Fishing on the Wrong Side of the Pond

I am not a big fisherman or anything, but I do like to fish and have even caught a few worthy-to-talk-about fish. I remember when I was just 10 years old, down at the Lake of the Ozarks with my Grandpa (call him Papa) we were fishing off the dock of the great grandparents place there and I was using stink bait (nasty stuff by the way ... a challenge to wash that stuff off the hands) great stuff to get-ya a Catfish. The only thing about fishing for Catfish is the lack of activity ... it's a waiting game really! You cast your line out there, then sit and wait. I know why so many fisherman either dip, smoke or whittle wood ... it can be boring. But when you are with someone its the LIFE! It's like smoking a good premium cigar ... always more enjoyable with someone to talk to! On with my "worthy to tell story" ... my bobber made a small ripple in the still water which caught my attention. I jumped up to take a closer gaze to see if it was the real deal, or if it was just a turtle playing with it. All of a sudden the bobber is gone, my pole is is shaped like the letter "n" ... I grab that sucker and yank it and start reeling it in ... seemed like a long time later (maybe 15 minutes) I was standing on a 7lbs Catfish.

What happened next was actually horrifying, and why I now throw back when I fish, my Grandpa took a hammer ... well you can imagine. I may need to see a counselor about this after all. Lol!

The majority of my "fish" stories, unfortunately are times not like the 7lbs Catfish story, I have reeled in more then my share of 4oz Perch over the years, though honestly it's always exciting to reel in something.

I tell this story because I have also many stories, where I was casting, casting, casting, and casting and catching nothing. I changed bait, still nothing, change poles, changed dip, lit a new cigar ... still nothing. Then I walk around the pond with the same bait, same pole and cast ... and wham ... caught a fish, cast again ... catch another ... on and on it goes. And all I did was MOVE to another part of the Pond. Too many times we are either too stubborn, or ignorant to move and we over analyze WHY the fish aren't biting; it's the bait I am using, it's the pole, it's the weather, it's the guy over there, I need a toolbox, or a bigger toolbox ... we then start to second guess and think, maybe I need to read more books on fishing.

I think life is like this sometimes ... sometimes we are just fishing on the wrong side of the Pond.

This reminds me of a great story about Jesus and His Disciples that John tells us.

John 21:1-11 1Afterward Jesus appeared again to his disciples, by the Sea of Tiberias.[a] It happened this way: 2Simon Peter, Thomas (called Didymus), Nathanael from Cana in Galilee, the sons of Zebedee, and two other disciples were together. 3"I'm going out to fish," Simon Peter told them, and they said, "We'll go with you." So they went out and got into the boat, but that night they caught nothing.4Early in the morning, Jesus stood on the shore, but the disciples did not realize that it was Jesus.5He called out to them, "Friends, haven't you any fish?" "No," they answered.6He said, "Throw your net on the right side of the boat and you will find some." When they did, they were unable to haul the net in because of the large number of fish. 7Then the disciple whom Jesus loved said to Peter, "It is the Lord!" As soon as Simon Peter heard him say, "It is the Lord," he wrapped his outer garment around him (for he had taken it off) and jumped into the water. 8The other disciples followed in the boat, towing the net full of fish, for they were not far from shore, about a hundred yards.[b] 9When they landed, they saw a fire of burning coals there with fish on it, and some bread. 10Jesus said to them, "Bring some of the fish you have just caught." 11Simon 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.

Notice Jesus said, "Throw your net on the right side of the boat and you will find some." ... interesting. So they apparently had thrown the net on the wrong side of the boat (I would assume he didn't mean "not the left side") and that is why they hadn't caught anything all night OR maybe they caught the mother load BECAUSE they were fishing WHERE Jesus had told them to fish.

There are so many things to unpack here, and I will do so in my NEW January Series ... but you must realize these guys were full time fisherman! They knew what they were doing. They weren't doing anything wrong all day long that lead to them not catching any fish per say ... they just weren't on the right side of the boat.