I made friends with a fish — and now we meet up every summer

There’s something very fishy about this friendship.

A man has befriended a freshwater smallmouth bass in the wild — and now they meet up every summer.

Rex Colubra was on a dive in September 2021 when he “met” his new pal. He claims the pair became fast friends — and Colubra even nicknamed the fish Elvis.

“It was like any other dive: I was checking out a new spot and all these fish were coming up to me,” Colubra, 40, told South West News Service. “I noticed one was sticking closer than the rest. He wasn’t scared even when I got out. He stuck close to the surface in the shallows.”

Two weeks later, the Wisconsin native returned to the same diving spot — and the fish remembered him and swam up to him.

Colubra fed Elvis some crawfish — and the rest was history.

It’s unclear how the fish, uh, recognized Colubra, but the diver told SWNS he recognizes Elvis thanks to a scar on his face, which was most likely caused from being caught by a fisherman.

Rex Colubra with Elvis, a small mouth bass. — Rex Colubra with Elvis, a smallmouth bass.

The print-shop worker and animal enclosure maker gets to see his fish bestie every year now when he travels to the lake where Elvis lives.

Colubra taught the smart fish a call that he responds to that will help the fish find his human pal.

“I will do a gulping grunt sound with my throat and he’ll come find me,” he shared.

Rex feeding Elvis — Colubra fed Elvis some crawfish, and the rest was history.

Elvis is also overprotective of his friend and gets jealous if he sees Colubra interacting with other fish.

“Elvis will literally just fight other fish if they get too close to me to keep them away.”

Colubra added, “He’s completely obsessed with me. He follows me around and just stares me in the eyes.”

Elvis the fish following Rex — Colubra said, “He’s completely obsessed with me. He follows me around and just stares me in the eyes.”

Rex Colubra with Elvis, a small mouth bass. See SWNS story SWSMfish. An animal-lover has become unlikely friends with a wild FISH which comes when he calls it, gets jealous when other fish approach him and follows him around. Rex Colubra, a print-shop worker and animal enclosure maker made unlikely friends with Elvis, a small mouth bass in September of 2021 while on a dive. The bizarre encounter ended with the fish and Rex, 40, becoming fast friends, and they now see eachother every year when Rex goes to the lake Elvis lives in. Since then, he has taught the fish a call that it will respond to and come find him, and found that it is quite jealous, and will fight others if they get too close to Rex. — Rex Colubra was on a dive in September 2021 when he “met” the fresh water small mouth bass.

But when you’re friends with a fish, it’s inevitable that there’ll be a few scares.

Last year, Colubra couldn’t immediately find Elvis, and he feared the fish had passed. He also refuses to share which lake his little friend lives in as a means to protect him.

“Of course, I would be sad if he had been caught. He’s my friend,” Colubra said. “There’s not much I can do to protect him. It’s the risk he runs every year.”

Elvis, a friendly small mouth bass — Elvis is overprotective of his friend and gets jealous if he sees Colubra interacting with other fish.

“I don’t like sport fishing. I think it’s immoral,” Colubra added. “If you are going to catch a fish you should eat it and not just put a hook in it.”

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