NOTE OF RESTAURANT CLOSURE —– The restaurant closed March 2020. The store will remain open, selling beer, soft drinks and snacks to fishermen and the pleasure boats that stop by going up and down the Tombigbee. Fuel is also sold to boats from a floating dock on the river. Rental cabins, RV hookups and the boat landing will still be open as well.
*********
Bobby’s Fish Camp is located at the old Bladon Springs landing on the Tombigbee River in the southeastern part of Choctaw County. Bobby’s Fish Camp has been in operation for over half a century and is one of the oldest restaurants in southwest Alabama. 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 yacht marinas at Demopolis, AL and Mobile, AL were nearly 240 miles apart and many yachts could not travel this far without refueling. At the request of the Demopolis Yacht Basin, Bobby Dahlberg installed a fueling station on the river at his Fish Camp which was about midway between the Demopolis and Mobile marinas. Bobby’s Fish Camp became the smallest marina of the Tenn-Tom Marina Association. In the years since the opening of the Tenn-Tom, yachts from all over the world have visited Bobby’s with some making it a routine stop. Bobby’s Fish Camp is listed as one of the stops on The Great Loop cruising route.
Bobby’s Fish Camp has the reputation for serving some of the best fried catfish in southwest Alabama. While visiting Bobby’s, you also get an opportunity to experience what life on the river was like during earlier times. The restaurant is filled with all types of collectibles and artifacts. The interior walls of the restaurant contain vintage photos of steamboats that once traveled on the Tombigbee. You will find dozens of binders that are stuffed with all types of old newspaper clippings and pictures that tell stories about life on the river and the history of Choctaw County including Bobby’s Fish Camp, Bladon Springs when it was a tourist resort, the Sims War, etc. At Bobby’s, you will be able to get the complete story about the tragedy of the stern-wheeler riverboat, James T. Staples (or Big Jim) that includes details about the suicide, the ghost, and the explosion. Many of the first-time visitors from the yachts traveling The Great Loop come into the restaurant already knowing what they are looking for because of what they have heard from fellow “loopers.”
Bobby Dahlberg operated Bobby’s Fish Camp from 1956 until his death in February 2010. It is now operated by his daughter, Lora Jane Dahlberg Mcllwain. The Fish Camp is open seven days a week for river traffic (boat fueling and docking, boat launches, ice, soft drinks, etc.) and to rent cabins and RV sites. The restaurant is open three nights each week (Thursday, Friday and Saturday).
Directions: Approximately 4 miles west of the Coffeeville, AL river bridge, there is a yellow Bobby’s Fish Camp sign located on the north side of Highway 84. Turn at this sign onto the gravel road. The restaurant is located approximately 0.7 mile down this road. GPS coordinates of the restaurant are 31.763191, -88.158136.
Source: Lora Jane Dahlberg McIIwain (Bobby’s Fish Camp Owner)