June 8 – “Fishing excursion, Part One”

Rain.  Wetness from the sky.  One hundred percent humidity.  It's been a long time.  And of course yesterday would be the day for us to get some.  The day finally set aside for fishing.  The day our friends from Arlington who have never been wade fishing will finally get to experience that treat.  Thunder and lightning abounded, so we postponed our trip to the beach and replaced it with a trip to Uncle Jerry's back yard so we could fish in the canal and stay relatively safe from the rigors of harsh weather.  As it turned out, there wasn't all that much actual rain that fell.  It was by no means a downpour.  And it didn't last all that long, either.   We didn't catch anything there, either.  Corbin alleged that he got a bite, and his brother Cameron held his pole and vouched for him, but we saw no out of the water evidence.  Certainly not enough to warrant staying long after the rain stopped completely.    So we headed out to Jamaica Beach to fish off the bank near the boat docks.  Things looked much better almost immediately.  I caught a little bitty flounder on my first cast.  About the size of my hand.  The boys were pretty excited, though.  They had heard of flounder, but had never seen one.  After a thorough inspection Cameron got down on his belly and gently released the critter.  Much more carefully than I admit I would have.  This site proved a bit more fruitful.  Corbin wowed us with his landing of a crab about the size of the palm of his hand.  He wouldn't touch it, though.  Ah, how much fun it is to go fishing with novices.  His Dad finally grabbed it by the legs so they could do another inspection.  By the time Chris called to ask us about lunch, we had pulled in a few croakers and a catfish.    Lunch was sandwiches at the house – though the girls, to their utmost credit, offered to bring some to us so as not to interrupt our excursion.  And after the meal we felt refreshed and rejuvenated.  At least enough to make a run at that wade fishing trip.   We were in the water for two or three hours, and I had the opportunity to impart a bunch of salt water fishing teaching tips.  And I helped restore a few backlashes.  There were plenty of fish in the ocean, though.  I  caught a little black tip shark and had my line cut by what I suspect was another somewhat larger one.  Corbin was by far the star of the show, with catches of two keeper whiting.  He also got the only spec of the day, but the little guy was only four or five inches long.    The later it got, the rougher the water got, but we were able to use up all the bait we had.  The boys were determined to give it another go, though, so we went back to the house, got cleaned up, prepared the cut bait, and waited for … today.  Chris is fixing some pancakes now, and they are already pacing.  Guess it's time to check the beach cam and see where we'll end up.    John 21:11-12 says, "Simon Peter climbed aboard and dragged the net ashore. It was full of large fish, 153, but even with so many the net was not torn. Jesus said to them, "Come and have breakfast." None of the disciples dared ask him, "Who are you?" They knew it was the Lord."   Father, it is so cool that you did miracles even with something like fishing.  I know it was their job and it's only my hobby, but thanks for invading life at both of those points.  It shows how much you really care.  Amen.