Ron Hopper was an avid fisherman and, as he approached retirement, he dreamed of being able to travel the world with his friends exploring exotic locals in the hunt for the big catch. But it was not to be. At the age of 64 he died of cancer shortly before a big trip to Thailand that was planned with his long time angling companions. Yet he managed to make the trip anyway. Shortly before his death his friends proposed using half of his ashes, with the rest to spread by Hopper’s wife in the Caribbean, as part of a bait mix in their quest to reel in the giant Siamese Carp. The idea was met with approval and when his two friends made their trek to southeast Asia he came along as well just not in the way everyone imagined just a few years before. And, in a fitting end to the story, the ashes proved to be the perfect bait when his compadres caught what would have been a world record catch. While, no doubt, everyone wished Hopper would have been able to be there in the flesh it was still a fitting end to the journey of his mortal remains.
See, Fishermen use dead friend’s ashes as bait to catch 180-pound carp, Fox News, April 28, 2016.
