Here’s to Pete, Our Best Fishing Chum

An ailing British angling champion and sportswriter who doesn’t have long to live wants his remains mixed with fish attractant so his angling buddies can pay their last respects by hooking carp with their old chum.

Sorry, I couldn’t resist the pun.

Pete Hodge says his last will and testament contains strict instructions about what is to be done with his body following his death. He wants his remains (cremated remains, we assume) to be added with groundbait, a popular chum used for coarse-fishing, and then scattered freely in his favorite fishing waters so his friends can have a fine day of carp angling—on Pete.

The 61-year-old angler, who is suffering from Motor Neurone Disease, has won hundreds of angling competitions in the greater London area and has held the title of National Champion. He continues to write a fishing column for Bridgwater Mercury, despite being unable to enunciate words because of the effects of the debilitating disease.

In his column dated November 2, Hodge writes that friends and colleagues may write him at a hospice located in Puriton, UK.

“As for my own health, I can’t speak now, only baby talk,” wrote Hodge. “But through my articles in the Mercury, I can talk to my rugby, soccer, fishing and skittles friends, everyone I miss. It is my only communication.”

In an article about his peculiar last wishes appearing in The Sun of London last month, Hodge was quoted saying that he wanted his many fishing friends to help celebrate his life by doing something that brought him great joy—catching fish.

“It may sound strange,” he told The Sun, “but this is my dream. I hope my friends make me proud with their catches.”