Catching Fish and the Mind and Body of Old Anglers; a Zaleski update

In the Sept. 1 blog that featured Rich Zaleski's insights about how he has handled several health and aging woes, he mentioned his old man's handle, which he fabricated this contraption from a PVC pipe and two PVC elbows, and he attached to his boat's console.

He said he desperately needed it to help him get out of the driver's seat of his boat, as well as up and down from the boat's front deck, when he was suffering with the dastardly effects of peripheral artery disease.

His battle with peripheral artery disease has abated, Thus,  he can get up and down without the assistance his handle. Nevertheless, he constantly uses it. Nowadays, he calls it a convenient or a grab handle, and it has proven to be so useful that several of his old fishing buddies have made and installed similar ones in their boats.

When we were working on the Sept. 1 blog, Zaleski was suffering from the aftereffects of surgery on a detached retina in his right eye, and he was under doctor's orders not to do any physical activity. Therefore, we didn't want him to uncover his boat, climb into it, and take a photograph of his handle.

Now his right eye is covered with a black patch, but he is fishing again. And he sent us a photograph of his handle, which we thought some other older anglers would like to see.

Here is a photograph of Zaleski grabbing onto his old man's handle:

To read about Zaleski's recovery and how it has affected his fishing, see his blog for Sept. 6 at http://www.richz.com/fishing/blog/ .

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