Soft-plastics pioneer Bobby Garland focused on bass bait designs early in his career, but later in life rekindled a passion for crappie fishing and turned his interest to crappie lures. A personal favorite creation was his 2-inch Baby Shad, featuring a minnow-like body with a lively long tail, a design that quickly spread in popularity throughout Missouri and then into neighboring states and beyond. Although Mr. Garland passed before he got to see the Baby Shad become one of the country's top-selling plastic crappie baits, his name will live on forever in the annals of crappie fishing because of the design. In September 2019, Bobby Garland became part of PRADCO Outdoor Brands.