05/06/17 LET'S GO FISHING

05/06/17 LET'S GO FISHING
(pssst, more than just a story, it is a message)

I went fishing the other day. I went with some of my fishing buddies. We had hook and line, nets, live bait, artificial bait, cut bait.
We had Squid, Shrimp, Finger Mullet, Sand Fiddlers, Sea Urchins, Mud Minnows, Bloodworms, Salmon eggs, Albacore strips, Pinfish, Mullet chunks, feathers, spoons and table scraps.
We had spinning reels, casting reels, offshore reels, fly rods and reels, handlines.
We had cotton, steel, monofilament, fluorocarbon.
We had 3' and 4' and 5' and 6' cast nets.
We had Trout rigs, Flounder rigs, Drum rigs, Bluefish rigs, Sea Mullet rigs, Sheepshead rigs, King and Spanish rigs, Bonita rigs.
We had motor boats, kayaks, jet skis, sailboats.
We had food and drinks and sunscreen.

We gathered together on a beach near a really good fishing area.
We showed each other pictures of fish we had caught.
We told stories of large fish and large catches we had made.
We exchanged fishing tricks and methods.
We tied lures, we repaired gear, we bragged on our boats and on each other's boats.

Some of the guys also spent some time fishing. We really did want to catch fish, but fish are so elusive, tides are not always cooperative, winds can be challenging, currents can be contrary, rain can pour, heat can beat down, fish come and go in runs and then of course there are always tangled lines or hung nets or snagged hooks, not to mention the other guys out there with fast boats, expensive rigs and tackle, trawl nets, bigger and younger crew, not to mention that we have to accommodate the times, tides, behavior of the fish, rather than our own convenience.

Some of us have focused on taking our children or grandchildren fishing. We are trying to teach them, show them, help them catch fish in many different ways.
It is not always easy.
It is not always fun.
It is not always productive.
But you won't catch fish if you don't go fishing.
You can look at videos, read articles, go to seminars, listen to old timers, but you won't catch fish if you don't go fishing.
You may not catch the fish you want, or the kind you are targeting, but you won't catch any fish if you don't go fishing.

I have been places where the fish actually jumped into the boat, gathered in schools around my feet on the beach, followed one another to the boat, waiting their turn to bite a bait, and there have been times that I used every bait I had, every trick I knew, hour after hour and still could not get a nibble, much less a bite.

But at the end of the day, fishing is the act of trying to catch fish, regardless of all the other things that may go with fishing.

Jesus has called us to be fishers of men. So grab your gear and Let's Go Fishing.