Days 172

Bashi Creek Anchorage, AL - Bobby's Fish Camp, AL

• Start 6:30 AM
• End 10:15 AM
• Underway 3:12 Hours
• Distance 22 miles
• Total Miles on Trip 3570
• Av Speed 7.0 knots
• Locks 0
• Weather Sunny , 50 Degrees, Wind 3 Knts SW

All I can say is Bashi Creek was an awesome anchorage. Coming out of there in the morning was incredible. (There is a video on the video page). We had a very short easy run to Bobby's Fish Camp.

We did not need to leave as early as we did, but wanted to make sure we had a spot on the dock at Bobby's with electric. The do not take reservations and they only have 200' feet of docks and 4 power outlets. They normally do not turn anyone away, but you will either have to raft off another boat, or have someone raft off of you. If you are rafted off another boat, the chances of getting power are very slim. We were the first boats to arrive, and Kay Dee rafted off of us. We were able to get power for both of our boats.

There is no describing Bobby's Fish Camp. It is located on the Tombigbee River in the southeastern part of Choctaw County. Bobby's Fish Camp had been in operation for over half a century and was one of the oldest restaurants in southwest Alabama before it closed in 2020. Bobby E. Dahlberg built and opened the restaurant in 1956 to serve river traffic. He also built rental cabins on the river in the early 1960's. The customers of Bobby's Fish Camp were primarily local folks. In 1985, the Tenn-Tom Waterway opened which resulted in a significant increase with yacht traffic on the Tombigbee River. The marinas at Demopolis, AL and Mobile, AL were nearly 240 miles apart and many yachts could not travel this far without refueling. Bobby Dahlberg installed a fueling station on the river at his Fish Camp which was about midway between the Demopolis and Mobile marinas. The restaurant building is still open and in use, but they do no serve food. Just reading the news articles on the walls makes it an interesting stop.

Many of the cabins and campers are permanent homes once the locals warmed up to us they were very entertaining. Bobby's is also adjacent to 9000 acres of federal hunting lands that are only accessible by boat. The entire time we were there, hunters were using the boat ramp to go back and forth to the hunting grounds.

We spent the afternoon sitting on the front porch of the restaurant, (trying not to fall through the rotten boards) playing Monopoly.

Tomorrow we go through our last lock on the inland waterways having dropped over 600 feet since Chicago IL .