Thread: READ: Biggest Crappie.com contest ever -Eight Driftmaster Crappie Stalkers NEW DESIGN

Well my good deed is not as impressive as Crappie Stalkers but here goes. After I burned my hand good I decided to stay an extra night at spring camp after Rip A Lip invited me to stay with him. We were all sitting around with Slab , Billbob , Yankee Doodler and Rip A Lip and could hear some man getting irate across the campground. We seen a silver SUV riding around the campground all evening pulling a red boat trailer. They never stopped and spoke or nothing but was making the same loop over and over. This morning as Slab and Yankee Doodler were packing up their stuff Slab gave me the last 4 c.c flashlights he had to give away at a later time. About 15 minutes later the same SUV came back thru and stopped. There was a lady and 3 young kids inside. She asked if we would help her load her boat and back her truck in the water since the people was with her would not help due to a dispute they had last night. I obliged and unhooked my boat and told her I would meet her at the ramp. Rip and I rode around to the boat ramp and rehooked her trailer to her SUV and I took her back to her boat while Rip waited at her truck with the 3 children. As we were on our way back around to her boat she told me that their father had just passed and they were coming to live with her. We arrived back at her boat and we jumped in and took it back to the boat ramp. I loaded the boat on the trailer and Rip strapped her down. She was very thankful that we had helped. We all rode back to my truck and we split ways. When arriving back at our campsite I remembered the flashlights and decided to give them to her and the kids. As they were leaving they stopped and gave the flashlights to them and explained crappie.com to her and the kids were tickled to death about the prizes. Billbob and Rip snapped a few group pictures of us. If everyone showed everyone the same respect that c.c users did we would live in a much better place. Thanks ED for bringing us all together

Not really a good deed but a story of what happened yesterday.

Living right on my home lake, I tend to somewhat isolate myself. Not intentionally (Well, maybe a little) but never the less with a cabin/home that seems to need constant attending it seems like and a lake beaconing right off the back yard, I have everything I need and want to do when I’m at home. I work all over the world and coming home is a ”vacation” for me.
So, getting up early one fine spring morning, I thought I would call my Dad whom I hadn’t spent a lot of time with even though I had been home a while. Regretfully I had poured all my time and energy into working on the place before I had to go back out on the road the next time. I asked him if he wanted to go fishing. To my surprise, he said yes and could my uncle come. Of course there’s only one answer to that so I told him I’d meet them at the boat ramp.
I was early and proceeded to unload the boat, put the truck away and idle over to the dock to let him get in. At 69, he’s getting a little stove up to be clambering in a boat from the ramp. As I saw his old truck come pulling in and parking I remembered when he’d loaned me that old truck when my marriage had went south way back then and I didn’t have even the proverbial pot for a couple of months while I got everything straightened out in my life.

He come out alone saying my uncle couldn’t make it. I was secretly kinda glad as my boat will really only fish two comfortably and three tightly. Got him loaded and as he looked across the whole array of Shimanos, Revos, Kistler and B&M rods and the rest of the stuff I seem to accumulate, he asked if he could use the Zebco 33 mounted on the Ugly stick strapped down on the deck. I remembered the Zebco 202s he had got my brother and I when we were little. Mine had red tape around the handle to keep us from fighting over whose was whose.
He had a floppy hat on that I was told to not make fun of. He was supposed to wear it to keep the sun off from too much. My wife had admonished me also to bring water and not keep him out there in one of my marathon sessions that I’m known for. As we got up on plane, he’s hanging onto that hat to keep it from blowing off as I’ve did so many times before. I remembered the ball cap collection he had when I was a kid from all the various reps and companies associated with him working in the oil fields. Musta had over a hundred at least. Also told me that he’d forgot his teeth in the truck if we had to bite anything.
Across the lake and up the river we went. I saw it’s still a little chilly for him so I pull it back and just keep the boat on plane. We cross the lake and work our way up the river with a bite once and a while but nothing in the boat. Talking and shooting the bull the whole way.

He’s been a Mason for a while and goes to a different lodge because he hates the arguing and politics at his local chapter. Also, he confesses the local lodge has like 50 steps to climb up to enter. He has to stop and catch his breath bout half way up he tells me. So he goes to the nearest other one as they are on level ground. I remember him two handing a ford v8 short block out on the fender of some old car they were working on in the driveway when I was a kid when the chain hoist jammed up. Strong as an ox back then. After Prostate cancer and a double bypass and one now too close to mess with, he has be a little careful now. “Get winded easy”, as he calls it. I manage to bump a couple of stumps like I always seem to do and he tells me it was always was kinda shallow there. Even back before I was born when he used to come there with his cousins in a old tin boat with board seats that pinched you if you sat on it wrong.

Spent about half the day out and I worked my way back towards the ramp. A pontoon boat scooted in just in front of us on the dock so I circled back to a brush pile across the inlet while they sorted everything out. As we trolled it a couple of times the bites came in but no catches. All of a sudden, I saw his bobber dip and the tip of the rod ease up in his wrinkled hands. With a tug a fish was on! Watching him work it a few moments, I remembered some of the times in my past and when I had taken my sons fishing whom have grown and moved away doing their own thing.

The fish on his rod? It was a crappie. Not a big ol slab or anything. Just average. Only fish in the boat for the day. After we loaded up, he drove away in that old truck after telling me, “Best fishin trip in a long time!”
As I got in the truck to head back towards the house with a coupla tears in my eyes , I just sat there a minute or two and thought that even though I had been going nearly every day the last three months and sometimes twice a day even, he was right.

It had been the, “Best fishin trip in a long time.”

@Lowe170w - I have to reply to this one... Great story! It's so hard to explain to people who don't fish what it means. For me anyway, it isn't all about catching the biggest or the most - or in many cases for me, catching anything at all. It's that quality time with family or close friends doing something we all enjoy. There's just something about being on a lake that is so peaceful and gives a guy a chance to see what's really important in life... Reading these stories has really inspired me to make more time to take my son out more before he gets old enough to move out on his own... Thanks to everybody for sharing!

Not to often one hears about GREAT people, OUTSTANDING companies. I am part of an organization called ARM ( anglers as role models ). We work with the Big Brothers, Big Sisters to take kids fishing for a day that other wise would never get a chance. These kids are from broken homes, or problem kids, some are from the inner city. Each child is given a brand new rod, reel and tackle box, set up ready to fish DONATED by company's in the area, that the kids get to keep. A local resort gives us FREE access to there grounds, launches, docks, supplies all live bait, and a tent set up that they rent for the festivities. Local super markets supplies food, beverages, and snacks for the kids. Most of these kids have never been in a boat much less fish. Many kids and there Bigs come from as far a way as 150 miles on buses DONATED from various companies. We average around 50 kids a year. The anglers donate there time boat and gas for this occasion, we have one angler that makes a 275 mile trek one way, to participate. The fun and smiles on these kids faces, when they get to fish and ride in some pretty cool boats is unforgettable for all that take part. This is a HUGE THANK YOU TO COMPANIES AND PEOPLE that donate there time and money to make someone else's dream and an unforgettable time come true. ( I am not aloud to post any pics of the kids in a public forum, to protect the kids. )

Thanks Bricks, jarred my memory and remembered a time in the 1970's when I was a member of the Big Brothers &
Big Sisters of Tarrant County of Fort Worth. My little brother lived just one block from our home and I saw him a lot
more than the schedule suggested. We spent most of our time fishing from my 16' jon boat for any kind of fish in
any lake we decided to fish. First trip we scheduled, we had a long talk about safety and procedures to follow prior
to launch and the drain plug was the last and most important detail we discussed. When we arrived at our chosen
lake, we went through the details and check off list to make sure all bases were covered for a successful trip. After
the launch I had him hold the rope while I parked the truck and all seemed to be right for a great day of fishing.
I loaded him and pushed off and made my way to the back of the boat and when I stepped in water that splashed
into my tennis shoe, I knew I had forgotten to double check the plug. I started the motor and off we went parallel
to the bank and all the while the water was sucked out of the back of the boat and he never knew until he saw me
install the plug. He apologized for the oversite and I apologized for not double checking and we agreed to keep our
minds on our business and that was to catch a bunch of fish. He caught his first fish that day and we had many more
successful trips for the next couple of years. He moved to Washington State near Mt. St. Helens and was there when
the top blew off. He mailed me some of the ash in a plastic baggie and we stayed in touch until he started playing
sports in school. Hat off to you Shawn, where ever you are today. Fond memories of years gone by and the beginning
of many years working and coaching with youngsters playing baseball.

RetiredRR hats off to you the Big Brothers Big Sisters help a lot of kids, thanks for taking the time to share your life experiences and help a kid.

The most satisfying deed I have ever performed related to crappie fishing was at Fall Camp on Lake Nimrod Arkansas, last year. After fishing the day and being involved in the camp Saturday night cook, I found myself with a nice mess of fish to clean after most of the festivities were over. When I got up to the cleaning station at the campground, a man and his boy were scaling 2 fish, a bass, and a crappie. I laid my fish out and started fileting what my wife and I had caught and struck up a conversation while we were cleaning. After they had finished with the 2 fish, the man turned and said to his boy, mamma is sure gonna be proud to have fresh fish. I quickly did the math and figured out there were three people and 2 fish. By that time, I had fileted 8 and I asked the man if he would like to take those filets. He gladly accepted my offer.

Helping those in need seems to be an unspoken rule of Crappie.com people. Whether it is sharing some of the best eating fish on the planet, expanding your fishing knowledge, or helping a fellow fisherman in need, crappie.com people always step up strong. The simple little words of "prayer sent" says volumes about the forum and its people. Yes, it is a crappie fishing forum, but the friendships across the country, that crappie.com has brought together, are far more valuable than the quantities of fish that are caught daily by its members. I'm so glad to have found this forum and it's people to hang out with.

I was fishing a few weeks ago and a new warden and his mentor warden were checking on the lake. They pulled up killed their motor and asked to see my license. We talked a little and I explained being new he should really be careful on the lake at low pool with submerged stumps. After that their motor refused to start. I offered to help but they declined and after the battery went dead from cranking I offered again. Again they declined , explained they had a portable jumper to start it. I returned to fishing as the wind blew their boat away from the ramp even farther. I heard something and looked up to see them waving and hollering ''we changed our mind''. I rolled up my line and motored over. Tried to jump their motor with no luck and towed them to the ramp. They sure were thankful and I just asked them to remember I was on the lake almost daily and if I ever needed a tow. They smiled and said you sure got it as we parted ways. I know they had to notice all the Crappie.com stickers on my boat transom as I towed them in. They are not the first and probably not the last I'll rescue on the water.