Slab Hunting

Sometimes I forget that not everyone fishes the same way that we do. Yes it's true. There are very serious, very competitive fisherman out there, professionals no less, that don't do what we do at all. And sometimes its easy to forget that this whole other extremely serious cohort of fisherman are out there fishing the way that they fish, and they probably don't really think about us, fishing the way that we do. We're just different.

Allow me to introduce you to Ronnie Capps...

Ronnie Capps is a "Champion Tournament Pro Crappie Fisherman." And from everything that I can see, he is an absolute fucking legend. Clark and I were introduced to Ronnie through somewhat fortuitous happenstance. This guy Jason that used to work for our company was a freshwater bass fisherman, and he left an old BassMasters magazine in our social lounge at the office. Clark and I were grabbing a coffee, saw that magazine and took a gander, and in there was an article about Ronnie Capps. I believe the article was titled "Spider Rigging for Summer Slabs."

Yes indeed Ronnie Capps is world famous for his "spider rigging" technique. Until I saw this article, I had no idea what "spider rigging" was. Now I know it is the GO-TO way to tournament fish for crappies. You fish long cane poles around the circumference of your boat, up to 20 at a time, giving the appearance of a multi-legged arachnid, and you beat the shit out of the slabs.

So if you didn't know, now you know... Ronnie Capps is a world famous slab hunter. He's so famous, that if you Google "Ronnie Capps, Slab Hunter" you'll get a picture of his year book photo as a distinguished alumni and the celebrity pride of some southern backwoods vocational high school. What a tie! What a look...

And here you all are, the pride of the BFC, tying away with your fur and feathers, referencing "hatches," and Lee Wulff and Lefty Kreh. Totally unaware that there's a real fisherman down there in Alabama, working 20 baited cane poles at a time, hammering record slabs, while big chested southern belles grind on his lap...

So where am I going with this? Well, every now and then, a man needs to embrace his inner Ronnie Capps and seek out the sweet-water slabs. And if there's one thing I strive to do as a father, it's to make sure my son Mateo knows how to handle a healthy slab on live bait. And last weekend, I swear, the great Ronnie Capps spoke to me in a vision... And he said, "Show your son the way of the Slab. Go to Cabellas, buy your son a slab pole, and put him on the meat." And so that is what I did.

Move over Ronnie Capps. There's a new sheriff in town.

Thanks to Clark and his lovely wife Katherine for providing the slabs. Mateo is currently looking online for a spider rig set up.