THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, December 21, 1994 TAG: 9412200111
SECTION: VIRGINIA BEACH BEACON PAGE: 18 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Fishing Profile
SOURCE: BY LEE TOLLIVER, BEACON SPORTS EDITOR
LENGTH: Medium: 94 lines
NOW THAT THE striped bass season is over and billfish have headed south for the winter, the marine radio airwaves are mostly silent.
No longer do boat radios squawk with the incessant banter of Bill Cooke.
Even if you don't know him, you might have surely heard his on-air antics. If you have been on a boat with him, you will never forget him.
To put it mildly, Cooke is a piece of work.
He is constant motion and never-ending chatter - the kind of guy who could make someone who has just lost the world laugh.
Cooke is the product of a somewhat stormy past, but one that always included angling.
In fact, fishing just might have been what kept Cooke from going off the deep end.
After graduating from First Colonial High School in 1978, Cooke went to mechanics school and went on to work on cars for a living - all the while having a love affair with alcohol.
He ballooned in size, sporting a 48-inch waist and tipping the scales at 300 pounds. Then came two DUIs.
``I said to myself, `Hey, I'm a real drunk.' It occurred to me that this was very lame,'' Cooke said on a recent fishing trip. ``I didn't have a (driver's) license and couldn't get to work, couldn't go surfing, couldn't do anything.
``It had to stop.''
So Cooke went cold turkey, changed his group of friends and changed his life.
``Most people I grew up with are deep into drugs or still drinking heavily. Heck, some ain't even here anymore, if you know what I mean,'' he said, shaking his head at the thought that he was once heading down the same path. ``I've been dry for nine or 10 years now. I'm not sure exactly how long. It doesn't matter.
``I don't miss drinking and see how fit and trim (187 pounds) I am.''
Still, Cooke is no saint.
On the boat, he is as much about practical jokes as he is about serious fishing. Loud and foul language often works its way into a conversation.
``I love having him on the boat because he livens up a crowd, no matter what,'' said Dr. Jim Wright, who often employs Cooke when he takes out some of his doctor friends. ``You can't be sad when he's on the boat. He shocks a few people at first, but they end up loving him.''
One of Cooke's favorite ploys when trolling is to put out a bait, hold the rod until he feels a strike, and then hand the rod to a novice angler to hold while he puts out another line.
When the person shouts out that there appears to be a fish on the line, Cooke responds: ``Damn, you're good. You're a natural.'' The angler usually figures out from the laughter that he or she has been had.
``I just love being out on the water,'' he said. ``I fished with my dad when I was a kid, but it was an offshore trip out of Hatteras when I was working down there that got me hooked. That first marlin or tuna, that was it.
``And I love watching people get excited about catching fish. There is nothing like watching a whole charter catch fish. And people catching their first fish ever - get outta here, it's insane how great it is to watch that.
``The most important thing is to just be having a good time.''
Cooke also likes being a mate on a boat because of the teaching aspect. Many trips involve first-time anglers.
``Running the boat is fun, but I'd just as soon be a mate,'' he said. ``Most of these (first-timers) want to learn, so you have to teach them a little bit about what's going on. Most mates treat parties like they're all a bunch of idiot drones or something.
``Some of these people could be good at it if somebody taught them something. These people aren't stupid, they're just uninformed. I think a good mate is someone who can help people catch fish and make sure they have a good time. They'll remember that at the end of a trip, when the tips come.''
But money isn't why Cooke is involved. When both of his parents died, he was left with an inheritance that affords him the luxury of fishing every day.
And about his antics, Cooke doesn't care if he upsets a few people from time to time.
``Hey, most of these people are missing the point about fishing anyway,'' he said. ``It's supposed to be relaxing and fun. I'm gonna come out here and have a good time.
``Yes, I'm touched with a little insanity. Heck, some of Dr. Wright's doctor friends have offered to sign the papers to have me committed, but no place in its right mind would take me.
``Nothing in life should be taken too seriously.''
Especially Bill Cooke. ILLUSTRATION: Photo by LEE TOLLIVER
``There is nothing like watching a whole charter catch fish,'' says
Bill Cooke, a charter fishing boat mate. ``And people catching their
first fish ever . . . it's insane how great it is to watch that.''
by CNB