A good friend of the paddle-fishing community, Mark “CooknFish” Bellotte, passed away yesterday. An accomplished angler, a widely publicized author and a genuinely good guy, Mark touched the lives of many. Here’s one of his stories:

“A day in the life of an angler: The one that got away.

I wasn’t seriously looking for a bite. Hell I wasn’t even just playing around. I just had my line out, sitting there motionless as I thought about life’s new direction. Then she took the bait while I wasn’t paying attention. I woke up and with a reflex reaction, I raised up to set the hook. Back and forth, the affair raged on. Just as she settled down and I thought I had my trophy catch, she thrashed once again just to let me know she was playing with me. My heart broke along with the connection to such a prize. I’m sure she’s still out there lurking, setting scope to steal the next guys tackle.”