Ronnie Everett, a giant in the Arkansas bass fishing community, died last Sunday at age 52 after a long battle with cancer.
I was surprised to hear this because I saw Ronnie several months ago. I asked how he was doing, and he answered the way he always did. "Better'n I deserve."
A natural salesman, Everett was the longtime director for the Mr. Bass of Arkansas Pro-Am tournament circuit. Ronnie's father, the late Porter Everett, founded Mr. Bass of Arkansas in 1974. It quickly became the spawning ground for a roster of anglers who dominated professional bass fishing for nearly two decades.
Ronnie took over the circuit in 1993. It continued to flourish and stayed relevant in the face of well-funded, highly organized competition.
Ronnie sold Mr. Bass of Arkansas in 2009, partly because he wanted to fish Mr. Bass of Arkansas as a competitor.
Mark Hedrick of Little Rock knew Everett since the early 1980s. He said Everett wasn't particularly interested in winning tournaments. He just wanted to enjoy the fellowship of fellow anglers as a peer.
"He loved to fish, but I think he enjoyed the camaraderie more than he enjoyed fishing," Hedrick said. "You make the kind of friends fishing that you don't make anywhere else, and that was really important to him."
Everett was one of the first people I met when I joined the staff of the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette in 2005. We had lunch at Ed & Kay's Restaurant in Benton, where he briefed me about Arkansas's tournament fishing scene.
I asked him for some names that I should watch closely. Two that he mentioned were Duke Gunnell and Billy McCaghren. They were dominant on the Mr. Bass circuit, and McCaghren is now successful on the Bassmaster Elite Series Tour.
"For guys in Arkansas that have been fortunate enough to fish at a professional level, what Ronnie did for Arkansas was equal to what Ernie Daughtery did in Missouri with Central Pro-Am," McCaghren said.
Daughtery was a colorful and fascinating character, but McCaghren said he had nothing on Ronnie Everett.
"I liked a lot of tournament directors, but it could easily be said Ronnie was the best," McCaghren said.
Everett liked to hunt, too. At least, he liked to go hunting. McCaghren recalled a pheasant hunt in Kansas where Everett never unslung his shotgun from his shoulder. He was on his phone doing business the whole time.
"Ronnie didn't make any money by being director of Mr. Bass," McCaghren said. "He made just enough in a year where he could take himself and one of the guys that worked for him pheasant hunting. That's how he paid him."
Jerry Williams of Conway probably knew Everett better than anyone. He fished the first Mr. Bass of Arkansas tournament in 1974, and he started working with Everett at a car dealership in Russellville in 1983, shortly after Ronnie married his beloved wife Lorie.
"I knew him since he was 10 years old," Williams said. "Forty-two years. That's a long time."
Everett commonly worked 70 hours a week at selling cars and running Mr. Bass, Williams said. Even when cancer began to overwhelm him, he remained cheerful and optimistic.
"He was the most caring, loving, God-fearing person I ever met," Williams said. "I'm 68 years old, and I've never met anyone as thoughtful as he was."
Williams recalled fishing with Everett on Lake Dardanelle. Williams was on the bow of the boat running the trolling motor when he hit a submerged log. The boat stopped instantly, and Williams lost his balance.
"Ronnie was already laughing before I went over the side," Williams said. "I just threw my rod at him and fell in the water. He laughed so hard he barely had the strength to help me get back in the boat."
McCaghren and Williams said that if you were ever in a jam, Everett was the one person you could always count on for help. Williams said Everett drove to Lake Dardanelle from Little Rock several times to get Williams' disabled boat off the water or to fix it on site.
"Porter Everett would do anything in the world for you if he liked you," Williams said. "Ronnie didn't have to like you to do anything in the world for you."
The last Mr. Bass of Arkansas tournament of Everett's life occurred last Saturday at Greers Ferry Lake. At 2 a.m. Sunday, Williams said, Ronnie woke in his hospital bed and asked, "Who won the tournament?" Those were his last words.
Jeremiah Kindy won.
Ronnie mentioned him in that 2005 meeting at Ed & Kay's, too.
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Sports on 05/24/2015