Luke Estel – Team Tournament Blogger

Josh’s grandpa dropped us off that morning. We were so excited. My best friend Josh and I were fishing our very first tournament. It was a police auxiliary event we were ready to go. Josh had a fiberglass boat with a 9.9 Mercury on it. It was the slowest boat out there, but we were just happy to be fishing. At our first stop I lost a good keeper. I was rattled but we continued on. Finally, Josh caught one almost four pounds on a Gene Larew salt craw. That was the only keeper we caught. At the weigh in we would end up winning a brand-new battery. You would have thought we won the Bassmaster Classic. That one tournament got me hooked and I have been doing it ever since.

Josh and I became friends at an early age. We played sports against each other and then in High School we played on the same team. We did what best friends do. Hunt, fish, and play sports. We spent our summers on his grandparents lake fishing every day. The fish were small but that didn’t seem to bother us. In college we lived together continuing to hunt and fish. We were inseparable.

A few years later I got married and Josh couldn’t accept the fact that we couldn’t be together every day so he basically moved in with Heidi and I, and the baby. He was a great uncle and my daughter loved him.
Josh eventually married and moved to another state. He would stay gone for several years before he would move back. He just couldn’t handle being away from his family and friends. Once he moved back, it was like old times. Every day around 5p.m. he would call me and ask me what I was doing.

He turned into a crappie fisherman, not just because he liked catching them, but he loved to eat them. And without a boat, you know who had to take him. This year we went three times catching a limit each time. Of course, Josh wasn’t good at the cleaning part. I always had to do it. He wanted to have a big fish fry so we planned one.

A month or so ago, several of us friends got together and had a great night. As usual, Josh made fun of everyone just like he always did. That night would be the last night I would get to hang out with him. Two days later he called and said he was sick. If anyone knew Josh, he was always sick, or at least said he was and usually blamed it on food. I shook it off and told him he was fine. He went and got tested for Covid19 and was positive. That’s when I got scared. Josh wasn’t the healthiest person in the world and was a big guy. Not a good combination for this virus.

I checked on him every day and told him if his breathing got bad to go to the hospital. I left for Florida that weekend and still checked on him. On my way home from vacation I got a phone call saying that Josh was in the hospital on a ventilator. I was 3 hours from home. My heart sank. I could hardly drive. The hospital wouldn’t allow anyone in so for the next week we all sat and waited. He was eventually flown to Barnes hospital for treatment. The nurses were fantastic keeping me up to date along with the family. On a Saturday night we got a call saying it was close to the end. His parents couldn’t go see him but they got special permission for Heidi and I to go. As I stood over him holding his hand, I talked to him. “it’s time to go Josh! We have a fish fry and deer stands to put up.” I even cussed him out not to leave me. He only lasted a few more days.

I have never lost a friend before and to lose a best friend is devastating. I think about him every day, wishing he would call me just one more time. My outlook on life as a whole has also changed. I am going to make the best of it while I am here. Every time I step into a boat, I know he is right beside me.

You will be missed my friend, but never forgotten.