A Fishing Tale- The Introduction (1)

It had been a spectacular day!

Only fishermen know the deep resolution and the full emotions that mesh together at the end of a perfect trip on the water.

Simon was exhausted, but ecstatic. His back throbbed as he spread out the last net on the shoreline pebbles that now glistened bright crimson brilliance in the Mediterranean sunset.

The deep blue sky, the ripples of waves, and low clouds added to the hues of purple and orange in the pristine horizon. Jehovah had saved His best work for last; throwing head turning strokes of color with just mere minutes left in this contribution to His glory.

Birds took turns diving and floating as they too cheered the accomplishment. Teems of baitfish had surrounded the boat all day and even now, predatory schools of fish were exploding on the surface of Lake Gennesaret. No need to throw out the nets again, Simon's boat was overloaded.

Days and days of failure, heartache, and missed opportunities always precede these moments. But fishermen’s hopes die hard. This day would now fuel more days of high winds, tangled nets,  and bloody hands with mediocre or no results.

The sons of Zebedee were both lying down. It appeared that John was looking at the sunset and James was out. Simon resisted barking out orders at them, but perfect days tend to do that. The ideal conditions drove the brothers with powerful intensity. They stayed too busy to argue themselves, a surprising added attribute to the day. It had been a strangely peaceful existence in the midst of activity.

Simon’s brother, Andrew, finally had the shoreline fire intense enough to leave it and hustled back to help his brother secure the boat and prepare to clean the catch.

“Want me to call them?”

Simon saw that now both of the brothers were out. He put his hands on his hips and slowly shook his head.

“No, give them a few minutes. We will have a long night with the bounty.”

Andrew smiled. He liked to see his brother happy.

“We have some great water flowing from the Jordan.  It is clean and powerful.”

Simon nodded his head in agreement. He was unusually quiet, but Andrew could see the satisfaction flowing through Simon’s body.

“Yes, brother Andrew” , Simon finally could not restrain himself, “It was miracle water today. We haven't had one like that in a long time.”

Simon whistled toward the local boys. They were waiting eagerly for his call and raced one another to the boat. Simon laughed at the spectacle.

“We have had a good day! “ He tossed a small coin to the winner.

“Please run to my wife and her mom and tell them that we had a good day and will need help tonight. Bring more salt as well.”

A small group of the other boys from Bethsaida waited to see if they might be included. They always had a reverent fear of Simon, whose dark outline looked larger than life now.

“Ok…. ok, yes…. You three, but no more.”

Andrew immediately began to send them to their tasks and the activity had roused James and John to their feet.

One of the boys finally found the courage to speak to Simon.

“This is by far the best catch today in all of Capernaum!”

Simon swelled in the victorious acclamation.

Fishermen are good at that as well.

_______________________

I have truly enjoyed getting to know Peter in a deeper and more personal way over these last few weeks.... If I get time, I will begin to write a little about it.

We know his story... but there is so much here...

This fisherman from a place called "The Fishing Hut" has quite a story! [14] And more than ever believers were added to the Lord, multitudes of both men and women, [15] so that they even carried out the sick into the streets and laid them on cots and mats, that as Peter came by at least his shadow might fall on some of them. (Acts 5:14–15 ESV)

Hope this series will encourage you as much as it does me!

My Big Fish Story

I can't recall how many times I have actually gone bass fishing in December. But I mentioned to my good friend, Steve Renfroe, that I was NEEDING to get away and throw a line... and he provided the opportunity.

We left after exams on Wednesday, Dec. 18. Steve had a large group up at the baseball cage watching MLB player Wes Helms crushing the baseball. We jumped in the truck and headed about an hour southeast to an undisclosed part of Coosa County.

The lake was beautiful- the clear blue sky and bright sun had warmed us up to just over 50F and I knew it would be a pleasant day whether I caught anything or not.

It is always so quiet during the winter- but it only added to the peace of the afternoon. After only 5 minutes of just standing and staring, I was feeling the health that God's pristine creation always provides.

We launched the boat and drifted through all kinds of good fish cover- past the faithful feeders that feed the fish that end up being the delicacies of the trophies we hoped to land. This particular lake is managed by Southeastern Pond Management Company and from all external evidence was healthy and excellent.

I always start with plastic- it is just my comfortable base. It helps me feel out the lake- depth, cover, and I feel the temp of the lure to get a sense of how slow I need to go. The water was cold. And there wasn't any activity visible to my eye.

But even then, I loved throwing and working my red ribbon- tailed Texas rig on the end of a faithful old Ambassador reel and sturdy rod.

About 45 minutes in I finally got a tap, likely a bream, but was a thrill to finally have some life on the other end of the line. Two casts later, I finally pulled one in. Very cold and very small 1 lb bass, who was never going to return because of the harvest rules of the management.

It was almost 20 minutes later that I began to experiment with some other presentations. I tried a lizard, but didn't like the dark blue color for those conditions (no clue if the bass care about the color- it has always been what I feel good about). I like the chartreuse firetail on the end of Steve's lizard and he had gotten some action on it.

So I pulled out a light green fluke and put it on my Texas rig.... but it was too heavy.

I wanted something to hang in a slow suspended area near cover.

 I then rigged it totally weightless, but it was too light and really never got out of eyesight. I then put a small slip shot weight about 4-6 inches up the line from the hook and liked what I got from that. Enough to work it with different tugs and twitches, and let it fall and drift.

I wacky hooked it for a few throws, but thought the action was too fast for the temp. I then regular hooked it and let it swim and drop. My first cast like that got a strike. It was like the others we were getting... just a small tap, and not much after that..... I set the hook, but missed.

I have to credit my friend Jody Rogers for a lifelong habit I have done after a miss. I don't cast right back at it. I will go away for 1 cast and then come back. So I turned form the close bank and cast just past a stickup about 10 yards behind me. I twitched the fluke with a little flip right at the stick up and watched it drift down.... and that is where she picked it up. It was a good tug and felt heavy on my hook set. It was a big fish and I began to work it in.

Steve got real excited... "Big fish" and I said "I don't think it is that big" but then I saw her turn sideways and OH BOY... it was no ordinary big fish.

We pulled out the net and for a second I had net and rod. I almost lost her as she took one more dive and tried to get under the boat, but I eased her back to the top and we netted her in.

I have had a 10 lb dumb bell in my hands before... but this felt heavier.

The stats revealed what a whopper catch this was...... 12.5 lbs/ 29"long/ and a girth of 19"- fat full of shad.

In the monster's mouth was the fin of a fish that looked as big as the earlier bass I caught. This fish was stuffed to the gill and still eating!

Steve caught a few more on a crankbait in the same area- all of his fish that day were nice.

But I had done the fishing version of a hole in one..... that lucky shot that rolls in for a rank amateur  that makes him smile for a while and tell everyone about what he has done- but on the inside you know that it will likely never happen again. It was also a huge make-up for all the times the big one has snapped my line or slung the hook back at me- all the former anguish was now joy!

We ended the day filling up the feeders and I got to shoot his pistol for a few rounds.

It was a great Christmas present and I am thankful to the Lord for His creation and to Steve and the gracious lake owner for the opportunity. I will be back...........

Great Days and Special Memories- Fishin and Football

Talk about a blessed man!

It started last Sunday morning. The 'work' of hard fishing conditions of wind and choppy waters subsided and turned the Mississippi Delta into a pristine lake.

As we went out into the reeds, it was as beautiful a sunrise as I had ever seen.

And the redfish were hungry!

All I can say is that we caught fish from 7Am until 1:30 PM - we pulled one in about 3 or 4 casts. Every spot produced some kind of nice catch. A lot of reds, but we also caught a big speck, a founder, a blue fish, a freshwater cat, and two monster Jack-cavelles.

I still cannot express the fun of having a redfish attack your lure- they hit it hard- they come to put a hurt on you!

But as sweet as that was... I still find unbelievable satisfaction in coaching my football team. My team really picked me up this week- we had fun practices in the mud and it paid off with a very special win at DCA last night.

We have beaten our #1 rival now 5 years in a row... and it never gets old. We just played really well and pushed a close halftime game into a relatively comfortable 4th quarter win.

I received so many texts, e-mails, and phone calls about how proud people are in our effort.

I am so happy and so thankful.

The Lord is good!

The Hunt for Redfish and Perseverence

I wanted to mention a few more things about our fishing trip to the Mississippi Delta.

Saturday was a big disappointment.

It was a beautiful day- and amazing sunrise- and perfect temps. We could tell the wind was going to be up, but still confident in landing redfish early and often.

On about my third cast in open ocean (about 3 ft deep) I hit a big one. The technique is fun. I threw a nice spin cast rod and reel with 50 lb braided line. I had a plastic jig tied on just below a large cork. Once you hit the water you begin a retrieve and POP technique.

I popped, reeled, popped, reeled, popped BOOM! When a redfish hits, you know it ain't no catfish. But I thought I missed him, my line went limp and I paused..... bad mistake- the cork was still under and the big red was running right at me.

Mike Frenette yelled at me, "REEL!"

I began to try and catch up and then he went in reverse- the power is hard to describe on that light tackle- but oh my! did he pull and then... SNAP... line broke.

Mike's stinging commentary, "You let him wrap the line around the cork. That was a big fish you just missed." (Thanks for telling me).

Unfortunately, that was the last big redfish hit I had that day ( I did get a small one 2 or 3 lbs). We did nothing.... yeah, we caught about 50 catfish, Bill even caught a nice largemouth bass. But the redfish were not eating... we saw them but did not catch them. Bill caught about a 7 lb. redfish late in the day.

Mike last comment- "This was the worst outing I have had in three years.".

But we knew we had another day. We just had to keep after it- and Sunday will be a memory for the ages.

Before I tell that story though- it just reminded me to hang tough... sooner or later the tide has to turn.And when it does hold on... it is one good ride! Sunday story to follow....

Musings in the Mississippi Delta

My good friend, Bill Hawkins, picked me up on a rainy, Nashville Friday and we began a trip that I will remember for a long time.

I had never done anything like this before. So I was extremely thankful and excited as we boarded the plane, got to New Orleans before we could even eat our peanuts, and headed south to Venice, LA- about as far south on land a person can go.

I had no clue how blessed I was going to be. It started when I learned that we were fishing with Mike Frenette. Over 20 years experience has earned Mike Frenette world wide recognition as the very best charter captain in South Louisiana.

Mike currently has his own television show ``Outdoor Adventures With Mike Frenette", which airs in the New Orleans area, and a fishing segment each Thursday on WVUE Channel 8. He has also appeared on ESPN's ``Salt Water Journal" with host Mark Sosin, and on TNN's ``Great American Outdoors" with Ron Shearer, along with other guest appearances.

Mike has a great set-up- right on the delta. His boat is on the water, his lodge right over it, so all we did was eat, sleep, and fish.

The eating was about as good as it gets. Mike has his own cook, Gloria, who had authentic Cajun cuisine waiting after each day of fishing. Her dishes included grilled redfish, creole pasta, and shrimp jambalaya.

I also have to mention the unusual beauty of the Mississippi delta. It is a place of resurgence following the devastation of Katrina. As we skimmed the shallow waters of the brackish water, it was surreal to see new structures and destroyed structures in the foreground of God's beauty.

There were rusted out barges being overtaken by dazzling vegetation and brand new buildings going up on the shore. There were the amazing engineering of the gas and oil plants scattered in acres of high reeds and alligator water.

It was like something out of a James Bond movie as we stormed through the reeds into open water. The no wake zone looked like a scene from water world and the environment constantly changed from unmarked natural marsh, to open ocean, to unexpected natural gas pumps dotting the landscape.

The water depth would always range from 3 to 6 feet. We anchored in some places that looked like a vast ocean only to realize that for miles the water was no more than 3 1/2 feet deep.

I'll write later about the fishing part and the amazing redfish that we stalked. But there is something about being there that makes a person feel so alive. It was a therapeutic escape and an experience I will always treasure.