Mark Taylor

Mark Taylor's Outdoors column and notebook appears regularly in The Roanoke Times.

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For Melvin Crewson, work and life are one in the same.

Twelve hours a day, seven days a week and 364 days a year since 1983 he has manned the counter at his bait and tackle store, The Minnow Pond.

His wife, Christine, has been right there with him most of the time at the shop, which started on Hardy Road and most recently has stood at 9th and Bullitt Avenue in Southeast Roanoke.

When Melvin and his buddies were busy playing cards at the table behind the counter, as they often were, Christine was the one dipping minnows from the tanks, pulling containers of nightcrawlers from the refrigerator and filling anglers' reels with fresh line.

It ended in October.

A fire destroyed the shop. But rather than give up, the Crewsons vowed to reopen, their conviction growing by the day during a closure that lasted more than three months.

The Crewsons had closed up shop at 3 p.m. on Sunday, Oct. 26. They had just reached their Vinton home when their phone rang.

"They said the shop was on fire," Melvin said.

The fire had swept quickly through the small shop. It was small, but intense.

High heat melted bags of plastic lures into gobs of toxic-smelling goo, turned the tips of 250 fishing rods into tinder and melted the netting from landing nets. A thick layer of black soot coated everything.

Photos by Mark Taylor | The Roanoke Times

Christine and Melvin Crewson are eager to get back to work at their restored Minnow Pond bait and tackle shop, which will feature something the old shop didn't have — an actual "Open" sign. The October fire damaged or destroyed most of the store's inventory, including landing nets that were melted by the heat.

Charlie Toler of Kidd's Restoration Services scrubs soot from the outside of the Minnow Pond bait and tackle shop, which has undergone extensive repairs since an October fire.

The Crewsons both say it was fortunate the fire burned away from the shop's small supply of hunting gear, which included ammunition and black powder supplies.

"If it had hit that," Melvin said, "there might not be a shop here."

Investigators were unable to determine the cause of the fire, according to Roanoke Fire-EMS spokesman Tiffany Bradbury, but ruled that it was likely accidental.

The cost of the damage was estimated at $250,000, but it went far deeper.

"We lost a lot of things you just can't replace," Melvin said, shaking his head. "Stuff that wasn't for sale at any price."

That included mounted deer and fish, antique fly rods and the framed first dollar the shop brought in.

Loyal customers were stunned.

"It really hurt," said Steve VanMetre of Roanoke, who loved digging through the ancient inventory in hopes of finding unique fishing plugs and lures.

Many in the Roanoke Valley's fishing community worried that the fire would be the end of the Minnow Pond.

With the arrival of Sportsman's Warehouse and Gander Mountain to the market, was there even a place in Roanoke for a tiny tackle store?

For the Crewsons, the choice was easy. A few days after the blaze they taped a hand-written notice to the inside of a window at the shop.

"To our customers," it read, "We hope to reopen for business in Feb. 09."

They kept their word.

The relaunch will be modest.

"The only thing we'll have to start with is minnows, nightcrawlers and meal worms," Melvin said, managing a laugh. "But in two weeks, it will look a lot different in here."

In the coming days the Crewsons plan to set up shelving and begin restocking, but not on their own.

"Friends helped us get everything out," Melvin said. "They'll help us get everything back in."

They managed to save some merchandise and fixtures, those sooty items now jammed into two storage trailers sitting in the store's parking lots. They also will be bringing in new gear, some of which had arrived at the Crewsons' home just before the fire.

Starting with just bait is OK, they say, as that's the shop's specialty and demand grows with every mild winter day.

The shop's temporary closure has left Roanoke-area fishermen scrambling for bait, especially minnows.

"I had one guy tell me, 'You better open soon because I had to go all the way to Blacksburg for minnows the other day,'" Melvin said.

He said he has no idea how many minnows the shop sells during a good week in during the busy fishing season. The closest he can come is "hundreds of dozens."

"It's more than people think," said Crewson, who said he usually buys minnows "50 to 60 pounds at a time."

No matter how strong the demand for minnows, running a small tackle shop is not a lucrative business, the Crewsons said.

"Ain't nobody ever going to make a living in this business," said Melvin, who is 67. "If they think they are, they're wrong."

But Crewson said it's never been about making money for him.

"As long as I make enough to pay the bills and put a little food on the table, I'm fine," he said. "We don't need much.

"With places like this, it's more like a family."

And that's really become clear since the fire, for the Crewsons and their customers.

"They have become good friends," said VanMetre, who said he was touched when he received a Christmas card with a handwritten note from the Crewsons. "They're just good, down-to-earth people who love fishing like I do."

And while Christine admits that she sometimes grew weary of the everyday-but-Christmas grind, she has missed it.

"I will never complain about being here," Christine, 48, said. "It used to be I wanted a break, but not no more.

"It will be awful good to have guys in here bragging again."

For Melvin, who spent eight days in the hospital in January after suffering his third heart attack, Friday's opening couldn't come soon enough.

"This business is where I belong," he said, hesitating as tears welled up in his eyes. "It's where my friends are."