Bobby Randall was my very first crappie charter (and my favorite crew) and as providence would have it, my last.
It was rainy and really cold that first trip ten years ago in March, we caught one fish (giant crappie of course) and he has booked two trips every year since.
This last trip, it rained all day, it just wasn't quite as cold.
I tried to change up to a carp trip the night before as it was the end of the season and the crappie hadn't been very dependable but, Bobby is a die hard crappie lover and he wanted to take his chances with crappie.
It was always funny, talking with other crews, about my favorite crew, Bobby's crew. His son Robbie was with us today, He's a senior in high school now. He started fishing with us when he was nine. Over ten years, there have been a number of crew members. Mostly family (dad and cousins and close friends). My favorite line up is Bobby, Robbie, Chandler (Unck) and Dee, all family
That was this last day's crew, perfect.
It started raining at 7AM and never stopped. Some thunder in the background didn't sound good. (I put the antenna down...LOL) It poured from 730 to 8. We picked at them and I was happy with the fact that we were catching fish. It wasn't until a move to the back of the creek, that Bobby started casting a Mr. Crappie jig (only allowed for favorite crews...) Something amazing happened. The fish wanted that jig twitched under a bobber, more than they wanted a live shiner, go figure.
We caught fish, stood in water on the deck all day and laughed a lot, even in the soaking rain, it was bitter sweet.
We took our pictures and said our goodbyes. He has already booked two trips with Capt Mike for 2024...
Thanks for the memories Bobby.
And scene...
Capt Dave
