We point out enough of the arguably bad stuff that goes on in fishing, so it’s only fair that when something good happens that should get at least as much press – and Randy Howell delivered some of that good stuff a few weeks back in Oklahoma. 

On Day 3 of the Arkansas River tournament out of Muskogee, Howell had enough weight in the livewell to progress to Day 4. That’s no small feat, even for Classic champs. I’m sure that Randy’s return to the Elites hasn’t gone quite as well as he would have hoped, but it’s simply become harder to make it to Championship Sunday since he was last on the senior circuit.

Unfortunately, mechanical problems at the end of the day ended his tournament. He couldn’t get to the lock and was unable to flag down another competitor to take him in. The end result: goose egg for the day and missing what would have been his first top 10 since Hartwell last spring, and his second since Winyah Bay in 2016.

He could have pouted. He would’ve been within his rights to be a hermit or head straight home. Plenty of others have done the same in similar circumstances.

Instead, he made himself available on Sunday. He was in the Daiwa booth. He was on BASS Live. In some respects he was doing just as much for his sponsors as if he’d been on the water. It was the move of a true professional and one that should be celebrated.

I was reminded of this little act of greatness last week when I had to interview his son Laker, an aspiring Elite and two-time BASS winner. I’d only spoken to him once before, briefly at this year’s Classic. Immediately, though, his high level of professionalism was apparent. He was outgoing, lucid and descriptive in his answers. He made my job easier. Some of that might be the efforts of his mother Robin, but I think that it’s mostly the residue of being around professionalism since before he could even fish.

It’s a lesson that pro anglers – young and old both – should take to heart – and while I hope that Laker never gets locked out with a massive bag of fish to weigh, I suspect that if it were to happen he’d handle it with grace and a dash of courage like the old man.