Looking Down From Above

This picture kinda' says it all...little fish, big fish, structure, temperature. As fishermen, we utilize all kinds of electronic equipment to find and catch fish of all species. When I was a kid growing up, I never thought anything like this would ever be possible. This photo shows some big crappies hanging off the edge of a weed bed along with some smaller fish, likely bluegills, in the mix. Cool picture, cool representation of what we are seeing from above. As a result, we were able to catch some nice fish with this useful aid.

                                         This nice crappie couldn't escape the sonar.

                                           Neither could this nice bluegill.

But sometimes, we don't need the electronics to locate fish, like this big winter caught bluegill that was taken from the shoreline. Visual clues often tell the story just enough to get us on the right track...but not always! You see, we can only do so much within our own knowledge and perception to help lead us to success, whether it is in fishing, sports, work or our family life. If we really want to get the full picture, it is important to study and see what God has to say about it, which is something that I need to improve on as well. Check out some of the other cool creations God has allowed me to enjoy this season...

                                          Pumpkinseed sunfish during the spawn.

                                          Nice bluegill from a local stream.

                                           Monster hybrid sunfish from a local pond!

                                           And another big hybrid sunfish!

                                          Plus this 5 pound largemouth! Cool on 2 lb test!

And let's not forget about all those big and ugly carp and catfish we had the chance to catch this year...what great fun! Who knows what this year will bring? God knows!! And I can't wait to see what he does! Clearly, God has great intentions and plans for our lives, and sometimes we just let too many things get in the way of what he has in store for us.
Jeremiah 29:11 says this...'For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans to prosper you and not harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me and I will listen to you." I don't know about you, but those are the kind of plans I want, and I believe them with all my heart! Talk about looking down from above...God's sonar shows a lot more than just what is on that screen in the boat. He knows every hidden thing, every detail, every thought and every act to it's exact description. He knows it all, and me as exactly who I am. If that doesn't make a Godly man have chills, I don't know what would!

As ice is to a frozen pond, let Gods word solidify in your heart and see true beauty when all the others see starkness and cold. Remember Jeremiah 29:11, and His sovereign plans.

Panfish Galore, and Hold the Ice!

I must say, I am both thankful and blessed that I have spent the entirety of my life in an environment that is away from concrete and noise. Traffic sounds are foreign to me, and sounds of gunshots are made only by deer and waterfowl hunters where I live. The views are beautiful, and I need only walk out my door or take a short drive. There is no ice on the local ponds, so We plan on fishing through the winter. The big thing now is bluegills, as they feed, though softly, through out the cold months. Here are some I got on the last day of the year from a local pond...

Nice fish here took a waxworm on a 1/100th oz jig below a bobber.

Here's a classic bluegill-ninga pose.

                                             Caught a few dinks along the way!

                                                Mixed in were some big guys, too!

                                                    The sun came out for a little while!

                                                    Best fish of the day was this nice 10-incher!

                                                     They just had to have the jig and wax worm!

                                                        One of 14, should've had more.

Although the fishing was fun today, I missed about 25 fish as they struck so lightly. Some barely pulled the bobber under. With the water at 43 degrees, I am happy for what I did catch on this New Years Eve. It was not fast fishing, rather, you had to work for what you caught. This time last year, I was ice fishing, and catching plenty! Now, we have a mild winter so far, and I am thankful for that, too.
Psalm 147:7 says this...'Sing to the Lord with thanksgiving, make music to our God on the harp, He covers the sky with clouds, and supplies the earth with rain.' I can't play a harp, but I can play the guitar, and am thankful that he has permitted, yes permitted, me to worship Him with the instrument that I used to used to mock and make fun of Him with. When He allows me to worship Him, which is at any time, He allows me to be in His Holy Presence and to bask in His Glory.

This year, I just want to be more thankful! Thank you, Jesus, for loving and saving me!

Giving Back...Just a Little

For the whole month of December, I have switched gears and gone from carp to crappies, and there is quite a size difference! It hasn't really gotten cold here back east and if it stays warm we will likely have little or no ice fishing this winter, which is OK with me. With that, we continue to catch crappies, both blacks and whites, by casting 1/32 ounce jigheads with Gulp Alive 1 " minnows in and around dying vegetation. The weeds are very close to rocky, riprap shorelines, which may draw fish as well. Late in the day, like after 3 PM, the bite picks up and the bulk of the fish are usually caught at that time. Here are a few pics from last weeks trips, including some released giants...

This big white crappie went 14 1/4 inches and was released...

This 14 inch black crappie was also put back.

As was this chubber white and...

This outstanding 15 3/4 inch white crappie I caught on December 12. Yes, people thought I was crazy to put back the biggest and the best fish I had caught during those cold, rainy outings. One angler was complaining about the size of the current crappie catch in the lake, saying " last year, we caught a lot of 13 to 15 inch fish. Wonder where they all went?"

Duuuhhhh!?!? I bet I can guess, with a fair degree of accuracy, where they all went. When I asked him if they released any big fish, he said.."of course not, we kept all the big ones." Now, it's all coming together for me. I could never understand why top-end crappies and bluegills never got the same respect of bass and trout. Put simply, if you want big fish, of any species, then you MUST practice catch and release angling to ensure future stocks and any chance of future trophy potential. Period. Sure, keep a trophy when you have that great fortune and a nice mess of mid-sized fish for the pan. But constant, continued removal of the top segment of any specie of fish in a given body of water will result in fishing them down and out of the system. Recovery may take years,or not at all, depending on the water.

If you look at the book of Deuteronomy in the Old Testament, you will see that the Israelites took very seriously the command and concept of giving back to God with not just something or anything, but their very best. The lamb had to be without blemish, and the bull had to be without defect. How many times have we tossed back a smallish crappie or bluegill with a heave? Surely, the fish didn't know it was too small to satisfy us. In the same way, if I am going to give something back to the resource, back to the water, back to God, then it should be the best I personally have to offer. With that in mind, these 'first fruits', if you will, went back into the lake for future stocks and someone else to enjoy. I had caught enough small fish for a fine meal for my wife and I...why kill something special, like a trophy crappie?

So often, I have taken too much, and given too little, in return. Deut. 16:15 says..."For the Lord your God will bless you in all your harvest and in all the work of your hands, and your joy will be complete." I had always wanted a trophy white crappie, so my joy was complete! Had I not caught a thing, my joy would still be complete. I had the grace and guidance of a loving Savior.I just figured it was time to start giving back a little, just a little.

                                                    HARVEST WISELY...  

A Man's Gotta' Eat...Right?

One of my favorite things in the whole world is the sight and sound, and smell, of a fry pan full of fresh caught panfish fillets, all sizzlin' and poppin', ready to eat! Throw in some mashed potatoes, shoe-peg corn, dinner rolls and a frosty iced tea and, well, I just think that's a meal fit for a king!

Nope, doesn't take much to make 'ol Gronaw happy...couple decent crappie fillets and add the trimmins'. But...there is a proper order of things...

First, you gotta' go fishin'...

Then, you gotta' catch some fish...then...

You gotta' clean 'em, and then cook those babies....!

And after that, it's pretty much all down hill from there on...eat, burp, scratch. maybe stretch. Eat, burp, and maybe do some other bodily function before taking a nap. The whole house smells like fresh fried fish...which is a good thing! The proper order, if you will. When I fished on Wednesday, it was raining heavy, but air temps were 50 degrees. Nobody wanted to fight the elements, so I had a local hotspot all to myself. I managed 41 crappies on a 1/32 oz jig tipped with a 1 inch Gulp Alive emerald shiner. They had to have it, and I should have caught over 60...lost some in the dying weed beds. Eight fish was more than enough for me and my wife, Linda. The rest went back. As much as I love fresh fillets, I love seeing a slab crappie swim away, released for another day.

You see, we tend to release larger crappie and bluegills and keep a few mid-sized fish for the occassional meal. That way, the gene pool stays good, and bigger fish remain in the system for a longer period. Of all species of fish, larger panfish are the most vulnerable to being 'fished down' from overharvest by anglers. Yet the tendency is for fishermen to keep only the biggest of these, and they always wonder why the 'big boys' are so scarce. Releasing big panfish just make the fishing better, and most of the guys I see carrying out buckets of fish could stand to miss a few meals, anyway.
In Phil. 4: 10 thru 13, Paul states that he has found the 'secret to being content in any and every situation, whether well-fed or hungry, in want or in abundance.' 'I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.'
Wouldn't it be cool if this nation could turn away from it's self-centered goals and focus more on 'the secret' of contentment. Oh, to be satisfied with what we have, rather than to constantly chase after what we think will bring us happiness. Thank you, Lord Jesus, for loving me and blessing me! Real food for thought!

News from the Carp Mafia

Despite the cold, we continue to catch carp, some of them big, from our favorite southern PA lake as the weather and waters chill out. Matt is shown with a fine fish he got on a pineapple chunk on November 12, a few weeks back. Later that day, he would lose a very, very big fish under the docks that just had the hook tear out of it's mouth. Other catches include carp like these here...

A nice 13 pounder...

Matt with his second fish of a cold day.
And on Nov 14, I slipped out after work for a couple of hours of carpin'...two fish that totaled about 45 pounds. Both took tutti-frutti corn on a hook, no hair rig. They did me a favor, and both of them ran AWAY from the docking cables. Still, long, powerful fights from these great gamefish. Check 'em out...

First fish of the day was this 20-plus pounder. Cool!

Second fish was this mile-long mule of a carp that fought long and hard. This was carp number 44 for me this year, out of 70 hook ups. I know, I know...some folks think they are ugly and detestable. But they, like both you and I are one of God's beautiful creations. In Romans 1:20, scripture says that "Since the creation of the world, God's invisible qualities...have been clearly seen." I put myself in that group of people, the multitudes, that way too often look past the beauty that God has placed right before our very eyes. Fish, the skies, the rushing waters...all things were created by God, and for His Glory.

Late Fall Crappies

Every fall, I look forward to doing some crappie fishing in November, even early December, as most of the biggest crappies I have ever caught were taken during that time frame. So, when my good friend George invited me out for a day of panfishing, I thought it wise to join on the fun and see what happens. He had been making some good catches of black and white crappies, with top-end fish going 12 to 14 1/4 inches...good fish just about anywhere.
Right off the bat, George went about a dozen fish up on me...we were casting small jigs in and around weedbeds in 4 to 8 feet of water. I was trying my aray of hairjigs while he tossed tubetails on a 1/16 ounce jig. Out of apparent pity, he said " you want a white and yellow tube?" "yup" was my immediate response.

Nothing complex about this fishing...work the edge of the weeds with jigs with a slow retrieve and hops and sense the bite on 2 pound test line. Water temps were around 50 F and clouds with occasional rain was the weather. As the day wore on, we caught a variety of panfish to include bluegills, white perch, yellow perch and a single largemouth bass. We tried numerous areas with weed concentrations. But most of the catch were black crappies that ran just shy of the 10 inch mark. Along the way, we picked up a few 11 inchers and we had several fish that approached the 13 inch class...not huge, but real nice crappie, especially for southern PA waters. Here are a few pics...

George is all smiles with a nice slab he caught earlier in the day.

Another nice fish that fell to the yellow and white tube...

Nice!

My best fish of the day was this nice looking white crappie that took the tube. Altogether we probably caught 65 fish...50 or so were crappies, along with the other panfish. I'd call it a good day! All fish were released, which might puzzle some panfishermen as to why we released even bigger crappies. In truth releasing big or trophy panfish is somewhat the 'final frontier' of catch and release fishing...almost unheard of in most parts of the country. But why kill something if you're not going to eat it? I have plenty of fillets in the freezer from previous trips, and my wife and I can only eat about a dozen crappie fillets at a sitting...depending on the size. I'm already overweight!
It kind of reminds me of what Agur said in Proverbs 30 when one of the two things he asked for was 'daily bread'. The other was to know God's truth. Wow, now isn't that a request for this day and age!?!

Cold Carpin'

I don't know about the rest of the country, but we have got some chilly weather the past two weeks. Had a 5 inch snow storm on Oct 30 th and we have had several upper 20 degree mornings. Some of the carp guys are calling it quits for the year. Last week my friend Bob and I hooked a total of 14 and landed 10 and had some nice fish to boot. By continuing to chum with corn, we are keeping the carp close within easy casting distance. Here are a couple pics from our latest ventures...

Bob hangs on as a nice one heads to deeper water from our chummed area. Sometimes, the fish get in and break off around the docking cables that are in the area. We try to bait away from such hazards, but it seems the fish, especially the bigger carp, know just where to go and break us off.

My best fish from last week was this upper teen weight fish on a blustery 48 degree day with high winds. I went 3 for 6, including a dinkish 3 pound class carp. We fished opposite days from each other because of our schedules. Warming spell should see some big fish this week. I also observed something cool this week...reminded me a litle bit of myself...

This leaf is obviously past it's prime, but still has a few remnants of youth and is holding it's form well. But it's just coasting along, drifting in comfort, you might say. Yeah, reminds me of me. Even in it's advance form of life, it still has some beauty to it. That's not the case with me, but I sometimes drift. If God's plan for me is to tell others about my incredible Savior, Jesus Christ, then I must not simply drift and get comfortable. I need to get out of the water and get rolling. Even if the risk is to lose friendships and family, I still want them to know there is a true, loving and almighty God who is pursueing them constantly, and loved them so much that He was willing to die for them, just to spend the rest of eternity in fellowship with them. In Psalm 40, the psalmist speaks of being rescued from the miry pit, and eventually singing a 'new song' for our God. My heart swells with joy every time I hear a new song for the Lord. His beauty comes in all forms, whether the lowly carp or a faded leaf. Beauty to Him is much different than through human eyes.