TRUE FRIENDS

One of my old fly fishing buddies visited me today. We remembered some trips and experiences we shared on the water. I realized I missed things about him. His laugh was refreshing. He made me laugh hard today, something I haven't done for a while.

There was one time on the Ogden River when we decided to count the fish we caught. It was a hot summer afternoon and we started fishing below an area we call "the rock." Within a couple of hours of fishing we had caught and released somewhere in the area of 50 fish between us. As we walked past the Oaks establishment, we decided to get an ice cream cone and eat it on the bank of the river. As we sat eating the ice cream and discussing what great fly fishermen we were, a trout rose up and took a natural insect off the surface right in front of us. We looked at each other and simultaneously said, "did you see that?" I suggested that my friend slip his fly out of the keeper and swing it out into the river and see if the trout would rise again. He did and on the first drift he hooked a nice brown. My friend began to play the trout and tried to hand his ice cream cone to me. "You hooked the fish so you have to catch and release it," I said. "I'm taking a break and eating ice cream." My friend shoved the ice ceam in his mouth and played the fish. Periodically he would lick the melting ice cream and then shove it back in his mouth and play the fish. He did this several times while I just sat on the bank and laughed. Finally, with ice cream stuck in his mouth, he was able to release the fish. He turned and looked at me in disgust. "You should see yourself," I said. "You have ice cream all over your face and dripping down your beard." I continued to laugh. My friend finally said a few choice words and then burst into laughter himself.

These were the kind of stories we remembered. I was glad that my friend had stopped in to see me. We talked about hitting the giant stonefly hatch on the Ogden River in a week or two and then fishing hoppers on the Logan. We have not fished together for about five or six years. Life just seemed to send us in different directions. It will be fun to reunite again upon the water. Friendships do not dissolve. Time may take friends in different directions, but eventually it seems, true friends can always pick up where they last left off without missing a beat.