Friends thru Fishing

[Ham]

I'm just back from a brief intense multiday fishing trip with Richard Button who is a mutual friend with Billethead and I. While Richard is not an OA member, he is very much like a lot of the OA members that I have had the pleasure of meeting and fishing with. He is a good fisherman, a good citizen, and a great person to spent time on the water with.

Some of the best people I know I have meet thru fishing. These people add a lot of joy to my life and have made me a better fisherman. We all have a finite number of days. I strongly encourage make the most of your opportunities to fish with friends new and old. I have never had a bad experience when I have meet up with a forum member. I'm not suggesting folks go fish with someone that gets under their skin with their OA posts ; that sounds like a terrible plan to me. BUT you can really get a feel for someone thru their posts over time and get a pretty good idea if it would be enjoyable to fish with them.

So massive Kudo's to Richard Button. You Da Man! Thanks for guiding me and giving me some lifetime memories. What a great host and what a great trip!

 

[grizwilson]

You are so right, on both folks met on this forum and Richard.  Everyone I have fished with from the forum have taught me something and have been a pleasure to fish with.  Richard is a stand up guy, good fisherman and a pleasure to be around.  Your post started me thinking of folks I have met through this forum and fished with, it simply got too long to post.  You are correct our days are all numbered, and fishing days are too few.  To quote Bill Ring "If you are too busy to go fishing, you are too busy."

 

g

[snagged in outlet 3]

I agree

[Flysmallie]

4 hours ago, Ham said:

I'm not suggesting folks go fish with someone that gets under their skin with their OA posts.

I would. I think that you will find most of the time, if not all of the time, those posts mean nothing to how those people really are.

Chief and I used to be at each others throats on here and I now he still irks a lot of you, but we have spent some time fishing together and always have a great time.

Wrench and I have had our share of problems recently over posts here and mostly other places but I know for a fact that he's a great guy to spend some time fishing with and even though we don't see eye to eye on a lot of things I know I could spend a day fishing with him and have a great time.

I have made some lifelong fishing buddies on OAF. Some of the best friends I have ever had have been met here. 

Just because I'm an asshole on the internet does not mean that I'm a horrible person. 

[Ham]

1 hour ago, Flysmallie said:

Just because I'm an asshole on the internet does not mean that I'm a horrible person. 

Of course not, but it might mean that I would think you are more annoying than I want to be around. FTR, I don't remember you ever posting anything that bothered me in any way. But if you've made my ignore list, there's not any chance that I want to fish with you. I hope that special few have wonder productive lives that I never know anything about.

[Mitch f]

But then again, what if we all got together and.....

?

 

 

[fishinwrench]

I can't for the life of me understand people that would rather just not HEAR what someone is truly thinking.  The only difference between guys like me and guys like Ham is that I just go ahead and say what I'm thinking, rather than saying one thing while truly thinking something else.  

Phoney people who are sneaky with their actual thoughts kinda scare me.  Who knows what kinda dasterdly crap they are capable of.  I'd rather be genuine and risk offending someone than to play word/head games. It's my opinion that folks who spare you their honest thoughts on a subject are doing so believing that they are "smarter/sharper" than you are, so a pandered response is a greater insult than anything.  It shows that a person believes in their heart that there is nothing worthwhile to be learned from you, about anything.  

If you're gonna share your thoughts then SHARE YOUR REAL ONES.   Doing otherwise is a waste of time, is it not?

[BilletHead]

    Gosh Wrench I hope you don't think I am phony  

Got your message Ham and I will get you the info you want. Sorry I did not get to see you this go around as I was in a fishing passion in a way off place. When I got back I was so spent and beat I couldn't get up the next morning to get with you two. I was up there this morning with not much luck. Will be doing the evening shift here in a bit, well you know just where I will be. You wore Richard to a frazzle so he is resting today doing his driving job.

  Yes also to meeting some great folks on here. Yes there are disagreements and everyone is entitled to their opinion. I would fish with most anyone on here, most I say :),

BilletHead

[Stein]

In the last 20+ years of going to Canada I've gone on three week-long trips with "forum friends" that I had never met before that trip.  My wife was initially skeptical that I would risk a once-a- year trip with "some guy that I met on the internet"  LOL  that I hadn't met but it always worked out.  She just didn't realize that bonds formed on many forums can be as real as in-person relationships.  Fishing, rock crawling, motorcycles, it doesn't matter which forum.  You meet this guy that you have talked with on the forum for the first time and you are laughing and talking about things like old friends since you both know the same people and stories from the forum.  You also have a pretty good idea of their thought process by their posts and how they treat others on the forum.  Usually holds pretty true.

[fishinwrench]

 

Gosh Wrench I hope you don't think I am phony  

There ya go.....

Now, do you wanna go ahead and say what you REALLY wanted to?  Something along the lines of: "#&@% him, who cares who he thinks is phoney".

I'll fish and/or hang out with anyone here.  I can read between the lines, but it's a little more relaxing and fun if I don't have to.