The Way to Bring Up a Child

I don't often tell people this, but when I was five years old I had my first experience at catching a fish...and I haven't been the same since! It was about a five inch bluegill, and I thought I had caught the biggest fish in the world!

Caden 'long-arms' a decent bluegill for the camera.

Bluegills and kids...ha-ha! Makes sense, doesn't it? You bait a hook, watch the bobber go under, set the hook! You never know what the next fish is gonna' be! Big, small, bass, bluegill...or, perhaps a pumpkinseed sunfish! Pumpkinseeds? What are they?

Pumpkinseeds are among the most brilliantly colored of all the sunfish...like slow moving creeks or ponds, but do well in larger, clear lakes. Taste great and put up a good fight. Eight to ten inchers are considered whoppers. My friend Pete and his young sons, Ryder and Caden and I enjoyed some 'super seed' fishing recently at a local pond on a pleasant August evening. Check out some of the action...

Pete and his son Caden with a decent bluegill!

Ryder shows off a high-quality seed for the camera!

Here Ryder and Caden 'double-up' on bluegills at the local panfish factory. They wore Pete and I out with their Huck Finn style of fishing!

Magnum pumpkinseed sunfish more than fills the hand!

My biggest 'seed' in a long time...9.25 inches.

Caden shows off the top 'gill of the trip...a fine 9 1/2 incher!

Spunky bluegill splattered Ryder with mud-flappin' fins on the release!

Does this look good or what?

What a great bunch of fun and a great evening of fishing! We caught maybe 30 gills and seeds and maybe a dozen bass. Top gills went 9 1/2 inches and we had some seeds that were almost as big! And the pond was just loaded with great looking structure! I gotta' go back, and soon!

Teaching kids to fish...it just makes sense. Like teaching them about the Bible and about Gods Word and His Grace, Glory and Kindness. We were blessed that night, but we are far more blessed with a gracious and loving Savior as Jesus Christ. In 3 John:5, it says ' I have no greater joy than to know my children are walking in the truth' . Wow! Can we all say that? If not, don't we wish we could?

As I watched Pete patiently assist and counsel and guide his two sons on a fishing trip, I could not help but imagine the same love and care that goes into every aspect of child rearing...and how important it is to instil Gods incredible qualities to our children. I wish I had payed attention to those who tried to instilled a Christ-centered walk in me during my days of youth.. Instead, I struggled, and eventually found it, with the aid of precious ones whom God put in my path. THANK YOU LORD!

                                                  NO GREATER JOY!

BACKYYARD BASSIN'

During a rain shower I got this lunker on a stick worm.

I have been in wonderment of all the latest and greatest TV shows that are tracking every type of freshwater bass fishing competition in the nation. Lot's of things going on out there...A-Rigs with multiple catches, new scents for new soft-plastics, multi-imaging sonar for greater structure and detail, and better and bigger sunglasses. New boats, new motors and new places to go. But me...I have to stay close to home if I want to enjoy bass fishing. No tournaments, no weigh-ins, no bragging rights...just get out somewhere and fish!

Not all the fish are big, but all the fish are fun! Most of what we have been catching are smaller guys, 10 to 14 inches, but they are rod-benders on the light stuff nonetheless. Most are taking stickworms like Travis Crosmans 4.25 inch Stix in camo or bluegilla colors. This is a great bait, better than the 'big-name' stick baits, and his Stank X Baits can be found on- line along with a host of other fish killers. I like helping out the small guy...you should, too!

Nice 17 incher from the local park pond, 5 minutes from home.

Some of our better spots have been in small, public ponds that just about everyone ignores and just jogs around or walks the dog. Early and late in the day, or during cloud cover, has produced the most fish for us recently. Plus, you don't have to put up with the blazing mid-day heat. Easy on the gas mileage and easy on the body...that's how I like it!

Another nice one in the rain!

I must admit to fortune, as I have no fewer than a dozen private ponds near me that have excellent bass fishing. But believe me...they are not always biting! Today I caught 14 bass in two different ponds, but didn't have a fish over 13 inches. Last Friday, my wife Linda caught 6 bass to my none on the Stick Baits. That's right...I made her walk home!

Backyard bassin' isn't for everyone...some tournament anglers claim big pond bass 'don't count' for bragging rights or lunker catches. I think some of them are just jealous...I didn't drive a couple hundred miles, hire a guide or invest in a $40,000 bass rig with all the trimmins'. I didn't have to pay for a hotel or meals out. I just went down the road a little bit a caught some nice fish...the kind of bass we drive by everyday of our lives. Every bass in this blog was caught within 20 miles of my home, and some much closer. Yes, I am blessed.

Blessed mostly because of a Creator God who is the only one who can paint a picture like the one above. On a day when we traveled far and caught no fish, we were rewarded abundantly more by catching this glimpse of Gods' meticulous handiwork and detail. I love what it says in the opening of Psalm 8...

'OH LORD, OH LORD...HOW MAJESTIC IS YOUR NAME IN ALL THE EARTH'

This, my friend, is a true and wonderful 'trophy'. Indeed, the heavens declare Your Greatness!

The Baddest Sunfish on the Planet

I will say this...I have caught just about every kind of sunfish out there to include coppernose bluegills, red ear sunfish, pure strain bluegills and pumpkinseed sunfish. But the undisputed, pound-for-pound toughest fighter among them all is the Hybrid Sunfish...specifically the green sunfish X bluegill cross, a lab produced fish that grows fast and fights like a demon. The colorations are astounding and the power of these fish on 2-pound gear are unbelievable.

Most hybrid sunfish waters are private ponds.

Hybrid sunfish aren't found just anywhere...they are stocked by some pond owners here and there to get some big panfish, and fast, into their lakes for fun and food. Almost 95% of the first generation, lab produced hybs are males. Hence reproduction of any subsequent efforts from the stocked fish leaves very few offspring. No overcrowding means fewer, and usually bigger, fish to go around. But females do exist. They grow fast, live about 8 to 10 years and are extremely aggressive, attaining 10 inch status quickly.

First cast of the day produced this powerhouse hybrid for Linda!

My wife Linda shows an outstanding 10.5 inch hybrid she recently caught and released at a local pond on one of my grass shrimp hair jig patterns.Notice the yellow/white pectoral fins and the 'hump-head' of this unblemished male...cool!

The pectoral fins on this male are only slightly edged in yellow. Very few hybrids look exactly the same. Some bear the body dynamics of a spawning male bluegill and others are more elongated with the shorter opercular eartab of a female bluegill. Most have the larger mouth of the parental green sunfish.

Say 'Ahhhh!'

This guy here took a jig tipped with a piece of nightcrawler and stayed still just long enough to let me take his picture. Check out the sun sparkles!

Almost like something out of the Amazon!

Fin edging and an orange/yellow crescent on the eartab is also a trait. Each spiney dorsal spine is etched as well. This one went 11.25 inches...another reason I dig hybrids!

Check out this big female that hit a grey grass shrimp jig! Wow!

And this 11.25 inch male that brutalized a Rattle Flash spoon, 10 feet down, in nearly 100-degree heat!

Anyway you look at it, even if they are created in a laboratory situation by mankind, they are still the baddest sunfish I have ever caught, or fought with! They very seldom occur naturally in the wild, but God gave man the ability to create something as beautiful as this fish, just like he gave you and I the ability to create something beautiful, whether it would be music, a story, a house, garden, or perhaps a relationship with a friend or family member. God did not mess up when he gave us the skills and gifts to create beautiful things.

Romans 1:20 says this...'For since the creation of the world, God's invisible qualities...His eternal power and divine nature...has been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse.'

Ultimately, our handiwork is God's handiwork as well. Let us not be so haughty as to think we can do it on our own.

FISHING IN THE LAND OF CORN

Okay, I'll admit it, I do a lot of fishing in small private venues that are sometimes way off the beaten path and don't get a lot of pressure. Sometimes the fishing is great, and sometimes it is very poor. Not every pond or lake in the Land of Corn has giants. Some do, some don't. You have to work at it, just like anything else in life, in order for it to pay off. Ups and downs and highs and lows. In the Land of Corn there are very big deerflies and ticks and chiggers. They bite and hurt, There are snakes and wasps, cattle gone astray and high weeds and poison ivy and poison oak. It can be very hot and the sun can burn. But I can put up with all that because...

...for one thing, the Land of Corn has ponds that have big bass. We have taken them over 8 pounds. This one is 22 inches and took a plastic worm in a heavily algaed pond. I dig big fish!

In another local pond, the bass get long but they just might not have the forage to pack on the pounds. This lean 19-incher could have gone 5 pounds, but likely only nudged four.

When fishing in Corn Country, parking lot situations can become diverse and challenging. Overhead scouting is essential to home in on good water.

All purpose vehicles and friendly locals may be needed to get your gear to the backwoods. But the results can be rewarding with a variety of species coming to the bank. In another pond, in another place, things could be different...

The water could be dark and tannic...

Or loaded with algae and weeds, or...

nice and open and clear.

One of the great things about Corn Country Fishin' is that some of the panfish have weigh problems, and that can be a good thing...

Check out this 12 inch red ear sunfish I got in the mid-day heat. A beauty!

And here's a great 10.25 inch spawning male bluegill...great fish!
I love Corn Country Fishin'...small ponds, big bluegills, fields that smell funny and tons of dragonflys that the bass feed on. Through in some deer, chickens, peacocks and dogs and cats. I thank God often that I was allowed to grow up in Corn Country, rural farmland, and discovered what real fun was before I got too old to enjoy it. Today, it is a huge part of my life. God always knows what we need, rather than what we think we need.

10.5 inch Fatso Bluegill! What a fish!

One thing I ask of the Lord, this is what I seek,
That I may dwell in the house of the Lord
All the days of my life.

Psalm 27: 3

THE DWELLING PLACE

How lovely is your dwelling place, O Lord Almighty,
My soul yearns, even faints, for the courts of the Lord;
My heart and flesh cry out for the Living God.
Psalm 84: 1-2

Here are some of the dwelling places of some of the most beautiful of God's creatures...

Bass, bluegills and bullfrogs...God's creatures.

The swampy backwater...snakes and salamanders...God's creatures.

The tributary stream...sunfish, smallmouths and rockbass...Gods's creatures.

Not big, but beautiful, 10 to 14 inch smallmouth bass make wading in local streams a hoot when the temperatures soar. The Rebel Crayfish catches them all...

The horney-head chub in spawning colors.

The redbreast sunfish guarding a nest.

This is a stunning hybrid, perhaps pumpkinseed X redbreast cross...God knows!

A longeared sunfish with maybe something else...a real beaut!

And how about this fiesty green sunfish...another small stream stunner! Does it have to be big to be a worthy catch?

What a variety of fish, and of beauty, that can be found in a small stream that is but a few miles from my house. The water was clear and the current at ease on the 90 plus degree day that I hopped in. Fish every where, nothing big, but it didn't matter. I was in God's house, on His turf...the Dwelling Place, if you will, of creatures great and small. Without Him, nothing was created. He allowed me to enjoy it, and it didn't have to be anything special other than it was just what He had for me at that particular time...His time.

HOW LOVELY IS YOUR DWELLING PLACE...O LORD ALMIGHTY!

THE CARP WHISPERER

                                        They can swim, but they can't hide...period!

Have you ever known a fisherman who specialized in just one specie of fish, and was so good at catching that specie that he never really ventured into other waters for other species? Me neither, until I meet Mr. Bob last year at one of my favorite southern PA lakes. This guy knows how to carp fish, and he knows how to teach it as well. That's what makes a great fisherman...someone who is willing to share and show others how to catch big fish. Mr Bob has been catching carp since he was a kid and he has refined his tackle and tactics to maximize his time on the water. Many things go into being a great carp angler, but patience and hard work are paramount for success. Here are a couple pix from our latest trips...

Here's a nice 18 pounder I got back in early May on a pineapple boilie..long, pre-spawn male.

Carp whisperer Mr. Bob with an excellent 23 pound female on a cocktail. Big fish!

Nice 14 pound class carp with unusual dark coloration. Cool!

In the pouring rain, Mr. Bob got this chubby 15 pounder.

Now...have you ever noticed how it is that some people look a lot like the dogs they have? Well, the same thing applies to carp fishermen as well. Check it out...

Mr. Bob and the target specie bear close resemblance. And...

Me and this guy, well, we're not quite twins, but there are some striking similarities! Notice the moustaches on  both of these guys...see what I mean?

The success I have had carp fishing is due mainly to wanting to learn, finding a good teacher, and applying the info and wisdom for success. Yes, we chum areas to draw the fish and, yes, we use Euro-style bite alarms and multiple flavors of corn. And we seek new areas when old ones just stop producing, as pressured carp just avoid angling activity and move elsewhere. There is just as much carp techniques and tactics as there are for bass and trout. Worldwide, they are likely the most popular freshwater species, and have been for decades. A worthy challenge for all...that's why Mr. Bob respects and fishes for them. They're just a great gamefish!

Finding a teacher, one to make us successful and happy in life is essential. In 2 Timothy 3:16, it says ' Every word of scripture is God-breathed, and useful for teaching, rebuking and training up the man of righteousness to to every good work'. I have found no other guidebook anywhere close to what the Bible has taught me in the few years I have studied it. I believe it to be true, accurate and it 'whispers' strength and righteousness to me as the inherent, true word of God.

      'GOD-BREATHED'...YEAH, I LIKE THAT!