A body identified as Joe Jarzynka was found on the bank of the Sol Duc River, after an apparent accident while fishing from a single-man raft on a weekend fishing trip. Joe was known “as the guy who wouldn’t call for a fair catch on a punt,” per FanNation’s Dan Raley. Jarzynka began his UW career as a walk-on and ended his college career as one of the most popular Huskies players of the 1990s. A look at his Instagram would show any viewer that Joe was an avid angler, even dabbling in fly tying for his own fly-fishing adventures.
Joe’s body was found after local police were notified of the body wearing a tan fishing vest on the riverbank.
According to the Peninsula Daily News,
“Deputies were dispatched about 9:57 a.m. The reporting party said Jarzynka was obviously deceased and was wearing a tan fishing vest.
Deputies responded with medics, and a swift water rescue team was deployed. Later on, they located a single-person pontoon boat stuck in a log jam about a mile from where Jarzynka was located.
Jarzynka reportedly went to Forks to go fishing and brought with him a single-person pontoon boat, according to the Sheriff’s Office, which contacted his family.”
Our thoughts are with the Jarzynka family and the University of Washington community, and we hope that this unfortunate loss reminds everyone to wear proper PFDs when adventuring on the water.
You can read more about the incident, in this article from the Seattle Times.