THANK COD: Ray From Gumtree Has Officially Found A Mate To Go Fishing With

This morning we brought you the yarn of Ray Johnstone, a widower from South Australia who was on the hunt for a mate to go fishing with.

Ray took the reasonably unusual step of posting a Gumtree ad looking for someone to wet a line with, in a post that wound up being utterly heartbreaking as he detailed how his former fishing pal had sadly passed.

The story, in case you’ve been nowhere near the internet up until this point in the day, went absolutely bananas. When we wrote the yarn a bit before 11am this morning, the Gumtree ad had some 14,000 views. Now, as we write this follow-up, it has over 44,000.

Twitter’s been a’flood with emotions and people keen to go angling with the great man, with the #IllFishWithRay hashtag getting a good run this afternoon.

Literally crying about this. Someone go fishing with him. https://t.co/KDBLc6l1dB

— Lisa (@lisajean91_) January 30, 2017

All of the feels… #FishingWithRay https://t.co/U7uFiSRtmQ

— Veronica Eggleton (@veggleton) January 30, 2017

I know nothing about fishing, but #IllFishWithRay https://t.co/7oNeZ2kArL

— John Dean (@JohnDean_) January 30, 2017

Oh beautiful Ray! Someone please take him fishing x https://t.co/rn916oPMTZ

— Megan Hustwaite (@MeganHustwaite) January 30, 2017

I love this. Let’s find Ray a fisher-friend. https://t.co/MirVhkjpe5

— Clair White (@clairwhite) January 30, 2017

hi, my heart is close to shattering over this story https://t.co/qPWBO1w10S

— Alex Bruce-Smith (@alexbrucesmith) January 30, 2017

OH MY HEART! https://t.co/W0Om7ItRcp

— Liana Del Cray (@lianadelcray) January 30, 2017

I wish I was in Adelaide buddy #illfishwithray

— A better me (@Hemanmou) January 30, 2017

#illfishwithray Get amongst it for this beautiful man ????

— Lindan ???? (@LifeOfLindan) January 30, 2017

I hate fishing, but I would go every weekend and pack sandwiches and tea if I lived in Adelaide. Let’s be friends. #illfishwithray

— Daisy St. Patience (@invaynity) January 30, 2017

The good news – nay, THE GREAT NEWS – is that this story has one hell of a happy ending.

It would appear that Ray has found a good cobber to go have a fish with.

9News confirmed that an unnamed someone had gotten in touch with Ray, and the pair plan to meet up later this week.

As for Ray, he simply just loves fishing, and he’s been using the extra attention today to get updates from his favourite TV fishing shows.

BLESS. YOUR. SWEET. HEART. RAY.

This is the best. Ray got a fishing mate, y’all!

RAY’S OFF TO HAVE A FISH!