Bob Riepenhoff

The former outdoor editor of the Journal Sentinel, Bob Riepenhoff has died.

Bob and I fished together many, many times over the years, and the first outdoors article I appeared in with Bob was when I taught him how to use a wacky worm for bass fishing the week before I got married. After our first trip together, we would fish for walleyes, bass, crappies, and bluegills on a variety of trips, some for the paper and some just for fun.

I have lots of funny stories about the time we spent in the boat together, but my best memory of Bob will always be the time I took him into the Oconomowoc River for bluegills. I was studying for an exam, and he was catching keeper sized gills as fast as he could get his line in the water. After a few hours of the fast action that beautiful spring day, he was giggling like a little kid.

He was a great guy, and he will be missed.

JS Online Story is here.