Time to Change

I came to a realization the other day well watching the B.A.S.S. Elite event on ESPN.  They showed a tracker of where the top 4 anglers fished on the lake.  Between the 4 of them they covered almost the entire lake.

So here’s what I realized I tend to stand still when fishing.  I can pull up on a spot I think holds fish or I know has fish on it and sit and try and milk it or fish it until I catch a fish.  This tends to be my problem I hate change.  So I can sit on a spot for 4 hours and never catch a fish, because I think they are there.  I also identified another problem I have.  I don’t change baits very often either.  I have mentioned once or twice how much I love fishing crankbaits.  So if I am fishing a crankbait and I’m not getting bit I don’t change color or one that has no rattles or rattles.  I tend to get rods out and use what’s on them or change baits before getting on the water and sticking with them even when they don’t produce.

I have begun to realize this is a problem with my fishing.  I need to be able and willing to change with the situations I am faced with each time on the water.  Looking back in my life I see that change has always been a hard thing for me to deal with.  My mom will tell you that when I was a kid she would have to send me away from the house for the day so she could change the living room around cause if she did it when I was home I would freak out.

The more I thought about it Romans 12:2 came to mind:

"Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let
God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think.
Then you will learn to know
God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect."

When I became a Christian I allowed God to change me.  Now I need to make changes in my fishing.  I could only have left the way I use to live with God’s help.  Now I am faced with another change one that has no bearing on the life I live.

Yet as I write this blog all I can think is maybe if I pray about it God will help me to change this attitude I have well fishing.  It’s worth a shot right?  Don’t be like me and have a hard time changing instead 

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.

Rattle or no Rattle are we listening

I was reading an article about baits with rattles, and those without.  It talked about what it would be like to stop and listen; we still hear things even in the quiet.  Bass are no different because sound travels farther and better under water.

The article went on to talk about baits being made without rattles and the fact that companies are still rolling out new baits filled with rattles.  I thought it was funny at the end of the article was an ad for the Strike King 6XD silent crankbaits.

The article made me stop and think about God.  How often do we really just stop and listen to him.  I know I don’t always stop and listen like I should.  I do more of it well I am on the water fishing.  For me standing on the boat making cast I listen more for God.  I don’t know if it because I am in nature and I feel closer to God.

We need to take the time to stop and listen to God all the time.  I have been working on this in my own life.  If we spend time with God in prayer we will hear him.  Unlike fish we don’t have to worry about if we should use rattles or not.  God is always ready to listen to us.  We simple need to stop and talk to him.  No rattles required.

Prayer and Alton Jones

Yesterday I had the pleasure of talking to Elite Series Angler Alton Jones, about an article I am working on for Bass Angler Magazine.  After completing the questions I had for him about live well care of fish he allowed me to ask him some other questions.

Knowing that Alton is a Christian I asked him if that shaped is fishing.  The answer I got was what I expected.  What surprised me was an answer I got about what advice would you give someone wanting to make it as a pro.

Alton said we need to pray about it and make sure it is what God is leading you to.  I don’t that this surprised me but it caught me off guard.  I agree with everything he said.  It seems like Christians seem to only go to God with big problems.  Now I am not saying all Christians are this way but I have seen it far too often where people only pray to God when its convenient for them or when they have a big problem and when they deal with the issue they put God back on his shelf and go about living there lives.

We get to communicate with the creator of the universe, he cares about us.  Matthew 10:30 tells us “And even the very hairs of your head are all numbered.”  God knows the number of hairs on each of our heads.  He loves us that much.  Philippians 4:6-7 tells us “"Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus"

God wants us to come to him in prayer.  So I want to leave you with the advice Alton Jones gave all of us anglers.  If you want to be a pro pray about it and make sure that is the path God would have for you.

Giving Thanks

By this time last year the boat was put up for winter.  This year I am even thinking about fishing tomorrow.  It has been an awesome fall.  We have had off and on 70 degree weather since September.  Last week it got almost to 70, well this week the weather is almost 50.  It’s been odd.  But the added time on the water has been great.  I got to try out new things and found some honey holes I never new existed.  Before long the snow will roll in, the boat will be put up till spring and I will think about fishing until it’s time to get the boat out again.

It’s funny, I have taken this nice weather for granted.  I haven’t stop and thanked God for the extended fall.  I haven’t thanked God that I will most likely be fishing the week of Thanksgiving.  We are approaching that time in America when we stop and think about all the things we are thankful for.  Yet Christians shouldn’t just stop and thank God in November, we should be thanking him all the time. 

 

We can easily get wrapped up in life and not thank him for all he gives us.  It is easy to forget about God until Sunday and never pray until we walk into church.  Philippians 4:6 says: “Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.”  Philippians 4:6 says it better than I can, we need to remember that God cares about us and loves us.  He wants us to spend time in prayer and thank him, just as we want to be thanked for the things we do.  So I challenge you to spend 5 minutes thanking God for all he has given you today.

Mutitasking

I have spent the day trying to work on a paper for my Christian Theology class. Every time I try and focus the phone goes off, I remember something else I needed to do. It’s funny when I sit down at the computer I cannot focus on this paper. I have been trying to do three things at once lately and none of them go well.

It seems funny to me that I can’t do more than one thing when I am sitting at the computer working on school work. However when I’m out on the water I can focus on three things at once. I can focus on the tick, tick, tick I felt on the end of my line, looking for the next spot to cast to and can spend time in prayer.

I don’t know what it is about being in nature that allows me to multitask when I can’t do it at home. Even when the phone goes off it doesn’t distract me like it does at the house. I wish I had that same multitasking ability all the time. I don’t understand why I can multitask when on the water. I was talking to one of my professors yesterday; he told me that he could see a passion in me about fishing when I talk about it. My wife can tell when I am distracted or even not into what it is I’m doing. I wonder does this in ability to multitask come from me not wanting to do something, like say write a 10 page paper. I don’t have a good answer I guess.

I was thinking about Jesus well writing this. Jesus must have been a great multitasker. Think about it, he had a group of 12 guys following him around always asking questions and not understanding what he was talking about. On top of the apostles he had a crowd of people following him as well. People always wanting a miracle, him teaching well all the time doing what God put him on earth to do. Of course he was God and God can do anything, so I bet multitasking was no problem. Just a thought I would share.

happily without regret

I found this quote thanks to Gofishn  "I have fished through fishless days that I remember happily without regret." -- Roderick Haig-Brown.  It made me stop and think.  I spent Saturday on the water fishing, the two weeks before I had been slaying the bass with a football head jig from Atomic Tackle Company, a Rage Tail craw from Strike King and dipped the whole thing in JJ’s magic sauce.

Saturday everything changed, the fish stopped biting.  The water temp had dropped to 49 to 50 degrees; the water was starting to go through turn over.  I played around and looked for fish in other places.  But without a fish and only one bite that came just as I was heading in it was still a great day on the water.

It was a good day because I was in the presence of God.  For me there is nothing like being on the boat spending time in God’s creation.  I feel the closest to God when I fish.  It seems like my prayer life is better.  For me a day without a fish can still be a good day.  

I think too often we get caught up in the idea that if we don’t catch fish we have wasted time on the water.  I have to admit I have had those same thoughts; mine usually come when fishing a tournament.  If I don’t catch a fish or a limit I think man I wasted money on an entrance fee.  Maybe I need to stop even in a tournament and realize that I am part of something bigger, I am in God’s wonderful creation.  Just a thought stop next time you’re on the water and look at Gods creation around you.