WHEN GIANTS FALL...

A very big fish on a very tiny bait. Lucky catch?

I have always been amazed as to how a very big fish can somehow find such a tiny morsel of food so attractive as to attempt to devour it. Would the tiny morsel even replace the energy it took to consume it? I don't know. But recently, I managed to land a couple of very nice bass on 2-pound test and in environments that weren't good for the light line gig. Basically, I was lucky.

Why would a largemouth eat such a tiny morsel?

Let's face it...the maw of a largemouth bass is certainly big enough to consume a large shiner, big bull frog or even a small bird. An intimidating force to vulnerable prey. So why would a big fish like these take a little teeny worm on a little teeny hook baited up for bluegills? I don't know. The fish probably never even gave it a thought...'I can handle that'...they think.

White crappie...they eat what's small, and large.

Giant white crappies have very large mouths for their proportionate body size, yet they will go after tiny minnows that measure less than an inch long. And, at times, they will pound a spinnerbait intended for a 10 pound bass. Greedy, I guess. Maybe having it all, but wanting more. I don't know. Fish, of course, act on instinct and the instinct to feed and grow is strong.

I don't always get away with not being ready.

I got away with a couple of 'lucky catches ' lately where my 2-pound test line held up as big bass crossed other lines, wrapped me up in the weeds and made me have to go in after them. Fishing for the bluegills enabled me to catch a few that I might not have been able to land. It doesn't always work out that way. More often than I care to admit, I get into trouble by not being ready ( line too light ) or being too impatient (hurry up and land the fish) or maybe, just maybe, I was at the wrong place at the wrong time. Hopefully, I will learn from these mistakes. This happens in my personal life as well...not just out fishing.

'Oh lord, open my lips and my mouth will declare your praise.'

Recently, we had a dear friend and brother in the Lord fall...a very deep and shattering fall...one that will take many years, perhaps decades, to heal and restore. He may have thought that the tiny morsel was small, that he could handle it. I wonder if he even gave it a thought. I don't know. But I do know this...when King David grieved over his actions with Bathsheba he wrote Psalm 51, and pleaded...

'Have mercy on me, O God
according to Your infailing love:
blot out my transgressions
Wash away all my iniquity...

                                               AND CLEANSE ME FROM MY SIN.'

Then King David went on to ask...

                                            'RESTORE TO ME THE JOY OF YOUR SALVATION
                                           AND GRANT ME A WILLING SPIRIT,
                                                             TO SUSTAIN ME.'

My brother, if you are reading this, know this...that you and I will one day walk shoulder to shoulder, fish on this God-given earth with our children, praise and fall on our faces before a Holy God in thanksgiving and mercy. It will take time...but it is my prayer that it will happen. Love never fails.

SMASHING PUMPKINSEEDS

Beautiful female pumpkinseed fell for the Gulp! Redworm.

Okay, I know that this post won't get anybody's blood up too much, but I just wanna give a quick shout-out to the unheralded pumpkinseed sunfish and close kin...the Pumpkingill. The pumpkingill is actually a naturalized hybrid between a pumpkinseed and a bluegill, and some of them can get pretty big. We have been blessed to find a small local public venue that has a abundance of seeds, gills and the PG's. Matt and I have been catching a ton of these the past few weeks...nearly 400, and all have been released. Live worms below bobbers work great, but we have recently switched gears to Berkley Gulp! Redworms impaled on a #8 Aberdeen hook below a bobber fished slowly through the vast spawning areas of these fish. Check out some of these fish...

Plus-sizes male Pumpkingill...great fighters!

Matt with daily double of male bluegill and male pumpkingill.

Matt with a colossal male PG...what a fish!

Spawning PG in superb condition.

Major-league gills are also in the mix.

Ten-inch Pumpkingill on a live worm.

Bona fide pumpkinseed, and a beauty!

These are just a few shots of the many we have taken the last part of May. We found a large spawning area where there are literally hundreds, if not a few thousand, big 8 to 10 inch and larger sunfish like these. It's a small public venue, and thus subject to overharvest and that's why we keep things quiet. Some waters are just too fragile to tell the world, and, BTW, this is the internet! Most folks fishing here, however, seem more concerned about catching the over abundant sub-legal largemouth bass. To each their own.

God's handiwork and detail.

I am often reminded of God's beauty and His incredible attention to detail in all the creatures of the earth that He has made.Most folks would just call them sunfish and go on with it, but to me, these creatures are stunning in their own right. Whether pumpkinseeds, bluegills or pumpkingill hybrids, they were all ordained by His hand and are part of His glorious plan for us to enjoy. As it clearly points out in Genesis 1:22...

AND GOD SAW THAT IT WAS GOOD. GOD BLESSED THEM AND SAID 'BE FRUITFUL
AND INCREASE IN NUMBER, AND FILL THE WATER IN THE SEAS...'

The next time you go fishing, remember who created the fish you so love to catch!