Remembering CooknFish

[TerryW]

Love that video. It's a perfect way to remember Mark. How did he stay so calm when the tarpon broke off or did he edit that out?

[DaveR]

I fished that spot with Mark a couple years ago. Even hooked a tarpon. My Baitbuster let loose under full strain of the fish and came back at us at about a thousand miles per hour. It hit the side of Marks skiff so hard we both looked at the point of impact to make sure it didn't put a hole in the boat.
Skinny bastard apparently went back without me!

[Vlap]

Dave I will miss fishing that spot.

[DaveR]

It's still there. A bit of a paddle though!

[Vlap]

We just have to sweet talk someone into letting us park there.
Its a paddle I have done many times.

[Heywood]

You can still get there.

[TerryW]

I sort of know where the video was taken due to a friend who lives right there...Luckily I am no real threat to to the tarpon catching community...yet.

[Norm]

I went there with him as well.....wouldn't be hard to find

[John]

The Cook's blog


http://cooknfish.blogspot.com/?m=1

[mayhem]

RIP Cookn'.

[pag_yaker]

When I started my craker_conversion in 2000, I new nada about Florida fishing. Living at Pass-A-Grille, fishing opportunities were everywhere. Fishing from a kayak was the most cost effective way to get on the water – picking up some heavy skinny affordable mutts at Sams Club was the immediate answer – DONE. So what’s next? Hit the forums – ask questions – and figure out how to fish from these things.

So who *is* this “CookNfish” character?

As it turns out, it’s just a guy. Very willing to graciously dumb down the answer but requiring that a dumb question not be asked. That’s how ya learn.

GRILLED CHICKEN, SALSA, AND CHEESE:
We worked it out for “CookNcrew” to come over to our place at PAG to fish the seawall and beach, and Mark offered to cook. After all, *he* is the one that claimed to be a cook. So, after hours of casting and fellowship, Mark hit the grill. It was super simple, which just made it all easy. Fishing from a kayak should be that way too. I wouldn’t learn that lesson for many years.

*THE* TARPON 120:
Time passes, and I get involved with Emotion kayaks. Mark is a die-hard Tarpon 120 guy at this time. Emotion wanted something to compete with the T120, I knew someone that had one – away we go. So Mark loaned me his legendary T120 (with his “CookNfish” moniker on the side). I measured, photographed, and paddled that boat for a weekend. I once got to play the guitar that Ricky Medlock (Blackfoot) used to record “Highway Song”. He willingly coached me on the intro, stating that I might as well get it right. There’s a vibe you get from a well enjoyed instrument – same vibe here.



As my Emotion fleet came and went, we met up at Fort DeSoto while I was paddling this tiny sit-inside. He said he *had* to try and stand in it. Done:


ONE FOOT IN THE INNER CIRCLE:
Mary and I were invited to tag along with “CookNcrew” to Weedon Island on one occasion. We’d never been there, so it was great to have such competent guides. Mark, Mike, and Sharon showed us the ropes, and then went on to catch fish. We just paddled around and tried to stay out of the way.


OSMOSIS – THE DYNAMIC DUO:
Mark’s living on the other side of the bay now, so participating in the Paddle-Fishing “Dynamic Duo” tournament was a no-brainer. We chatted briefly at the sign in, and went on to fish. At the weigh-in, we discussed what our chosen 2 lures were. As it turns out we had chosen the exact same lures … a green back Mirro-Dine, and a ¼ oz DOA Glow Shrimp. That’s where the similarity ends because he caught fish, and I just went exploring.



ICAST 2012 – RIDING WITH THE KING:
I’m sure early on, Eric Clapton had things to prove. Ups, downs, sideways at times, but always true to the blues. Time passes – now, he just does what he knows, which makes it easy to excel without effort. Hard core? No. Core? Absolutely,

After numerous e-mails, Mark and I were able to team up to head to ICAST 2012 in Orlando, July 11th. Mark was now living about 3 miles from me. Crazy that we weren’t fishing several times a week at this point, though we’d chatted about it plenty. The speed of life turns everything in to a blur.

I picked him up fashionably late and we made the drive to Orlando. Sure we talked fishing, but more about “how ya been?”, “how ya doin’?”, and “how’s the ticker?”. Good on all counts. I must say that though I didn’t spend a lot of time around Mark over the years, at this time in his life he seemed very at ease. That’s all any of us can hope for. I felt very good for the kid.

We get to the show, he had appointments, I did too, So we’d go our ways and then we’d converge here and there on the floor. Normally I’d find him chatting it up with someone in the angling industry. I did a lot of by-catch handshaking that day.

We happened upon an oasis in the middle of the convention center … FREE BEER. Now, I’m not a big Sam Adams fan, but for proximity and price point, it couldn’t be beat. Having a couple free beers with a good buddy in the middle of all that fishing mayhem - that’s about as good as it gets.

At the end of the show that day, they announced the product showcase winners. I got to the room first, he was wandering around the convention center texting “where are you?”. By the time he got there the room was packed and the line to the bar was quite long. Of course I grabbed 2 beers when I went through. Though I didn’t get the “tarpon video” smile, he flashed me a good one when thecold can hit his palm.

The show wrapped up, we headed back toward St. Pete. Again, only small talk about the show. More about work, etc. Once we got back to his place, we vowed to get together and finally fish some. Thursday rolls around and the speed of life resumes – we never got the chance to make good on the promise.

DISAPPEARING ACT:
Today after work I stopped at the Bait Bucket at Fort DeSoto to pick up some things, and grabbed the current August issue of Saltwater Angler Magazine, for which Mark was a Field Editor. I’d often shoot him an e-mail after reading his segments, because his style, knowledge, and photographs always made for great read.



So after I finished reading yet another great installment, it hit me that this is the last one. Disappeared indeed.

That’s all I’ve got to say about that …

Mark, know that when we all put paddle to water, a part of you is there with us.

[TerryW]

Disappeared indeed.

: (

That's a nice narrative, Jerry. I hope some of the fishing magazines are doing a nice write up on Mark, too.

[Dyongue]

Funny, I told my wife I lost a good friend. I barely new Mark, only talked to him a couple of times, read his articles with great interest and always wanted to go fish with him. At the last Goomba BAC,K had I told Mark when he unloaded his Kayak, "Well I know where I'm fishing!" "Yea, where?"
"Where ever you're going, cause I'm following you."

I was just kidding, but how I wish now I wasn't.

Even though Mark didn't know me from Adam, I still felt like he was a friend.

RIP Mark, and God Bless, Sharon.