An old expression goes that if you give a man a fish he eats for a day, but if you teach a man to fish he eats for a lifetime. But when Henry Winkler holds aloft his fish, the internet goes crazy.
Winkler, iconic for his role as the epitome of greaser cool Arthur “The Fonz” Fonzarelli on Happy Days and now enjoying a career bounce as acting teacher Gene Cousineau opposite Bill Hader on Barry, discovered the joys of fly fishing in the early 1990s. Growing up, as he did, in New York City, meant not exploring the natural world too much until later in life. “I didn’t know when I was younger how much I was going to love the river,” he told Inside Hook about his adventures in Idaho and Montana, pursuing trout.
“You have to be very patient and you have to play the fish. You have to gently move it from side to side. You gently have to keep it coming toward your boat. You have to feel the slightest tug and let the fish go, because sometimes the fish is very big and has a terrific fight,” the 76-year-old actor said, describing his pastime.
Luckily for all of us, Winkler delights in sharing his catch with the outside world. He’s been posting big, happy pics of his watery trophies for years, but lately—perhaps due to Barry’s increase in popularity, or perhaps due to the rest of the news being just so glum—these social media shares have really taken off. An average Winkler-trout pic gets 20,000 likes, with some well over 80,000.
Here are some proud Tweets from Friday, sent from Snake River in Idaho, which could also double as entries for the word “happiness” in the dictionary.
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