CLEARWATER, Fla. — Fishing charter boat owners in Clearwater plan to honor Capt. Bill Burk, 72, with a regatta type send off in the Gulf of Mexico on Friday, according to Capt. Mike Colby.


What You Need To Know

  • A regatta type send off for Capt. Bill Burk is planned for Friday

  • Burk, who died on March 11, began working at the Clearwater Marina in 1972

  • Friends and loved ones say Burk took thousands of visitors fishing on his charter boat, One Hundred Proof

“It’ll be everybody that Billy knew,” said Colby, 72. “We’re going to go offshore a bit. We’re going to toast him and give him a send-off.”   

Colby said the longtime Clearwater Beach captain, who took thousands of visitors fishing from all over the country over the past 51 years, had health problems and passed away suddenly on March 11.

“He just started to wear out,” Colby said. “None of us expected it.”

Burk’s boat was named One Hundred Proof and sat in a slip right next to Colby’s boat, named Double Hook, for more than two decades. Colby said Burk was the elder statesman at the Clearwater Marina and the young captains looked up to him.

“Whenever they had a question, or they didn’t know how to do a certain splice or my fuel cooler on my engines is not working well, who did they go to? William Burk,” he said. “That was kind of how Bill became enamored with this fishery. He wouldn’t necessarily tell you where to fish, but he’d tell you ‘No, you don’t want to troll that bait.’”

Colby said Burk arrived in Clearwater Beach in 1972, where he began as a deckhand and eventually worked his way up to captain. 

“He was hard, but he was fair, but I’ll tell you what, pound for pound, he’s the toughest guy that they make,” he said. “He ran the boat one time in 6- to 8-foot seas with three cracked ribs, never even complained.”

Colby said Burk’s customers will remember that he gave 110% on every trip, and will remember his friend as a great captain.

“There’s a big difference between being a good fisherman and a good captain, and I will guarantee you that if you had trouble offshore, weather, engine problem, some unforeseen circumstance, Bill Burk was a guy that you wanted with you,” he said. “That’s the highest compliment I can pay anybody.”

Colby said about nine fishing charter boats will leave the Clearwater Marina at 5 p.m. on Friday to honor Burk.