Buddies get hooked on fishing

Dear Editor:

As the sun started to warm the banks of the Roaring Fork River on Saturday morning, Oct. 3, five Buddy Pairs loaded into fishing boats with a personal guide for a day of fly-fishing adventure. The pairs floated for about four hours on a wonderful fall day before docking for a picnic lunch on river’s edge. As each pair stepped off their boats, grinning from ear-to-ear, we heard of the Buddies’ fruitful endeavors: “I caught five fish!”, “I caught six!”, “Well, we caught eight!”

After a leisurely lunch, the Buddy pairs piled back into their boats for the final mile of fishing before the take-out. A few big Buddies reported their little Buddies asking “when can we go fishing again” as soon as they left the boats and guides to go their respective ways. A first-time fishing experience for many of our Buddies, big and little, The Buddy Program would like to thank all of the guides and people who made this wonderful day of new adventure and skill possible.

First off, a huge thank you to Jonathan Feinberg for organizing the adventure for our Buddies, from selecting and coordinating guides, to planning and preparing lunch; everything was amazing and very well organized! Thank you to Rick Neiley and Maria Maniscalchi for so generously allowing us to set up our picnic on their beautiful property! And a big thank you to all of the guides who donated their time on that perfect Saturday to share what they love most with our big and little Buddies: Ed Dyson of Frying Pan Anglers, Doug Moyer of Alpine Angling, and Lincoln Neiley, Mike Chmura, and Jeremy Stott, all from Taylor Creek. You all were truly inspirational and thanks to you we now have a new group of eager fisher people!

Kaitlyn Archambault

The Buddy Program