They are two Oak Bluffs plumbers who have much more in common than fixtures and pipe fittings. William D. (Bill) Norton, 80, and his son Ralph W. Norton, 53, have plenty to share when Father’s Day arrives on Sunday.

They are the perfect father-son team, sharing not only their work and trade, but also a certain easy fellowship that comes about with age. Their interests reach across the generations and intersect.

They say the Vineyard has changed a lot. The places to hunt and fish aren’t the same.

But that doesn’t stop them from hunting and fishing.

Bill Norton has been a saltwater fly-fisherman for decades. He is a master at tying complex flies that catch big fish. He has a tackle box full of flies and a head full of stories about the big fish that he has caught — and more often than not released — over the years. If you are lucky enough to get a fishing tip from Bill, you are on the way to reeling in a big one.

When it comes to family, Bill Norton is an even bigger enthusiast. “Spend as much time as you can with your kids, as much as you can give. That is the message on Father’s Day. I tell you right now,” he says.

“I think he is right,” Ralph says. “I can’t argue that. That is how I grew up.”

As far back as they can remember the family was close.

For Ralph the memories pour out easily as he sits alongside his father on the backyard deck. He remembers spending time with his father, their shared adventures when the Island was a quieter, less populated place.

“The hunting aspect — that is how we got together. The fish kind of dried up for years,” Ralph recalls. “I couldn’t wait for my father. He would only take two weeks for vacation. The first week of bird hunting and then deer hunting week.

“I couldn’t wait for him to come home. During bird hunting season, he always had the same vest on from year to year. And that vest would be full of birds. We had bird hunting dogs. All we did was bird hunting.”

Ralph recalls his father was always good-natured. There were four siblings and plenty going on in and around the house. He laughs trying to retell the story of how one window in the house was repeatedly broken by the kids playing ball in the backyard. Ralph was amazed that his father never got angry about having to fix the window.

Bill smiles at the recollection. “Well, that is what happens,” he says, rolling his eyes and then glaring at his son. “So I fixed it.”

Ralph says he can still smell the glazing compound that his father used to refinish the window, over and over again.

He recalls the first time he started going out with his father on plumbing service calls. “I was a little kid. I was eight or nine, out on those service calls. I just wanted to be with him. It didn’t matter what he was doing,” he recalls.

“And, I’d say, yeah, come, let’s go,” Bill says.

“I can remember a time he went up-Island on a night service call,” Ralph says. “We would go over one hill and there would be a light way off in the woods. There was just one light and he knew who lived there.”

Bill says: “He couldn’t be with me because I was always working. When I was growing up everything was family.”

Bill and his wife Elizabeth married in 1950 and raised four children.

Now retired, Bill says he started taking young Ralph to work with him because he was good company.

“Ralph, he was so good-natured. He was inquisitive, which was great for me. That is what you needed was someone inquisitive, because that is how you know they were paying attention.”

They finish each other sentences, their eyes sparkling, their stories infected with laughter.

Though fishing is a sport, it is a team sport, Bill says. He believes it is about sharing the experience.

He recalls when his son became a plumber, operating on his own, how the two often shared more than knowledge. It was no different than their experiences together as fishermen.

Ralph says it got a little confusing for the customers at times.

So how will Bill and Ralph Norton spend Father’s Day?

Could be a good day for fishing.