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Galster hooked on Quincy
Doug Flanagan/Post-Register
Pat Galster has been a professional welder for 25 years.
Pat Galster is a self-described hard-core fisherman; he has been for practically all of his life. He fell in love with fishing as a boy growing up in Fairbanks, Alaska, and moved to the Quincy Valley eight years ago partly because of the area’s bountiful rivers and lakes.
Galster may be experienced and knowledgeable about his chosen hobby, but he doesn’t own his household’s biggest fish tale.
About five years ago, Galster went fishing in Bridgeport with his wife, Dawn. Despite the fact that Dawn didn’t have nearly the fishing experience her husband had, she still managed to reel in a whopping 52-pound king salmon.
“Ever since, whenever I’ve come close (to matching the 52-pounder), she’s rubbed it in (that I haven’t),” Galster said. “She bought me a trophy that says, ‘World’s Best Fisherman — Second Place.’ It was a freak thing. She had gone fishing maybe five times and I had gone hundreds of times, but she’s got the biggest one. Kind of ironic, huh?”
So how hard-core of a fisherman is Galster? “I have a $40,000 boat,” he said. “Pretty hard core.” Growing up in Alaska, he followed the lead of his father, who was a serious fisherman himself. Galster lived in Fairbanks until he was 15, when he moved to Utah. He moved to the Quincy Valley eight years ago primarily to be closer to his three children from his first marriage.
Galster has thought about taking his passion to the next level and becoming a fishing guide.
“I thoroughly enjoy salmon fishing, and the Columbia River offers great salmon fishing,” he said. “In the summer I’ll go out about three times a week. I like going to the Vernita Bridge area, up to Brewster, Bridgeport, Wells Dam, Wanapum Dam, really anywhere around the area. It’s neat to say that within an hour of my house there’s all these different parts of the Columbia River.”
When he’s not fishing or enjoying other outdoor pursuits such as hunting (“I love to hunt white tail deer,” he said), water skiing, swimming and camping, Galster is probably working. He’s the owner of his own business, Interstate Portable Welding. His main responsibilities include helping farmers get their circle piping hooked up, mechanical work, apple storage buildings, pipe fitting and farm implement repairs.
Galster enjoyed his welding classes in high school, furthered his education in college in Utah and has been in the business for the past 25 years.
“I enjoy fabricating and doing a quality job,” he said. “When I was a kid I used to repair my go-karts. I just liked it. I had a natural knack for it, I guess.”
Galster compares his occupation to farming because of the seasonal nature of the business.
“It’s great sometimes and difficult in others,” he said. “It depends on how busy you are. I do enjoy the freedom of it, but it really is feast or famine. It’s a challenge to budget, just like a farmer.
“But we’re definitely getting busier. This winter was the slowest it’s been in the 25 years I’ve done this. I think the economy has finally hit this area."
