters and fishing from 2 am to sun up. Even some stories were saying he left at 6 am or before the sun or crowds arrived. All but two photos from around 15 fish of 25inch plus photos were taken in the same spot at the same times of days. We thought to ourselves well maybe he just isn’t doing well at night and the fish are needing a little bit of light to hook up with his drag fee drifts with estaz eggs on 6x tippet or his sucker spawn goo bug patterns tight lined 45 degree and away on the swing. Or maybe he just even loved that 50 year old brown falling apart building as a back drop for his epic photos. I just couldn’t figure out why was all these fish so far up from the bridge on this side of the river? The Red that a majority of these fish sit on, especially at night Any of us who has ever hooked a big brown before (in the mouth) has had it turn its head and take us down river a majority of the time. Yes even go up river a ways but typically back down in the general area if not further down stream. 100 percent on 5x or 6x tippet as Ronnie had claimed. There was too many questionable things going on. We had also heard from plenty of other stand up guys in the fishing community that this guy had wore his welcome out on several other rivers in the past for unethical things. He had made a post day or so before saying he was doing fishing for the year that he had has fill and it was now our turn to get into some fish, like we have permission to dig through his seconds. We knew someone with such a ego couldn’t pass up not going back after these browns after Orvis had got him a couple thousand likes the day before. So we packed the truck and left home at midnight Jan 3rd/4th with the hope of seeing the truth. The whole two Hour Drive we wanted to give him the Benefit of the doubt. When big fish are caught a lot of people let jealousy rule their tongue and get competitive with others with no facts to base claims. We have all had it happened to us and we don’t want to point fingers with out knowing. 3AM we already see headlamps in the river as we pass over the bridge to the Grates Parking lot. We knew it. We double back to get on the SAME Side of the river as the post. When we got down there to the water they had actually made it to the other side River Left facing us. Our plan was to ust play cool and look like any other two guys fishing to them selves. Within Five Min I here it. The Ka Plunk….KA Plunk…..Ka Plunk….lift Rod Ka Plunk. I know this sound very well. Working as a Fishing Guide In Alaska you come to hear and see this action on a daily basis. The ole Sockeye fly, Nose Grabber, Flossing, Snagging, Foul Hook, Fish Brocking. What ever term you have come to use. It was Three seconds intervals of Heavy Weight being thrown over and over with a purpose. I was at lost for words. Then with Two VERY Bright headlamps (idk if they was packing LED light or what but it was like they was wearing car headlights on there head. When they looked around at us it was like a lighthouse spinning at sea) they would scan the water together as they would start at the bottom of the red about 150 feet below the bridge and start walking across and up together. PUSHING the fish and looking for them. They were Cornering fish for a few split seconds and having enough time to get a three second snag drift on them to try and stick one. They were just targeting the large 25 inch fish and bigger because those are the only ones you have a large enough mass to get a fast snag on before they swim off. Even sometimes it would look as if the fish were pausing when this bright light would hit them like a deer in the headlights. Enough time to drop the kitchen sink with a hook underneath in on em. This Large Red they were fishing only runs a foot deep for the majority throughout. Seeing all the way through the water was no trouble for them. It also clicked in my mind that this makes so much sense as well because his post would say “5 hours fishing through the night and hooked 4 fish! or went 2 for 3 tonight, and all the fish were always 25 inch plus. The fish wasn’t eating. He couldn’t catch the Browns and aggressive Rainbows that out number the large fish 5 to 1 on the same red because they weren’t a big enough target. Or maybe only big fish like to eat 1/4 ounce led balls and a hook? Who would have known? I guess Ronnie. Bombarding around in circles like its Drunken Nascar Race on the river. Stepping ALL Over every inch of the reds. crossing the river side to side up and down. Screaming “Oh theres one! You see that ONE? Get em he is Huge!” At this point Dustin and I had already retreated back onto the sidelines to under the bridge to watch this and talk about what is really happening here. We thought we were dreaming and we didn’t really get up at midnight to come see this circus. They hook up for the first time since our arrival aground 3:45AM. Fish goes straight UP Stream after hooked and they turn its head and yank it back to them like you would a 6 inch brookie. Fought the Fish ten seconds before it was in the net. Pretty tuff 6x huh Ronnie? Where did you buy that at cause I know we are all wanting some. More like 10lb test lets be real. 5x and 6x couldn’t even hold the amount of weight being slung around like nunchucks. When you think it can’t get any crazier it does. I was expecting camera flash’s and such for his post but wait thats right its still 4am and the soon isn’t up for three hours. No normal person can expect to take a picture of a fish when its caught. We have to wait, what was I thinking? The fish is then transferred from one net to another net from the 1970’s. You know the old metal nets with Green Nylon like in a cast net with a 4 foot drop hole. A fish around the 28 Inch Mark goes into this net and Ronnie walks this fish from down Below the bridge through the Water all the way up to the Grates holding the fish up OUT of the water the whole time. Would be a normal practice right if you was planning on keeping the fish? He walks to the far bank in the grass and hovers over this lil water hole. A back fill Mudhole that water stays in from when the TVA Generates and water gets up. 3 feet long by 2 feet wide 1 foot deep. Separated from any flow from the river. A standing Puddle if you will. Ronnie hits his knees, turns that net upside down and dumps out that brown on his head like a sack of potatoes. At this point Dustin and I had seen enough. We had confirmed on what was really going on here. On Our way out we wanted to Talk to Ronnie and explain to him TRY and educate him on what he is doing. Illegally Snagging fish and all the other Unethical decisions he was making by trampling over Spawning Browns and their eggs over and over and over. We called him by his name and it surprised him we knew who he was. As famous as he thinks he is he should have known all of us far and wide have heard of the Trout Pro’s Greatness. We told him what he was doing was wrong and we know what he is doing. We asked him if he was going to keep that fish? “Ill keep it if I damn Want to! Who the hell are you guys” We told him there is nothing we can do or the law can do for him not to keep his 1 fish of that size. We wanted to know Ronnie what happened to all the post that you have NEVER kept a fish from the SOHO. That all these fish live another day? We told him we know his technique, we have seen his rig, witness every bit of whats going on. He never had any comebacks or at least some kind of fabricated argument for what was going on and he had NOTHING. It blew us away that he knew EXACTLY what he was doing and felt no shame. “I can do whatever I want to do” is all he could say. "Ronnie this is true, but don’t claim to be something that your not. Don’t lie to everyone to us know here.” He said all these fish are Hooked!” Well really? I would imagine thats how they got in the net, unless he brought along his cast net, which wouldn’t surprise me. Hooked in the side, tail, and sometimes even lucky enough to floss those pretty whites right in the mouth. Yes all hooked by throwing heavy enough weight to knock someone out with a fly/hook 6 inches below it yanking it through reds like he trying to crank a chainsaw. "Ill show you these fish are going to live that I didn’t do nothing wrong”, as he reached for the fish he had just caught that he had trapped in his mud hole I catch a old green fly line sticking up. He puts the fish in this hole and runs a old fly cline through their gills like a stringer and stakes it off so they can’t flop out and escape. The kicker is he is not even worried if they flop out onto the grass bank surrounding the mud hole. The actual river is some 25 feet away. They would never get away from him if they had the chance. He needed the fish somewhat alive or if dead at least in cool water so they wouldn’t look dead when the sun came up for his pictures. Hero Shots of browns with rigamortis won’t get you to many likes on Orvis FB page will it? When Reaching for the fish another fish moved! I had been looking into this hole talking with him for a few minutes now and never even noticed that there was another 27/28 inch female in the hole along with the other brown of equal size and length. Thats how dirty this mud hole was he was holding these fish hostage in. I was shocked. Almost as if I had walked up on a open grave. He pulled one of the fish out and attempted to show us that they were ok. He carried it over and faced it towards the grates for a while for an attempted saving. Belly up was all that was being accomplished. The fish was trying but it wasn’t looking good. We asked him again if he really thought that this was ok? Agitated he said” if you guys really have a problem we can settle this like men!!” At this point we were so furious we didn’t even blink. We drop our gear, rods, and net and start walking over to him. Immediately he drops the fish from two hands to one hand sticks his other elbow up and hand over his face and screams “Stop ok!? Im sorry we can forget this, don’t beat me up on the river please.” Was his exact words. I am sure some of you are wondering where in the HELL is his fishing buddy at during all of this?!? He is 100 yards down river high stepping through reds looking for browns around spinning in circles with his headlamp like a merry go round. Dustin and I were done. We both looked at each other and seen where this road was going and didn’t want it to turn into something like that. A man like Ronnie wouldn’t have mattered. He lives with no Shame. He would continue and has to do what he sees fit at all cost. Live a life as a fraud. He probably wouldn’t even had waited the two weeks for his black eyes to heal before posting more brown trout shots. He would have worked it into this crazy elaborate detailed stories of browns taking him two hundred years down river and getting spooled twice. Falling over trees and going under water. He would have gotten his black eye from falling in the night on a rock or stump chasing the biggest brown of his life. We told him to enjoy this and that everyone would know the truth of what is happening. We turned around and walked. Later back at the truck Dustin and I were talking. Adrenaline rushing debating if right decisions were made and we knew they were. Trying to educate this crazy man on what he is doing was an honest attempt. QUICKY finding out how professional this guy is at what he does was to our hopeful mistake. Walking away was right. At the time I didn’t think it was but dustin helped ease my mind when he told me how his Father always told him to never hit nor hurt a coward. A coward doesn’t care for his own life why should he care for yours? The man you least to expect, A coward, will kill you. By all the comments I have seen Ronnie post throughout today about wishing he had his gun with him so he could have took care of us and all this just confirms to me what he is. A coward, and in that situation another time another place who knows what he would have done. Our truck was far off from their and we walked off as we were leaving. Hung low and snuck up on top of the bridge to watch what he would do. As you can guess the fish went back into his casket. His Buddy finally got bored or dizzy one and walked up to Ronnie. OF course we could hear Ronnie acting even tough for his buddy,” all these guys came out of the woods and assaulted me and harassed me. pushed me down, blah blah blah. lies lies lies. I don’t have time for #censor# like this, ego ego ego. Within half of hour they back at it. Break over Lets lets make some laps! They probably walk a mile and half every time they go fishing in the morning up and around the grates. We couldn’t believe he would go RIGHT BACK to this. We just watched at loss for words. The sun would be up in 45 min at this time. We agreed to bounce out and go get some breakfast and try and really put together what happened that morning. We get back to into town towards Stony Creek and Dustin realizes he left his net back on the SOHO when he dropped it from Ronnie asking us to fight and settle like “men.” We expected for it to be in tiny pieces when we got back or something but we couldn’t find it. At this point sun was just getting up and the Grates are SLAMMED. 13 vehicles in the lot now and looks like opening day on the Kenai. I wonder why the grates is so busy in January in crappy weather? Maybe because Social Media Butterfly Ron posts everyday about it that "BROWN TROUT ARE STILL HERE COME AND GET EM. EGGS ARE RIPE SPAWN IS ON BABY. HERE IS THE ADRESS!!” So we ask some people thats are now around that area where we dropped the net if they had seen him. It was a father and son. The father (Chris Monds) Who posted on the forum earlier today witnessing to this. The son points over at Ronnie and his busy and said he seen them pick up a net. “Ronnie have you seen our net.” All calm and normal like he don’t know who we are he says” oh yea man I seen some guys right after you left take it down river to the flats.” I knew he had it and he was trying to send us on a goose chase. I told dustin go act like you going down there to look and Ill sneak up in parking lot and check his truck. Sure enough what do I see in the back of his f-150 Cab? Our Net. I knew it was a mistake. Its a long handled Custom Built Oak Finish Ghost Net with Tail/Landing glove attached. There is a gentlemen in the parking lot in a white Tacoma(who if sees this please message me or dustin,) whitenesses this whole thing and we had a conversation while I was waiting on dustin to bring the truck over the bridge. This gentlemen was new to fly fishing back in March of 2014. He had been hooked up through Project Healing Waters and got introduce to our great sport. You could tell by the way he talked he was passionate and loved it and was excited to get better. He told me his goal for last year was to land 100 fish by ends year and he got to 96. But jokingly one of these big browns people are catching over here at the Grates would make up for that 4 right? Super nice guy. He said him and his buddy (both being from Johnson City) seen some pictures on FB of the browns here at the Grates this week and they wanted to see if they could cut into the pie. Direct result of EGO MANIC Ronnie! Hopeful and excited angler then had to see the very man that was the reason he came over to the SOHO start again with Dustin and I. He was screaming at how crazy WE were and he was doing nothing wrong. Made sure first before he walked up that both there rigs were cut off so no one would see there set up. ADMITTED that he stole our net and “was going to give it back” after we apologized to him OVER SOCIAL MEDIA. Its all about his image!!! He kept repeating Orvis this Orvis that, i don’t know what his obsession is with Orvis but guess what Ronnie, THEY TOOK YOUR LIES OFF THE PAGE! I was embarrassed for him as he kept arguing and cussing at us in front of other angles getting geared up in the parking lot next to him. the BEST part is he called the COPS on us! That we were Assaulting him. He tried to start/provoke a fight, he broke countless laws through snagging and other means, and then had stolen property and admitted to stealing it in front of a parking lot of fisherman! Call the Cops on US!?!? I don’t think I will ever understand him or that day. All we knew is that Everyone needed to know the truth. This man has huge following that is all a lie. Yes I’m sure he can fish and catch fish if he really WANTED too. Its what he IS doing. He is destroying a fishery at his own personal gain. He is killing two and three 25inch plus fish day in and day out. These browns are not surveying his torture chamber. I have seen it myself. Two fish in a hole so big they can’t even turn sideways. NO Running water to re supply oxygen. Tied up through their gills with Fly line. Carried in the worlds crappiest net for a 100 yards OUT of the water till they are bounced off the ground. Hours of sitting still waiting on the sun to come up so Ronnie can grab a couple good pics before people start showing up and seeing what he is doing. Generation Pulse them coming right after he throughs them back in. Yea they will do just find and hold their own in that. What is even crazier is he doing all this just for pics. He is not killing the fish to take home to stick on the mantle or grill up like we see time to time on a river. On a second note why in the world would you go through all this trouble and not get a little better camera? Im sure I’m not the only one to realize that haha. Worst photos all time. Ever. Least at night he would have a excuse. It kills me to think that people are looking up to him. NEW anglers even. He is speaking to classes about his fishing life as a “Trout Pro.” Discussing Gear and Tactics. Telling fishing stories! Yea they are stories alright. Dustin and I have never been the ones to get into Social Media Fueds but this about protecting what we all have come to love and appreciate it. The SOHO is such a good river but it could be GREAT. I think we are all in agreeance that it should be more protected and regulated than it already is. We have a WILD Brown Trout population that has been strong enough year and year out to produce good numbers of fish and BIG fish as we can clearly see. We want this to get better, not worse. We don’t want to see Hatchery Trucks having to back in over Emmett and Hickory Tree Bridge do we? Crowds of the nature I seen that morning over fishing spawning areas. Smaller and less fish year in and year out. It is a road we are headed. Rivers get more populated and more polluted. We all know the drill. We see it time and time again all over the country but we never think our home waters will be another number on that list. A topic of conversation “Back in the day when the SOHO was this and that.” Our great fishery doesn’t ever have to be something of the past. Doesn’t have to be a river that we should "got in on while the getting was good." We have the tools and beloved anglers alike that Love the SOHO and Watauga River to make sure that never happens in our life time nor our children’s. Lobby for changes with the ones that hold the power to make this river Catch and Release Only. The river is good why not make it great? I have dears friends who make their lively hood on this river. The great group of guys we all love at the SOUTH HOLSTON RIVER FLY SHOP " exist because of the SOHO. Protecting and Calling out men like Ronnie is a must. There will always be another Ronnie on every river. That doesn’t mean you shake your head and don’t try to educate as many people as you can. If they never listen then they never listen. He will always have a followers. Not everyone cares or understands enough to care. Even if we can only reach awareness of unethical practices to only one guy through all this, its all worth it. A perfect example is the younger kid who was with Ronnie that night. He contacted us through FB messaging not even half a hour after we left the parking lot apologizing for What him and Ronnie were doing. That he feels bad that he let Ronnie spoon Feed Him and bunch of BS and he now sees what they are doing is wrong. His long message of apology seemed sincere and very may well not really be, I will never know. Either Way, I did not want to throw him under the bus with Ronnie as he asked for us not to ruin his name as well.
As sad as what we experienced was, we are both very happy we went. We almost didn't and we would have thought maybe this guy was a legit and fishing was awesome and been jealous sitting at home the next day but now we know. It's relit our passion for this river and to protect it. I feel lucky to have to witnessed this first hand and see what man can do to nature and hate it.
They are always two sides of every story and as someone who respects this river, who loves this river, this is my story and my duty of what I KNOW about our beloved “Trout PRO”!!!
JackM
Moderator
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A free Simms coozie for anyone who actually reads the previous post.
M
moon1284
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Do you unintentionally fish redds? Bullying? LOL
Tucker733
Member
I read the story before posting can I just pm you my address lol. The guy is pretty full of himself and he's the complete opposite of anyone I've have met in the sport. There are also screen shots of citation style he's received for use bait in areas is outlawed in NC
foxtrapper1972
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Who will play the part of Kittredge in the made for TV movie?
krayfish2
Well-known member
Jack,
Pay up, I actually read it. I'd love a coozie.
Fox,
I nominate Shane to play the part of Ronnie. No mustache and dye hair to look like a ginger. LOL
Tucker,
The whole situation could be easily solved by closing river plus all tribs from the grates downstream1 mile. Legal or not, I've always thought it was unethical to fish spawning trout. All of you guys that fish that area need to approach the state about closing nursery waters December 1 - Match 15. It can only help protect the fishery
Pay up, I actually read it. I'd love a coozie.
Fox,
I nominate Shane to play the part of Ronnie. No mustache and dye hair to look like a ginger. LOL
Tucker,
The whole situation could be easily solved by closing river plus all tribs from the grates downstream1 mile. Legal or not, I've always thought it was unethical to fish spawning trout. All of you guys that fish that area need to approach the state about closing nursery waters December 1 - Match 15. It can only help protect the fishery
The_Sasquatch
Well-known member
Fox I understand the spoof sites, but Becker brought this to my attention BEFORE his FB was shut down and I saw for myself his own words that he finessed trout off the redds. Bragged about using 6x to do it, and egg patterns.
I realize fishing over spawning fish isn't illegal, but lots of things that are legal are unethical, and this would be one of them.
I realize fishing over spawning fish isn't illegal, but lots of things that are legal are unethical, and this would be one of them.
SBecker
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I don't even have hair.
pro4mance
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I read it and my brain hurts now. Coozie please!
T
tomitrout
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I managed to learn that they dropped their net when they went to 'drop gloves' for even more added drama....riveting stuff.
FarmerDave
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I hope you all realize what this means.
It means pcray no-longer has the longest message on this site!
It means pcray no-longer has the longest message on this site!
FarmerDave
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I'm fascinated that you saved that.
But in fairness to me, I didn't say I would poop on anyone's deck. Just next to it.;-)
What's a little fertilizer between friends?
Nothing to worry about. I wouldn't do that for no reason, and I'd actually be more creative if I had reason. ;-)
P.S. 14
foxtrapper1972
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Farmer Dave-All in good fun! I knew I could use it someday... You are a very quotable guy.
Sasquatch (and others)- I don't think fishing redds is a good idea and the guy is a blow hard. The spoof site is actually pretty lame and even the "novel" above is silly. When people go to all this trouble to go after one guy I am a bit suspicious that there might be
some rumour and hype thrown in.
Krayfish makes sense about solving the problem by shutting down the area.
Sasquatch (and others)- I don't think fishing redds is a good idea and the guy is a blow hard. The spoof site is actually pretty lame and even the "novel" above is silly. When people go to all this trouble to go after one guy I am a bit suspicious that there might be
some rumour and hype thrown in.
Krayfish makes sense about solving the problem by shutting down the area.
The_Sasquatch
Well-known member
I'm sure there are SOME rumors, but being jealous of big fish or whatever generally doesn't turn the entire interwebz against you. I don't know about the snagging or not (although again, Kray's pic w/ that wounded 'bow is concerning), but my thing is this. If you're gonna prop yourself up as a "Trout Pro", land lucrative sponsorship deals with the largest fly fishing companies in the world, and have tens of thousands of followers on social media, you become a face for this sport and you're gonna have a lot of young and new anglers looking up to you. One of the last things we want to be teaching, or letting represent the fly fishing community, is the idea that we target wild fish while they're spawning.
So I don't go for blood from anyone. I don't get into these mocking sites and all that. But I will say that when I see things like this it angers me, concerns me, and I'm glad to see companies like Orvis dump this guy. You can see it in his face, man. He's missing a few marbles.
So I don't go for blood from anyone. I don't get into these mocking sites and all that. But I will say that when I see things like this it angers me, concerns me, and I'm glad to see companies like Orvis dump this guy. You can see it in his face, man. He's missing a few marbles.
wildtrout2
Well-known member
I read it all as well. Mainly because I wanted to hear some "facts" about this fellow and his agenda. It would have been much easier to read if he had used PARAGRAPHS. Yep, he's got issues.
KeithS
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Who's up for a trip to SH to see for ourselves?
