I make no secret that I love fishing. Loading the gear on the boat, riding the waves, trying to figure out where the fish are and what will make them strike. The wind, the waves, the sun, the clouds—I love it.

The fishing I do on Lake Michigan, I imagine, only gives me the slightest hint of what it’s like to fish on the ocean. A couple years ago on this blog, I was excited to have the chance to pull up lobster pots in New Brunswick.

But one trip I really want to take is to the Bering sea to try Alaskan crab fishing. Yes, I’m a big fan of the show Deadliest Catch on the Discovery Channel. But, no, I have no illusions that I could make it on a crab boat. I would like to go out, ride the waves, drop and pull a pot or two, and then head back to the dock.

I wouldn’t want the stress of having to pull in so many pounds of crab to keep my boat afloat, to feed my family.

I respect the men who do that work. And even though seeing them on a TV show isn’t exactly a friendship, seeing the men on the crabbing boats, tired, raw, fighting, celebrating full pots…you get to know a little more about them then about celebrities (or so-called reality TV stars).

That’s why it almost feels like a family member has been lost with the death of Capt. Phil Harris (dsc.discovery.com/fansites/deadliestcatch/phil-harris).

Phil was the owner and skipper of the Cornelia Marie—and one of the most popular captains on the show. He’s had health problems the past couple years, and at the end of January, while the boat was at the dock offloading a catch, he had a stroke. He was strong enough to hang on, but yesterday, it finally caught up with him.

Tough, tender, funny…he’ll be missed. Especially by his boys, Jake and Josh, who are crew on the boat.

I wish I could have traveled to Dutch Harbor, Alaska, and met the man and toured his boat.

E-mail me at matt@spmags.com, or you can share a thought or two by using the “Post Your Comment” option below.