Fishing buddies…
A longtime friend of my family recently sent me the photo above. That’s my dad on the left, and that’s Peter, the guy who sent the photo, on the right.
When I look at the photo, I don’t just see a stringer of walleyes and northern pike. What I see are two guys who value their friendship and really enjoy each others company. Fishing was just a means to an end.
Even though I know the two guys in the photo above very well, I’m a bit of an expert on friendships and fishing. It’s hard not to be when I’ve spent thousands of hours with thousands of people on the world famous Kenai River. Have I mentioned I really love my job?
I’ve seen friendships created on the water, and unfortunately, I’ve seen a few dissolve. But, what I see the most are the bonds of an existing friendship strengthen. Fishing in Alaska is just another excuse for good friends to get together to create new memories.
With that being said, I’m going to dedicate the rest of this post to friends getting together to fish.
Friends for life. Here’s Christa and my sister showing off their catch of Kenai River silver salmon. The two of them have been friends since junior high. I won’t say exactly how old they are, but when they met, the Golden Girls debuted on television.
What a great day of fishing and memories for this trio. From left to right are Colette, Renee, and Jane.
For many, many years Gary, JoRay, Griff, and Steve have made their way to Alaska to reconnect. That’s what good friends do.
Here’s Kim, Gene, Mike and Jodie. Along with the guys in the photo below, their friendship know no season.
Jake, Dick, Gene, Mike, and the guy writing this blog heading out for a day of fishing.
Finally, 4,000 miles hasn’t kept the two of these guys from remaining friends. Rod, on the left lives in Illinois. Dan, on the right, lives right here in Kenai, Alaska. Their friendship goes back to when George “Papa Bear” Halas coached and ran the Chicago Bears.
I’ll finish this post with a teaser for next week’s blogpost. One important and hilarious part of friends fishing together is trash talking. I’ve heard a lot of it, and I’ve given a lot of too. I plan to highlight what could be the most epic example of fishing trash talking ever.
See you then.
Proposition 283