Many of you are aware of the physical struggles that Capt Randle Leger has been dealing with this year. Surgery to remove a brain tumor then the discovery of lung cancer and more surgery to deal with that and now Randle has just completed session 2 of a 4 part Chemo treatment. Needless to say Capt Randle, his wife Carol and the entire family have had more than their share of burdens to deal with this year.
I first met Capt Randle approximately 15 years ago. I had not been in Tallahassee very long and had never done any "flats" fishing to speak of. I had been on several party boat trips both on the East Coast and the Keys. I heard about a class at TCC "Fishing the Flats". The class was to run from the last week in Jan through Feb and it sounded like a for real learning opportunity, meeting in the evening, and heck it was about fishing so it sounded good and I signed up. Capt Randle Leger was the instructor and I immediately liked his easy style, presentation, and the way he studied his craft but didn't hesitate to share what he had learned. Many evenings he would come in red from the sun having been out with clients and would report on their successes before beginning with the subject material for the evening. He also brought in other Guides who specialized in off shore and wade/shore fishing. I didn't have a boat at the time but I blame Capt Randle for all the time and money I've spent since then on equipping myself to fish on our flats.
I've been trying to stay in contact with his progress and recently had the opportunity to play a part in getting him back on the water. Because of the Chemo, Randle only has certain days when a trip would work and I promised him that if he were ready, I'd do what ever I could to make it work. We'd already had to cancel 2 trips, one due to an unexpected physical problem and the other because of weather. This past Saturday turned out to be different. The student (me) showed up at the teacher's (Randle) house at 6am for a final exam. He wanted to see if I had learned anything at all in class and had put it to use. Teach was standing in his yard with his jon boat hooked up to the truck and pacing, ready to go. I threw my one bag along with two rods (rigged just like he had told me the night before) into his truck and we took off. We stopped at JR's and the experience got even better. It was still dark but JR was out in front of his store sweeping some dirt off the front step. When he looked up and recognized Randle you'd thought it was a long lost family member. They started catch'n up on events and you could tell there was a real bond and respect there that you might not have expected to see. Fishmasterson and Rocket came in and it was good to meet them. I mentioned that I was just along to try and learn something and as we were leaving, JR looked at me and spoke rather softly... "just listen to him". Randle climbed into the truck with the "honey bun" he had bought, "it's for my dog" he said .." I can't eat em any more". We got to the Aucilla ramp and there were probably 6 or 8 other vehicles so room wasn't a problem at all. We put the boat in and started up the river. On the way, we were greeted by several tarpon playing and rolling and I could tell Randle was taking it all in and sure had not lost his touch in capturing what was going on around him. We stopped just East of the river mouth at a place Randle calls "puppy point". He said there were typically two kinds of red fish that hung around there...either pups or big'ns. The teacher had commented earlier that the moon wasn't right that day and the fish seemed to be following that belief as well. We both had good fish boil up but they just didn't seem interested in a real serious hit. We continued to make our way on around the shoreline and encountered lots of bait but could not seem to connect with the strikes we did have. A bit farther and the student managed to connect with a real baby trout, which was released. Then finally, a good hit... a bit of drag... the teacher and student are both saying "I think it's a red".. a bit closer to the boat and the thing waller's to the top and it's a big trout! The teacher is scrambling around in the boat to come up with the net. The fish sees the boat and heads the other way. I get the fish back to the boat and he sees the net and goes the other way. This happened a couple more times and we finally got the fish in the net. The teacher says "good job" and I try to stay humble! Teacher manages to bring in a 15 1/2 inch trout and has another big fish on the way to the boat when it releases its self. We fish until 10:30, teacher brings in one more short and it’s getting pretty warm. We decide to call it a day rather than take a chance on Randle get'n more heat than he should and head in. Back at the ramp, I clean the two keepers and we head back to town. I sure enjoyed the time and especially the offer to go again when the teacher is feeling ready to go. Randle is doing a terrific job handling the difficulties he's had this year. His attitude remains very positive and he's looking forward to getting finished with the last 2 Chemo sessions and getting his strength back. He appreciates all the prayers and good thoughts he's received from everybody.
Sunrise on the Aucilla and Capt Randle at the controls
Teacher with student who just barely got a pass’n grade
