Dealing With the Loss of Fishing Buddies

[michianafisherman]

Hello guys, I lost one of my fishing buddies. The kind of a friend thats is in all your photo memories.
I am trying to make it through the pain and see the other side of the what next?
I know I have a slew of grandkids and my own kids like to fish, but at 65 I miss my Friend!
He pushed me into fishing ways I never would have, Lakes we never saw before, and would go overboard on everything we or he got into.
We could talk about the Lord together and Thats a hard one to replace. Not all my friends are willing to expose their thoughts.
So as I type with tears, please keep my Buddy Frank in your prayers.
Thanks to all my Iceshanty friends for understanding. God Bless

[wallyworld]

So sorry for your loss   Cherish those memories and find comfort in them  RIP Frank

[filetandrelease]

 I consider close friends as family  , truly sorry for your lose

[MNice]

So sorry. I lost my best friend in 2017 at only 59.  Met him in high school in 1973. Brain cancer. I think of him most every day, still keep in touch with his parents.  They were like my second family and still are. I deer hunt with his son at the cabin I help him and his dad build in 89.  Friends like that can’t be replaced, only remembered.

[Winds-of-Thor]

Sorry for your loss. A friend like that is irreplaceable, but he lives on in your memory. Hopefully someday you two will be fishing together again.

[docbas]

My deepest sympathies.  If you have something of his, take it with you every time you go fishing.  He'll still be with you.

[mcully]

Keep an open mind toward others. Lost mine at the rightful old age of 45 and still see him daily in our old haunts usually him sleeping against a tree as I push a deer right past in the snow. He doesn't get older but for some reason I do! He was the only person I hunted with and were fishing partners long before being able to hunt. I'd give quite a bit to have gotten 20 more years but that's not how it works we all find out.

 It took a while, but I was contacted by a neighboring property owner where we hunted and now 12 years later, I have an entirely different crew of misfits to share time with. No, it isn't him and it never will be but it's something new to cherish and experience moving forward that at the time of my loss I didn't foresee at all.

Good luck and go fishing you'll see him and talk to him every chance you can.

[butcher]

So very sorry for your loss.

Those of us who have lost someone important in our lives know there aren't some magical combination of words, thoughts or prayers that lessen the loss or fill the gaps in our lives that remain after we lose someone truly special. If we could simply rationalize the loss and move on, it would likely mean that person's presence in our lives wasn't very significant. Clearly, that's not the case with your lost buddy.

The best way I have found to deal with losses such as these (in addition to time and prayer), is to think of that person when I do the things we did together and to tell others about the ones I have lost.

The next time you are fishing with a friend, tell him or her about that time when you and your buddy... and then ask them to share a treasured memory of their own - whether if it's about the same person or another person entirely.

That is how we keep our loved ones alive and honor them - even after they have left us.

May his memory be a blessing and comfort to you.

[BF1983]

I can certainly relate.  I lost my best fishing buddy in July of 2023.  My son.  He was exactly to me, what your fishing buddy was to you.  He got me into fishing.  He was my biggest motivator and always the one pushing me to try new spots.  I have tried open water fishing, and now one ice fishing outting without him.  It's not the same but now I do it in honor of him, and I have his ashes in a fish hook around my neck every day.  So he's always with me. 

It seems like it will never get better, but you will learn day by day how to continue on.  It's not easy, but you'll realize how to find your way.

[Tipupmadness]

Sorry for your loss.  AT 74 lots of stuff "use to be" and people too.  You do all you can while you can and when these times come you should have
no regrets........except that time goes by so fast.  You know who Jesus is and He knows you.  The future is bright brother !!!

[jerryfishing]

Sorry for your loss. I almost lost one of my best fishing buddies a few years ago. Luckily the doctors fixed his heart and we have been lucky to get out several more times. We are getting to those ages where it will be sooner than later that we may go into the light, so we try to cherish each outing. May your good memories carry you through your sadness quickly!  God Bless

[michianafisherman]

Thanks for all your wonderful comments guys. This website is the greatest!


Frank Price

[iceman260]

Sorry for your loss, I lost my fishing partner a couple years ago. I know how you feel my condolences.

[michianafisherman]

I wrote this poem about how I feel.

Its Called.   
  THE OTHER DAY

The other day
I lost a friend,
Made me feel,
old age begin.
I saw my dad cry
reason the same,
Never understanding
his type of pain.
As I grow old
just like my dad,
The days are here
that I understand.
Friends leave holes
that can't get filled in,
As parts of our lives
come to an end.
MEMORIES!
that's what people say works,
BUT MY MEMORIES
are making it hurt!
Would I feel better
if I could forget?
Time is needed
but not happened yet!

By MichianaFisherman 2024

[brokefarmer]

I wrote this poem about how I feel.

Its Called.   
  THE OTHER DAY

The other day
I lost a friend,
Made me feel,
old age begin.
I saw my dad cry
reason the same,
Never understanding
his type of pain.
As I grow old
just like my dad,
The days are here
that I understand.
Friends leave holes
that can't get filled in,
As parts of our lives
come to an end.
MEMORIES!
that's what people say works,
BUT MY MEMORIES
are making it hurt!
Would I feel better
if I could forget?
Time is needed
but not happened yet!

By MichianaFisherman 2024

.     Could not say better.  Have lost a #of friends over years.  Memories are strong and will stay.

[jimmyclaude]

RIP to Austrian, BVD, Iceballs, Chezmoose, Wolfman, and Ivan... I still fish with you all in my memories

[ice dawg]

Hello guys, I lost one of my fishing buddies. The kind of a friend thats is in all your photo memories.
I am trying to make it through the pain and see the other side of the what next?
I know I have a slew of grandkids and my own kids like to fish, but at 65 I miss my Friend!
He pushed me into fishing ways I never would have, Lakes we never saw before, and would go overboard on everything we or he got into.
We could talk about the Lord together and Thats a hard one to replace. Not all my friends are willing to expose their thoughts.
So as I type with tears, please keep my Buddy Frank in your prayers.
Thanks to all my Iceshanty friends for understanding. God Bless

I can understand how you feel. Since the fall of 2018, I have lost a brother in law, my mother in law, my brother, and six fishing buddies. The last one to pass was the buddy who was always with me on my trips to Northern Manitoba. There were eleven of us from South Dakota that went to Canada together and I'm the only survivor.

[chapru]

Sorry for everyone’s loss; I loss four friends last year. I’d like to think that when we’re all together again it will be on a sunny bluebird day, 45 degrees with no wind, 20” of ice, and non-stop flags and bobbers.

[Jack978]

Hello guys, I lost one of my fishing buddies. The kind of a friend thats is in all your photo memories.
I am trying to make it through the pain and see the other side of the what next?
I know I have a slew of grandkids and my own kids like to fish, but at 65 I miss my Friend!
He pushed me into fishing ways I never would have, Lakes we never saw before, and would go overboard on everything we or he got into.
We could talk about the Lord together and Thats a hard one to replace. Not all my friends are willing to expose their thoughts.
So as I type with tears, please keep my Buddy Frank in your prayers.
Thanks to all my Iceshanty friends for understanding. God Bless

Unfortunately, death is a part of life, and we are all headed that way.  My father died when I was 10.  My three best friends in school all died in their 50s.  In my 30 years in the Army, I lost 6 good friends and knew a lot more who I wasn't close to but knew some for a long time and some for a short time. When I finally retired and moved back to my home after a 40-year absence I was a stranger.  At my kids urging (and they weren't subtle about it) I joined a fishing club and met a guy and his wife who wanted to learn to fish but hadn't any clue about how to. Most of the members weren't interested in rookies so I took him out a few times and then his wife wanted to go so we brought her along.  I am 66 and he is a younger retiree at 56 and his wife is 55.  They started from absolute zero knowledge but brought a lot of adventurousness.  I spent time teaching them and dragging them to all the places I went in my youth, and they have become close friends to me and my wife.  Now they are both hooked, and we try to get out weekly.  The amount of excitement and enthusiasm they bring is a true joy.  Reach out and find someone who wants to learn and teach them.  Be patient and make allowances and pass on your knowledge. Friends can't be replaced but they can be made and dwelling on what was instead of what could be is how we get old and dry up.  Something like this may or may not be your thing but there is something about being able to shape and guide someone with the desire to learn that lets you see things in a new light.  I'll never be young again and the parts of me that don't work so well anymore probably won't ever work better but I have a lot of places I want to explore and fish to catch and now I have partners to do it with.  Of course, my friend's wife insisted on pink flags for her tip ups, so we had to make allowances, and she does volunteer to pull the sled so it's not all bad. 

[A man called horse]

Good friend that I share multiple hobbies with was just put on palliative care. We both got to have our dream cabins on great fisheries. Both restored tri five chevys. Mine a 55, his a 56. Can’t bring myself to say good bye, so try to encourage against the odds.

[Scranton Joe]

Unfortunately, death is a part of life, and we are all headed that way.  My father died when I was 10.  My three best friends in school all died in their 50s.  In my 30 years in the Army, I lost 6 good friends and knew a lot more who I wasn't close to but knew some for a long time and some for a short time. When I finally retired and moved back to my home after a 40-year absence I was a stranger.  At my kids urging (and they weren't subtle about it) I joined a fishing club and met a guy and his wife who wanted to learn to fish but hadn't any clue about how to. Most of the members weren't interested in rookies so I took him out a few times and then his wife wanted to go so we brought her along.  I am 66 and he is a younger retiree at 56 and his wife is 55.  They started from absolute zero knowledge but brought a lot of adventurousness.  I spent time teaching them and dragging them to all the places I went in my youth, and they have become close friends to me and my wife.  Now they are both hooked, and we try to get out weekly.  The amount of excitement and enthusiasm they bring is a true joy.  Reach out and find someone who wants to learn and teach them.  Be patient and make allowances and pass on your knowledge. Friends can't be replaced but they can be made and dwelling on what was instead of what could be is how we get old and dry up.  Something like this may or may not be your thing but there is something about being able to shape and guide someone with the desire to learn that lets you see things in a new light.  I'll never be young again and the parts of me that don't work so well anymore probably won't ever work better but I have a lot of places I want to explore and fish to catch and now I have partners to do it with.  Of course, my friend's wife insisted on pink flags for her tip ups, so we had to make allowances, and she does volunteer to pull the sled so it's not all bad.

...great post with sound advice

[backwoodswalker]

I am sorry for your loss. In my lifetime I have lost a lot of family and friends. I get my comfort in a old saying I heard somewhere, they are never gone as long as you remember them. Sounds like you have a lot of great memories. Take comfort in them.  Steve