The old saying a bad day of fishing is better than a good day at work, might be one that a lot of fisherman live by.

And when there’s a bad day of fishing, there’s a lot to be said for having a good fishing buddy.

For the past 50 years, Frank Hare and brother-in-law, Bill Kirby, have been fishing together all over the county.

This week’s fishing escapade didn’t leave much to be desired as the men didn’t catch a single crappie, but neither was too disappointed as they enjoyed the fellowship of being on the boat together.

“This year, we haven’t caught a lot of crappie,” Hare said. “Today, the east wind interfered, but that’s how it goes. And those white perch are peculiar.

Hare’s love lies with the catfish.

“Last week, I caught 46 catfish on Point ‘A’,” he said. “So far this year, I’ve probably caught more than 200 out of Point ‘A.’”

Hare said he and Kirby have been fishing off and own for 50 years.

“You could say he’s my fishing buddy, since we’ve been doing it for so long,” he said. “We fish all over from the Brooklyn Bridge to Gantt to Point ‘A.’”

Hare said he fishes a couple of times a week and said he occasionally goes to the Alabama River.

“I just enjoy fishing,” he said. “I give a lot of my fish away, but I filled my freezer full of catfish and still gave some away.”

Hare said this week was the pair’s second trip to Gantt.

“We used to fish up here years ago,” he said. “But things have changed a lot. Back then, there weren’t as many cabins and there were a lot more places to fish.”

Hare said they used to fish more for bream.

Kirby, who is originally from Covington County, but now lives at Shalimar, Fla., said he enjoys freshwater fishing, but said he doesn’t mind going deep-sea fishing.

“I like to troll,” he said. “I’m not a big fan of bottom fishing, it’s like drawing water out of the well.”

Kirby said he enjoys fishing with Hare.

“He’s about like a brother to me. He was about 16 when my wife and I were married,” he said. “We fish a lot, and we used to hunt a lot.”