It?s been a week of memories. You older anglers who have fished all your life can identify with my plight. All you younger anglers can take home some lessons from life.
I reached my old friend John on the phone the other day. Last we talked he was mating and cooking on a long-range boat out of San Diego. He picked up his 100 ton Coast Guard ticket last year, but had not yet landed a captain?s seat for himself.

This time, the story was different and all too familiar to me.

We are close to the same age. In the last few years my weak lower back has forced me to wear a back brace when I fish ? one of those black Velcro deals from the local home improvement store. It seems John is in the same boat. Wrestling a marlin on the stern of the boat a couple of months ago put him over the edge as he tells it.

He recently took some time off because of a death in the family, and now it appears he is retrospectively approaching his next gig in life. He probably won?t go back to mating.

I took another friend, a kid actually, to my house to eat lunch the other day. Jason is his name. He just turned twenty-nine, but that?s younger than my own two sons, so he stays a kid for now. I hired him a few years ago, and it turns out he would rather fish than eat on most days. That sounds awfully familiar.

As I showed Jason some fish pictures, a ton of thoughts flashed through my mind from years past and being with John. We had fished, hunted and trapped together in several states.

We got into trouble on occasion, never with the law, but always with our wives, and usually because we were out in the woods or on the water too long.

As listened to Jason talking about noodling for catfish in Oklahoma, I thought of John. That?s something we both would have died to do. As I listened to Jason?s brushes with a few game wardens, I thought of John and myself on a certain dove hunt in North Carolina.

All of this was earlier this week. I spent several hours going through my old pictures to find some of John and myself with fish, or game or something. It turns out I have a ton of memories, but not many pictures. While I was looking for pictures, I got an e-mail from John. It seems he was doing the same thing!

John sent a few pictures from our days in the Marines. He sent a couple of really great glamour shots of his former wife Sue. All that did was make me search harder for a few pictures that could strengthen the bond.

I did find a few photos as I searched. To my amazement, I found more pictures of Jason and my son fishing together than I did of John and myself. I watch my son and Jason hunt and fish together and I it?s de ja vu all over again, as Yogi used to say. It's almost scary!

Perhaps it was because we simply couldn?t afford pictures back then or maybe we simply never got around to it. Whatever the case, I have hard time piecing together on film what has been a true friendship over the years. In good times and bad, we always managed to stay in touch with each other.

I?m sitting here writing this and Jason just paged me. He wants to go fishing. A tropical storm just went through; seas are running five feet or better with ground swells; and, he wants to go fishing. Boy, does that bring back memories!

I said this would be familiar to you older anglers. My bet is that I struck a chord. For you younger anglers, this is a reminder to take a camera along with you.

John and I are planning another fishing trip. Last time we fished together was on Lake Okeechobee in Florida more than a few years back. This time we are looking at Toledo Bend on the Texas and Louisiana border. Yes, it?s freshwater. But, we?re going to spend a week together taking pictures of each other and reminiscing on how it used to be! We have to do it. It?s in our blood and we won?t sleep right until we do! We both need more memories.