I received a rare text from Charley Soares the other day; he usually calls, but in this case he was sharing a photo. The image showed Doug from the Martha’s Vineyard tackle shop, Dick’s Bait & Tackle, holding a 20-pound class tarpon he caught on a recent trip to Florida. Every time I have spoken with Doug, I have felt like I was talking to someone that I could relate to. He’s clearly a dedicated angler and he’s quite obviously obsessed with fishing. It’s hard not to like someone like that!
Charley followed the original message up with some very “Charley” wisdom, he said, “Isn’t it funny how someone you’ve never met in person can become such a great friend?” He went on to tell me how much he has enjoyed his conversations with Doug and added that he really looks forward to their conversations when he calls for reports each weekend.
This is a phenomenon that I am quite familiar with. I took over the Connecticut report from Tim Coleman in 2008 and I kept that report until 2021. In those 13 years, as you might imagine, I have made some connections with the shop owners, employees and charter captains that I had to call every weekend for more than a decade. I now consider Max Finch from Fisherman’s World and Andrew Nichols from Fishin’ Factory 3 to be personal friends, in spite of the fact that we rarely see each other in person, and when I make a report call, it typically lasts 10 to 30 minutes! Captain TJ Karbowski from Rock and Roll Charters is another one, so many great laughs, with a guy I’ve only talked to in person a handful of times. This speaks to the caliber of the people who make up our industry and it really makes it feel like a brotherhood.
My favorite connection though, was with the late Bobby Jadach of Bobby J’s Bait and Tackle in Milford, CT. Bobby was such an easygoing guy, he seemed to give off this feeling that he was right where he wanted to be. Bobby would give me the report and would always pepper in fishing advice, like when he was talking about winter flounder fishing in Milford Harbor, he’d say, “If you want to catch founder you have to chum-chum-chum.” He’d then describe ways that he’d have success, saying that even a can of cat food could work to draw in the flatties.
But our friendship really took on a new shine when my wife and I welcomed our daughter into the world. Bobby, a family man himself with a team of sons that all love to fish, would end every conversation after her birth with the same closing, “Give that wife and baby a kiss for me.” At face value, that might seem like to be a little bit of an odd thing to say about two people he had never met. But I believe Bobby was passing along some of the greatest wisdom he had to offer.
I didn’t realize it at the time, but I think he was saying that to acknowledge how important family is, and how they should never be taken for granted and that they should always know that they are loved and cared for. I didn’t realize this, until he passed away in October of 2017. But, if any one of us had the chance to script how we would be remembered, I think it might look a lot like the impression that Bobby left on me.
And perhaps the greatest gift that comes from these kinds of connections is that they inspire us to be a little better in our own lives and to try and carry that torch to pass it along to someone else. Those are the times when a friendship becomes a legacy, and that’s pretty cool.
