This fall, one fishing buddy is sorely missed

I'll never forget when Mike Seeling stood on the banks of Alaska's fabled Rocky River trying to adjust his chest waders before entering the water.

He dropped something on the ground, and tried bending down to retrieve it.

I heard the telltale sound of wader material ripping the same time Seeling experienced it. A string of expletives came from the lips of person who rarely raised his voice on any occasion.

I don't know why, but on this trip I had brought along another set of waders, sort of like an insurance policy.

Seeling said he didn't mind getting wet and would fish the morning just so he wouldn't waste any time. I gave him the other set of waders when we got back to our cabin.

The late Mike Seeling and I met in the Daily Herald photo department more than 26 years ago. It was instant chemistry as soon as we started talking fishing and hunting.

And so it came to pass for the next 2½ decades we became travel partners and buds, with the end result usually showing up as full-page columns on the back page of the Herald's sports section.

I had an out-of-pocket discretionary fund mixed in with lots of accrued airline miles. That allowed me to take Mike along on trips, which ultimately took us around and out of the country. And he loved every bit of it.

We hunted ducks and geese as well as wild quail and rabbit in Southern Illinois. His dog would flush Southern Wisconsin pheasants. He taught me the ins and outs of archery and bowhunting, while I shared wonderful wild turkey expeditions with him in Western Illinois.

On the fishing side of our long relationship, I was able to convince Mike to use a fly rod and some dry flies to catch sub-Arctic grayling on No-Name River.

We both stood on a cropping of massive boulders casting to rising fish. In between casts we were always looking over our shoulders for bears because we heard loud noises, like crashing brush sounds.

We hiked through heavy Tennessee woods looking for mushrooms, except all we found were lots of copperhead and water moccasin snakes.

On our last afternoon on Kasba Lake, a wondrous body of water in the Northwest Territories, our guide put Mike and I on huge lake trout, close to 40 pounds, to be more exact. Seeling was glowing because we celebrated his birthday in the bush.

We caught countless 50-inch pike on Manitoba's North Seal River as well monster pike of the same length on Great Slave Lake's McKenzie River.

I also had many years of photographic experience, but I figured why should I take the shots on these trips when I could share an adventure with the best shooter around?

And the proof was in the raw, unedited photos Mike emailed me for approval after we returned from a knuckle-busting, huge tarpon outing on the east coast of Costa Rica. Once back in our cabin at night, Seeling fell immediately to sleep after pouring out every molecule of adrenaline he had stored in his body. His pictures helped document our days of catching 10 to 15.

Near and west of Great Bear Lake above the Arctic Circle sits Alymer Lake. Seeling and I were taken to a deep, boulder-strewn reef. It was the end of August and we were treated to some of the best Canadian lake trout fishing ever.

We could see hundreds of behemoth trout doing their spawning routine. Mike and I made short casts to the hordes and within seconds we each had fish on and subsequently in the boat that weighed over 40 pounds each.

We quit after catching a couple dozen of these railroad car-sized beasts. It was fabulous and completely unreal. I was glad to have shared those moments with a true outdoorsman and pal.

As many of you already know, Mike Seeling passed away earlier this year, shortly after we returned from a tackle-busting redfish trip out of Venice, La.

It's a joy to recall the great times we shared.

But I miss my friend and his infectious smile.

Fishing report:

Time to get out there - the fall angling is pretty decent right now.

Fox Chain: Crappie fishing is very good on Lake Marie and Bluff as well as Petite Lakes. Some heavy-duty muskie action on Lake Catherine.

Lake Michigan: Fresh coho have been mixed in with kings headed for lagoon snaggers.

• Contact Mike Jackson at angler88@comcast.net, catch his radio show 6-7 a.m. Sundays on WSBC 1240-AM and visit his website, www.mikejacksonoutdoors.com.