Losing It

I was reading an article on Bassmaster.com about how Mike Iaconelli (IKE) has admitted he has an anger problem (read article here) and is seeking help with it from a sports psychologist.  It made me stop and think.  Last Saturday I was fishing the Fishing for Charities event on Smith Mountain Lake when I defiantly had an Ike moment.

I can say it was not my best moment…could almost be my worst moment.  The fishing was tuff, I mean really tuff.  My wife fished with me as it was a team tournament and by 11:30 we had no fish in the boat.  I was beginning to feel the pressure of the day.  We pulled into a small cove and after a half hour my wife landed are first and only bass of the day.  It began to renew the pain I was dealing with not having a bass.

But after another two hours and a bunch of miss haps like birds nest in two rods so bad I could not pick them out and seeing a bunch of bass that had no intrest in biting anything I was throwing I lost it.  I attempted to make a cast with a spinning reel and got another mess of line.  That’s when it happened.  I snapped, and snapped a rod over my knee (yup you read it right a rod over my knee).  Then a bunch of words fell from my mouth that I can’t repeat and the broken rod took a swim in the lake.

Not my finest moment, looking back I feel like a tool.  I was fishing near a dock and there was a little old lady working on her flowers 400 yards up near her house.  I wish I could take that moment back, I feel so bad about it.  I didn’t show that women I was a Christian.  She saw me for 20 minutes at most and I’m sure she thought stupid punk kid.

I surly lived up to what Proverbs 14:17 says: “A quick-tempered person does foolish things,
and the one who devises evil schemes is hated.”

I have worked hard not to be quick tempered because before becoming a Christian I was very quick tempered and I knew that it was something I needed to work on.  However here I was in a boat cussing at myself breaking a rod and tossing it in the lake (I did fish it out before I left…I didn’t want to liter). 

I know what I did was wrong and trust me I asked God for forgiveness, and if I could have figured out how to contact the little old lady and tell her I was sorry I would have done that too.  I hope you think about me and my stupid mistake the next time the temptation is there to fly off the handle and follow my lead instead be the bigger person I couldn’t be that day.  

  

Lets Help Those In Need

I have been watching the news, reading statues updates from friends in the south the last day or so as tornados ripped thru the south.  I just read that the death toll has reached 178 people and the number is expected to rise.

I spent last weekend in Virginia at Smith Mountain Lake.  Monday as we made our way home I was hit driving thru the mountains of West Virginia with heavy rain and blowing wind.  At one point I was only going about 35 mph because I couldn’t see more then 20ft ahead of me.

As I was driving I began to pray Lord please, please let me and Cyndi get home safe.  If I had only known what I was driving away from I may have prayed less for me and instead for those going to get hit in a few days.  I feel blessed that Cyndi and I made home safely.  But now I see pictures of homes and towns ravaged by storms my prayers go out to the people in the south.

I have made a lot of friends via Facebook and I can say that knowing somewhere in the direct path of the storms has me worried.  I have not heard from some of them and am begin to wonder if any of them are included in the 178 who have lost their lives.

I hope you will all keep those affected by the storms in your prayers.  Lets remember that we can all help.  If you know someone who has been devastated by this storm lets do something for them. 

I love the bass fishing community, when we see a need we band together and do anything we can to help.  I want to share something that Don Barone is doing.

“Here's what I'm thinking of trying to do.  I don't have to be at West Point Lake until Sunday.  I'm going to be able to pack up the RV and leave here in a couple of hours, once I figure out the mystery of the generator the Greyhawk has I will be fully self-contained.

I'm going to try and find a thrift store/stores between me and Alabama and will go in a buy as many clothes for kids as the place has and my credit card can take.  I figure I can't store a bunch of food in here, but I can load it up with clothes.  My guess is a lot of basic clothes for living have been taken by the wind.

Then, with your help, find some sort of central place to park the RV and open the doors to anyone, any family, and just let them take what they need.

 I'll be rolling by 10am CST if you need me or have a suggestion as to where to bring whatever I can find, txt me or email me and I'll be able to see it while I'm on the road.

 I'm not great at planning but I hope this works.

Db”

If you want to help Don please contact him thru his Facebook page.  I am hoping all can help his efforts and maybe help offset the cost he is going to occur well he sets out to help those in trouble.

I want to leave you with this

1 John 3:17 (ESV)

“But if anyone has the world's goods and sees his brother in need, yet closes his heart against him, how does God's love abide in him?”

The Lord has given us so much lets help those who are in trouble please be praying for them and lets help in any way we can.

Praying for Fishing for Charities

I once wrote about what it would be like if every bass fishing tournament started with prayer.  I had the distinct pleasure of starting the Fishing for Charities event on Smith Mountain Lake with prayer.  It was a great experience.  Not only was it Easter weekend but it was for a tournament trail I believe in.

I think Fishing for Charities is doing great things.  Here is a group that is trying to give back.  I was nervous standing on a dock praying into a mega phone in front of those I was going to fish against. 

I am so grateful that Dwayne from Fishing for Charities asked me to write a Faith based blog for the Fishing for Charities website and was honored when he asked me to pray before takeoff that morning.

Little things like that remind me just how much God has blessed me and allowed me to show him thru fishing and writing.  I hope that Dwayne will continue to start each event off with prayer in the future.

My Motor

Last winter, well I guess it was winter it was early December when I put my boat up for the winter.  It stayed warm long enough I kept the boat out longer and fished into December.  Anyway the last few times I was out the motor was acting funny.  So I talked to a few guys got some ideas and ended up having a plan to get it looked at and fixed.

It’s funny how you can have a plan and then it back fires on you.  My best friend Josh had hooked me up with his brother to fix my boat.  The plan was set, and then it changed a month ago.  To be honest I was not mad or even upset.  Josh’s brother Charlie had to go out of town for work and so things didn’t work out.

I was stressed needless to say because a week from tomorrow I am leaving for Smith Mountain Lake to fish in the Fishing for Charities tournament.  I have to say God is good.  I was stressed and God took care of me.  After doing some work on the motor myself (I should mention I was on a strict budget that did not allow me to take it to a shop and have it worked on) I put it on the water today. 

I had a hard time sleeping last night I was worried my motor wouldn’t start or it would run worse than it did last winter.  Josh was with me this morning and we were both shocked when the motor ran better than it has in a long time.

It’s funny when we spend time worrying we waste time.  That’s what I did about my motor I lost sleep because I was worried about my motor.  Matthew 6:31-34 says: “Therefore don’t be anxious, saying, ‘What will we eat?’, ‘What will we drink?’ or, ‘With what will we be clothed?’  For the Gentiles seek after all these things; for your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things.  But seek first God’s Kingdom, and his righteousness; and all these things will be given to you as well.  Therefore don’t be anxious for tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Each day’s own evil is sufficient."

God knows what’s best for us, he wants what’s best for us.  I don’t know what Gods plan was for my motor working, but instead of spending time worrying last night I could have spent time in prayer or reading the Bible.  Don’t let worry take you over instead give it over to God. 

Learning on the water

I got on the water today, well sort of.  I go to Great Lakes Christian College and there is a small pond on the property that I can fish.  Last spring I got a lot of bass out of that pond.  So with wind blowing at 15 to 20 MPH I went out today.

My goal was to learn how to cast and swim a Rago SKT Swimmer swimbait.  After doing some research on Smith Mountain Lake I learned that Skeet Reese won their last year about the same time I will be fishing this year throwing one.  So I bought one.

I have never fished a bait this big.  In Michigan we don’t need 6 inch baits because the bass just don’t get that big.  However I wanted to see how it worked, how it was to cast and so on.  So I set out to practice today.

After an hour of chucking the swimbait I felt like I had the handle of how to cast and somewhat work the bait.  I never set out to catch a bass just to learn.  It reminded me of why people to Church.  Most people would say I got to Church to learn about God.  We go to Church so we can learn about God and then put what we learned into action. 

Just as I set out to learn how to use the swimbait today so I could put that into action in a few weeks on Smith Mountain Lake.  We as Christians need to learn about God so we can put the principles we learn into action when the time comes that we need them.