I just read in the NY Outdoor News of Mike's passing in April. My sincerest condolences to his family and friends.

For several years, I looked forward to our annual meetings at Naples Creek, usually the third Thursday in March, when the NYSDEC "shocked" the famous rainbow trout stream. Those surveys have become a "rite of Spring" for many of us.

As a fisheries biologist, then manager, I talked to Mike often from my Region 8 headquarters in Avon. We never met until I retired in 2003 and we started lunching together at the local inn after the morning stream side activities in Naples.

Mike was easy to like, and I certainly have missed his visits the last few years. I had an uneasy feeling about his absentness at Naples Creek. My prayers are that his friends and family can focus on the good memories; those cannot be taken from us.

Bill Abraham, Springwater

Mike and I first met each other when he was still writing for the Metro section of the Syracuse Herald Journal in the mid-1970's. I liked one of his articles, wrote a note to the newspaper, and Mike looked me up as I was working at the time for the Syracuse-Onondaga County Planning Agency.

Turned out that we were both enthusiastic anglers, Mike mainly as a fly fisherman, and myself as a practiced lake fisherman, formerly from Chautauqua Lake in western New York. Our varied backgrounds served to complement each other as Mike introduced me to the trout populations in Ninemile and other Central New York streams, while I helped broaden his experience in fishing the fine lakes in our region, like Oneida and Skaneateles Lakes, and even a trip or two to the St. Lawrence River. We also shared a few trips to the Delaware and Susquehanna Rivers angling for both trout and smallmouth bass.

We fished together for about two decades in the 1970's and 1980's, and later kept in touch mainly by phone or email contacts. About 10 or 12 years ago, I invited Mike to join Onondaga County's Fisheries Advisory Board, which he politely declined due to his illness and family commitments.

As Mike's obituary mentioned, "He was also the best hunting and fishing buddy anyone could ever have." We certainly enjoyed each other's company, myself mainly as a fishing buddy, and I will continue having fine memories of our joint fishing adventures over the years so long as I'm still blessed with those memories.

Les Monostory, Fayetteville