by Natasha Khairullah
Staff Writer
Some people fish in tournaments because they like the competition, the excitement or the glory of posing with a huge fish for the tourney photographer — and perhaps for a nice check.
Randy Crabtree does it to unwind.
“I do it because I like being with friends and laughing and joking around,” said Crabtree, “and trying to have a good time to get away from the serious side of what we have to deal with.”
Crabtree is a real estate attorney at Crabtree & Fallar. When he’s not handling real estate development work or closing transactions, he can be found on his boat, the “Vamoose,” with his friends from the Southern Kingfish Association.
“It’s an adrenaline rush,” he said. “There’s nothing else like it and I just really enjoy the company of all the friends I’ve made so far.”
The SKA was formed about 11 years ago, Crabtree said, to serve as a sanctioning body to set up unified rules for fishing tournaments in an effort make sure everyone is on the same page.
Divisional tournaments are held in different areas of the state and there are currently 12 divisions. The SKA’s professional tour is comprised of select tournaments all over the U.S., typically five or six of them set up from North Carolina to Texas. The tournaments culminate with the national championship at the year’s end.
Several years ago, Crabtree qualified for the professional division.
Qualification is based on earning your way to the national championship by finishing very high in your division, said Crabtree, who has been fishing in the professional division since he first qualified.
About five years ago, Crabtree became General Counsel of SKA. As such, he drafted contacts for sponsors and defended lawsuits. Crabtree was also instrumental in developing and co-hosting a TV series called, “Fishing the Trail.”
Though he has fished since he was a child, Crabtree, 51, says his love for kingfishing didn’t come about until his late teens. At his parent’s lake house in Welaka, Crabtree would go fishing with his father and his father’s friends. While Crabtree was in law school at the University of Florida, his father became interested in offshore fishing. Those weekend kingfishing trips spurred a lifetime hobby.
After he graduated from law school in 1983, Crabtree worked at several law firms for the next dozen years. In 1995, he formed Crabtree & Fallar with fellow real estate attorney Scott Fallar.
Crabtree & Fallar handles approximately 200 transactional closings a month, both commercial and residential. Fallar handles the litigation side of the firm.
“We represent homeowners associations throughout Northeast Florida as well as builders, developers and banks,” said Crabtree.
The staff currently is made up of 18 people. There is a title company upstairs called Fortress Title that does real estate closings. The office was previously located on Baymeadows Road by I–95 until moving to its current location on San Jose Boulevard in 1999.
Crabtree finds that fishing helps balance him out after a stressful work week.
“You go from being totally serious here to where you can joke and kid around there,” said Crabtree, adding the SKA is his form of therapy.
One aspect of the sport that Crabtree really enjoys is the good-natured competition as well as camaraderie it provides among anglers.
“It’s almost like no other sport in that one minute you can be shaking a guy’s hand and you love him to death, he’s the greatest person in the world and the next minute, all you want to do is beat him and catch a big fish and shake it in his face and say ‘Look what I did’,” he said.
Crabtree also likes the fact the SKA is very family-oriented.
“My son has fished with me and so has my daughter. My brother, my dad, too.”
One of Crabtree’s well-known boats was called the “Litigator,” a 40-foot Egg Harbor boat that Crabtree’s father bought. The name was a sort of double entendre for his father, referring to his profession as a lawyer as well as his affection for the Florida Gators. His father passed the “Litigator” on to him before his death. The boat was sold, though, a few years ago by Crabtree when he got a newer model with better features.
Crabtree’s current boat is called the “Vamoose” and he gets a new one every year from his sponsors.
Though fishing with the SKA is his favorite pastime, he enjoys other outdoor activities like hunting and golf.
“Fishing is hours and hours of boredom and silence broken up by seconds of pure pandemonium,” said Crabtree. “You can fish all day long for that one strike then all of a sudden, when that fish hits that you’ve been waiting for all day long, it’s panic.”
Currently, Crabtree’s team is ranked 11th in the SKA. His goal is to move up to number one.
“I look at that ranking list everyday. Although it’s tiring it kind of renews my energy to come back in here and do what I do five days a week.”