at 3am this morning ,my best friend and fishing mentor died of a heart attact. i am sitting in my man cave tellen u this, is the only place i find comfort ..here steve and i would concock our plans 4 fishing and other good stuff.plans and idears, he was a master tinker and only the best would do..in the 25+ yrs ive know steve he has brought me to a greater understanding of cape cod and its secret hot spots .the where and whens of the striped bass fishing......steve loved stripers and did,nt care what size they were..he has touched many people with his kindness and quick tonge.. and always keep me my sharpest when we were together. i look at all my fishing gear here . 20 -30 rods, reel and assorted boots, bags, plugs, momentos and more %$%$%$%$ and gear than a man can use in a life time and right now i have no reason to use it ...........god i will miss him so much. fishing for me will never b the same again, i,m lost

I feel for you man I know the feeling.the thing I hold on to is the memories.I'm sorry for your loss

RIP Flap....

RIP big fella, i was so looking forward to skiff fishing with Flap this comin spring....been a rough few years for our little community :( , i'll always remember his smle....

As I said in Numbskulls thread, I am in total shock. I knew and fished with Steve many years ago and it has been awhile since we wet a line together but I will always have those memories.

Stiff tip I feel your pain as I too have lost several fishing partners but life goes on and so must you and your fishing.

My condolences to Flap's family and all who knew him.

Keep the memories close to your heart at this time Dave. So sorry.

Dave you have my deepest sympathy:(
I am shocked at the news like everyone else.
Be thankful for the friendship you had over the years .
I still can't believe this.

Stiffy I know you guys were close. Man this really SUCKS. The man was a wealth of knowledge and helped me alot. As much as he liked to stir the pot he was a pretty friggin decent guy and always enjoyed talking with him.

Remember the good times Dave. This one will take a while to get over.

Dave - so very hard to hear this. I know he was a great friend to you, as well as to many others.

Saddened to hear this, my sympathies to his family and friends.

Total shock,
This happened toa neighbor also 3 weeks ago, 40 min after I talked to neighbor, bam same thing.
Very saddened, he will be missed

Hang tough Stiffy, remember the memories, Steve would insist you get out and cast a few lines for him, even if you feel like you can't.

Dave so sorry for the loss of your best friend. Steve was one of the nicest guys on this site, and he would talk to everyone like they were his best friend, there are not many people you can say that about.

Carry on Dave.... you know he would be ruthless, and rag on you hard, if you didn't get out there and get your lines wet.... even if you feel you can't do it for you... do it for him.... time on the water, or near the water, will help you heal...

Condolences to you, and all those that were closest to him...

RIP Flaptail...condolences to you and his family :-(

Condolences indeed.

Sorry to hear about this We will pray for you.

Dave---7 years ago I lost my best friend and fishing buddy too, Brad Poehler, the Hawg Hunter. Way, way before his time. I still miss the hell out of him today. The pain will never go away.

But here's what you do, and I think what Steve would want you to do. Keep at it. Ask his wife if you can have his favorite rod as a memento--you know the one--and go catch some fish with it next spring. And know he's watching and giving you a big thumbs up.

Dave ..... (Stifftip and Numby) i know your hurting bad...

i myself had a good CRY this morning as i hugged my wife because Steve
always treated me with Such kindness and respect that i was literally Blown away
each time we chanced to meet....

this a HUGE loss to the fishing community in that.... Steve kept meticulous records and knew more about the History of Plug Making and the history of striped bass fishing than anyone i can think of really.

ALL i can tell you is.... the healing will take a long time and only the beauty of Nature "as you see it" will give you comfort. You have him "with you" in your heart and memory and there..... he resides now.

I like to think that...... he is watching over us as a protector.

I've been working hard on the house all day to keep myself mentally occupied so the sadness won't overwhelm me.

Rest in Peace Flaptail

I am so sorry for your loss Stifftip.

Stifftip,

I agree with Karl F, get out there with or without a rod,
look at and feel those wild waves and thank the Lord that
you had a friend of Steve's caliber. May God Bless him and
his wife and children. We will see him on the beach again.

Dave,
I really didn't know Steve at all. But I knew you and he were real close.
Losing such a close friend is tough, but at least you had the opportunity to have had such a close friend.

Hope to see you this spring.

bob (markG)

RIP Flaptail, always enjoyed reading your posts.

So sorry for your loss.

Sorry for you loss Stiff Tip, tough losing a best friend. I been there.

Dave, hang in there bud. It's up to you and all that knew him to now keep his memory alive and keep on doing what he loved best......Fishing. Im sure there will be moments from now till the day its time for any of us who knew himto go. When we will feel his presence on the water and we will look up to the sky and say Thanks Steve.

warm thoughts to his family and friends.

Reading all of these posts has made me realize who my father was to the fishing community. It boggles my mind to see how much influence he had on so many people.He was such a great man who had such a deep passion , and the one thing that is consoling me right now is that I know fishing for my father was his outlet and how much he enjoyed sharing his knowlegde with everyone.He was such a great guy I LOVE AND MISS him to death. Reading these posts helps so much because it reinforces to me how kind and generous my father was to not only our family but everyone.I'm lost right now without him he knew the answer to everything ... I'd never thought I'd be writing this but to all that are effected by our loss keep on fishing.. keep my father's passion alive .. even if you don't catch anything the thrill and chase is the best part. One Father's day I sat down as a young girl while he was at work in the cellar.. trying to tie line around a hook with a piece of bucktail fur . The final result was horrible and bound to fall apart but there it still sits in his "office" in Cara's lure box. He was so happy that he had two daughters who could out fish any of the boys. Thank you all so much !! Miss you Dad - Cara Lauren and Deborah Shiraka

Cara, he spoke often of you and your sister and your accomplishments, he was so proud of his family. My deepest sympathy to you all. Your dad will be sorely missed by many and remembered always. God bless.

If I may speak for the community here, we wish you peace,strength, and love in the difficult days ahead of you. Please know we have your back, as Steve had ours. If you need something, you need only ask. George and Dave would be happy to let us know, I'm sure. Thank you for your words tonight. It means a lot to us hearing from you. God bless.

Your friends at Striped-Bass.com

Cara, what Bruce and Ross have said.

Your father was extremely proud of you all and spoke admirably of you all the time. Thank you for sharing him with us.

Know always that he loved his Family dearly, that he always included you in his conversations with me and spoke of you glowingly. He was so very proud of you.

I didn't get on here yesterday, I'm in shock, Flap helped me so many times, with questions about plug building when I was starting out. We both shared a passion for a certain rock down along the islands. His post always made me smile. Thought and prayers for his entire family.

I miss you Steve...Please Rest In Peace

Thank You for everything that I never had the chance to Thank You for.

Cara and Deborah,
I am so sorry for your loss.
While this quote may not penetrate at this time, i have found it to be the truth with the passing of my Dad and other loved ones over the years:

"Those whom we love we remember; and those whom we remember are
always with us. The ties are never broken; the fellowship is
never ended.Those whom we love we cherish.They go with
us wherever we are. They live within our souls.
They follow us through the years, and they are never forgotten.
They are our constant companions: they strengthen us,guide us, correct us and inspire us.
They are invisible to our eyes, but they are with us, for the fellowship of the spirit depends not on our physical presence.
The spirit joins us across the miles, across the years, and across the chasm which separates life from death.
They are even CLOSER to us in death than in life- in a unity of spirit which is the essence of the completeness we call love. "

Sumner H. Gill 1979

May God bless you and your family and give you
the peace and strength to go through this.

I was in NC at a gathering of beach buggy organizations and while having morning coffee I got the call. Since that moment I have felt as if I got punched in the gut and can't catch my breath.

My condolences to the Steve's wife, daughters and the F-mob, the rest of us can only imagine the pain you are going through and please know our community is here for you in any way we can be.

Steve was truely one of the more honest amongst us, and that is a ver rare quality. I will miss him for a very long time.

I just found this out yesterday what a terrible shock, I really enjoyed my chats with Steve at plugfests, learning the history of surf fishing and about the plug builders here on the cape.
Rest in peace Steve, and my deepest condolences to the family.

This is Dave jr. This is gotta be the worst news eva I misss him very much myself, watching my father fall apart it sucks. My father an steve were very close My condolense to his family an friends.

Stifftip,

If this post helps, good, if it doesn't, I"ll absolutely have it deleted.

I had lost my BFF/Best Fishing Friend just last October. He was 36 and passed from a sudden stroke while he was playing hockey late last September. He was my roomate all through college and my absolute go-to buddy when it came to fishing. Sounds to me like Flaptail was your BFF.

My buddy was the first one, and oftentimes, the only one I'd call when it was time to go fish. He liked all kinds of fishing, like me, and he liked going out in any kind of weather, and I mean any kind of weather. The first winter of 2007/2008, when my boat was new, we went out fishing on the ocean once every month even when the highs were only in the upper 30's. Rain was nothing. Like you, I don't have anyone to replace him with, guys like that are irreplaceable. Irreplaceable.

I'm lucky in that earlier that summer, when I could not get us out fishing for most of the season, I shared with him in an email that I was glad he was my friend and how much I thought of him and valued his friendship, and he replied by thanking me and letting me know that it meant a lot to him. I'm fortunate because so, so many others, they did NOT get to mention this to him before he left. It is like when the question is asked, "What would you say to a loved one who has passed away if you could say anything?" It was about the only thing that helped me deal with the loss, it helped a little.

It is tough when all the stories, experiences and things that we shared together, and all the little details that he'd remember and that I've forgotten, that when he would bring them up, we'd get a tremendous laugh over them, for me, that is only some of the hardest part of him being gone since I forget so many things but it is the others who remember and help us fill in the blanks and oftentimes, the best parts of the story.

Pictures help too and I'm lucky that over the years I had taken pictures here and there and now they are about all I have that mean anything. Pictures sure are valuable. One of the most precious things I have from him is the RSVP for my wedding where he wrote his name. Odd how someones handwriting means more than anything else but that's the way it is for me. He passed away just 3 weeks before the wedding that I know he was looking forward to attending, he just missed it.

Please, I didn't/don't want this thread to be about me because it surely isn't or should not be. If you want it gone, please, anyone who has the power, please delete it. I just know that whenever I have read stories from others who have gone through the same thing, it has helped me and I just want to pass it on. Please forgive me if it is off-base as it was/is not my intention.

Reading all of these posts has made me realize who my father was to the fishing community. It boggles my mind to see how much influence he had on so many people.He was such a great man who had such a deep passion , and the one thing that is consoling me right now is that I know fishing for my father was his outlet and how much he enjoyed sharing his knowlegde with everyone.He was such a great guy I LOVE AND MISS him to death. Reading these posts helps so much because it reinforces to me how kind and generous my father was to not only our family but everyone.I'm lost right now without him he knew the answer to everything ... I'd never thought I'd be writing this but to all that are effected by our loss keep on fishing.. keep my father's passion alive .. even if you don't catch anything the thrill and chase is the best part. One Father's day I sat down as a young girl while he was at work in the cellar.. trying to tie line around a hook with a piece of bucktail fur . The final result was horrible and bound to fall apart but there it still sits in his "office" in Cara's lure box. He was so happy that he had two daughters who could out fish any of the boys. Thank you all so much !! Miss you Dad - Cara Lauren and Deborah Shiraka

Thank you very much. I just kissed my kids as they lay sleeping in their beds one more time before I go to bed.

T&P's for your friends and family.