I had to come on here because I know how important this board was to him. It’s with a heavy heart I have to let you guys know that My dad, Paul (fishfighter), is finally out of pain. He left this world on Christmas Day to be with my brother. As you guys know, he was diagnosed with ALS 6 months ago. He kicked heart failure’s butt for 11 years. The last 2 weeks was very hard for him. He was totally dependent on my mom, lost all of his strength, couldn’t lift his computer even, and he couldn’t even think clearly since he was in so much pain. The last week his respiratory system started to fail. On Christmas morning, he called us to be by his side. He watched us open presents and told us he loved us and was going to miss us. He then slipped into a coma state and was gone within several hours.

He was an amazing father, husband, and man. He was only 62 years old. I could only imagine what he could have done if he made it into his 80s...he probably would have reinvented the wheel. He was determined to keep going all the time despite his diseases. With a heart function at about 10-20% he accomplished more than many people a fraction of his age. When he was told he had 6 months to live, he fired his doctors and lived another 8 years.

He loved the outdoors. He taught me as a young girl how to live off the land. I can remember being left on a deer stand alone by the time I was 10. I was always comforted when I saw him coming to get me down. He would be so proud that I made it, even though I didn’t see anything. When I did kill my first deer at 12 he was so happy. It was seriously Bambi and since I never had shot a deer I clearly did not know how to age one. I remember I was crying. He comforted me and said, “Don’t feel bad, that’s the best tasting meat.” As he finished skinning and gutting it and promptly folding it whole into a 55qt ice chest! He also taught me how to process my own game. When I entered veterinary school I did great in gross anatomy. I had dissected so many deer, organ and muscle identification were a blast. Still to this day I clean and process my own game.

He would spend hours with my brother and I as children in False River and Old River. When we were younger he was a big bass fisherman. He would pick us up a cage of crickets for us whiie he would work the piers. I think I caught the same brem over and over. At that time he was also commercial shrimping out a 16 foot boat and selling coon hides on the side in addition to working 12 hour shifts to support our family and send us to a Catholic School.

When we became teenagers we started saltwater fishing. We would fish the rodeos in Venice and Grand Isle. I just couldn’t understand why I couldn’t go to the docks to watch the weigh ins (lord know I know now!). He won 3rd place one year in Specks. He should have won a whole lot more but he was always having to tend to our rats nests, lines, hooks, and most of the time working on a broke boat. He loves to fish Tuna the most. One of my favorite saltwater stories was when me and my husband first started dating (we were 16). He invited Mitchell to come fishing with us. We were parked in the area near a bouy around 16 miles out. We were bottom fishing about 60 foot down for snapper. My dad told us don’t leave the line in the water without putting it in the rod holder. Soon after my dad had casted out a drift line with a large dead shad on it. Zippppp, fish on. Dad screams to Mitchell get the gaft. Mitchell, sitting next to me, reels his line up in a panic....leaving about 1 foot of line in the water and goes to help him. Dad loses his fish at the boat. All at one time, whoosh there goes Mitchell’s pole! I can literally see the pole going straight down into the ocean. The bubbles steaming off the reel as it looks like it’s attached to a torpedo. Dad takes a deep breath and says it’s ok. I have another pole if you want to fish. My new boyfriend says no way, I’m so sorry. Ten minutes later I feel a pull on my pole, fish on. I start to reel it up, feels like every snapper I caught that day, heavy. Reel down, pull up, reel down, pull up.....then I see something, not a fish. Something long and thin. It’s the damn rod and reel. My hook was attached to the cross bar on the reel of the other pole (60 feet down). We all reach for Mitchell’s previously lost pole and snatch it. His fish still on the other end! My dad said we won the lottery!! Mitchell didn’t fish the rest of the day. Maybe that helped shape their relationship. We ended up getting married 13 years later and he was a blessing to my father ever since.

When he was diagnosed with heart failure he was forced into retirement. He was told he couldn’t be around heavy machinery, generators, etc. Due to his pacemaker. He sold his boat at that time. My son (his only grandchild) was born. Since my mom kept him while I was at work he felt like it was a redo since he didn’t get to see us grow up since he worked so much. It truly was a blessing to have Dylan around.

He decided since he couldn’t fish, and kept passing out in the woods that he would get back into duck hunting. I was his side kick. We went to every WMA, lottery hunt, and wood duck hole we could come across. I was his retriever. I ended up buying a dog and training it. That’s when all the ducks pretty much disappeared.

That’s when he started building his cabin. If you haven’t seen his craftsmanship it’s awesome. He is completely self taught and could fix any problem. He was great at rigging stuff. He has a tread online of his build if anyone is interested in seeing it on the forestry forum.

I met a few of you guys at his pirogue builds. I still have a sticker on mine....fishfighter classic and I love tities and guns.

Guys, I know this is long, I just wanted to honor him! He was amazing person! He loved you guys. You were a place for him to air his frustrations and share in his victories. I know I don’t have him anymore. I can’t call him and ask him advice on random things (because trust me he knew pretty much everything). I’m lost, my mom is lost...he is no longer hurting. He is with my brother again. I can at least come on here an read his advice to you guys. I can read his voice through his comments.

I do not know final funeral arrangements yet. I will post them here when available.

Once again thank you guys for supporting my dad over the years.

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