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!