Off Road Angler

Florida fishing in May has traditionally been great for me. The bass have finished all their spawning activities and settled back into normal fishing patterns. I can usually go out with virtually any style weightless soft plastic lure and have success. I’m a very results oriented person (it’s one of my weaknesses) so I especially enjoy going fishing even more than usual during this time. It’s very gratifying to be successful on every outing and to do so without much extra effort is a bonus.

You know living life with a disability is usually anything but normal and results viewed as success can often be far and few between. It is definitely not easy by any means and just the basics of life can require a great deal of effort. However, this lifestyle provides a different kind of reward and one that can be much deeper and more satisfying. It requires a lot of patience, persistent and even perseverance. Most of all it requires a lot of prayer. Coming to our savior daily for strength, encouragement and comfort is the only way I can make it.

Now don’t get me wrong on hardships. It’s not something that we should see as a trophy or something that makes us better than others. Hardships are just part of life. Some people have few, some have many and other just fall in the middle. The point is that whatever burdens we have Jesus is there to carry them for us. He wants us focused on Him and resting in Him during both the good and bad times.
You know I often have a harder time trusting and staying centered in the Lord when things are going great (another weakness of mine). I can get very distracted and drift off base a bit. During these times I find it helpful to get a way by myself or with my wife to do a little fishing. Something about being out in God’s great outdoors and enjoying the simple gifts he gives helps me refocus.

Ultimately, as believers we will be resting in heaven with Jesus without hardships, burdens or distractions but until then we have to keep your eye on the prize as we walk (or in my case roll) through life………and sometimes a little fishing can be a great help in doing that.

I love it when Gomer Pyle says suprise, suprise, suprise on his old TV shows. It reminds e how good and fun life in Christ can be.

You know I’ve shared how I’ve struggled to figure out and catch bass in the lake behind our house recently. It’s been really hit and miss since December. Well one day while trying a variety of bait a crappie was cxaught on a crankbait. Huh, I said to myself I did not even know there was any crappie here. I mean the lake is pretty good sized and I figured there were other fish like catfish, crappie, bluegill, etc. but just never heard anyone talking about catching them here.

well to make a long story short, I called my buddy Leonard who loves to catch AND eat crappie and he and a friend came over the nextr Friday afternoon. We went out in our back yard where there was a small cut where water flows into the lake and caught about 100 crappie in two hours with little jigs!

WHAT A SUPRISE!

You know God is full of good suprises too. Sometimes we are too focused on other things to see or find them but they are there if we’ll just slow down and rest in Him and the blessings He sends.

Well I’ve been in Florida now three years (two in Fort lauderdale and one in Orlando) and I have yet to figure out when the dang bass here spawn.

This is when the males come up shallow make beds and “whoo” the female bass to join them. It is a very key marker for where the fish are located, what type of lures need to be used and what type of techniques are best to catch them. There are pre-spawn patterns, spawn patterns and post spawn patterns. There are spring, summer, fall and winter patterns based upon when the fish mate too. Knowing all this is extremely intregal to catch bass.

The problem I’m having is figuring out what stage the fish are in currently. Usually in Texas they mate in April and May like clockwork as the water tempreture warns to 70-75 degrees. Here I’m told they start spawning as early as December down south and February here in Central Florida but with the crazy weather the past few years things are fluctuating and who knows.

Personally we’ve been fluctuating too. Joni and Friends closed the Florida area ministry office on 2/22 leaving leanne and I without jobs and even worse without clear direction on God’s plan for us. It’s kind of like not having that marker in the sand helping you know where you are in life spring, summer, fall or winter due to changes in the weather.

Fortunately God is with us and promises to both be there and guide us through our transition. He has a GOOD plan for us and so many GOOD promises to keep us going as we seek Him and what He has next for us.

You know the weather and fishing patterns will stabilize and get back to normal just as our lives will as we stay centered in Christ. So like with fishing you gotta just keep casting and in life keep following the Lord until the sun shines again.

Hey even in unsure times God can rain down some gem of blessings……..like this picture of a recent catch when I was not sure what I was doing.

Well just when I thought I’d figured out the bass in south Florida we wind up in Orlando. Leanne and I love it here but the fishing patterns are a bit different than in Fort Lauderdale.

There are fewer canals and more small lakes……..most of which have little structure and resemble big bowls of water. There is lots of grass here though just like down south and as they say “if you find the grass you find the bass”. I’m not so sure that is true when there is grass everywhere.

In any case, the bass here seem pretty aggressive and I’ve had the most success with crankbaits, spinnerbaits and swimbaits…….much different than Texas where dead sticking a fluke usually wins the tournament.

Caught this beauty in our backyard one evening after coming home from work after 6pm…….actually was flipping a black/blue jig around a drain and THUMP……love that feeling.

Well I must say I am so very blessed……forgiveness of my sins by my Lord and Saviour Jesus, marriage to my best friend Leanne, freedom in my country, opportunities to grow, job to do everyday, wheelchair and even a van to use……..fishing in my backyard is just over the top…….why has God blessed me so……..I DON’T KNOW.

What I do know is that I don’t deserve any of this……..none of us do deserve the blessings, grace and mercy God offers us…….but we can show our appreciation of them by accepting and enjoying the gifts He gives and telling others who gave them to us.

We’ll we’ve relocated the Joni and Friends Florida office and our home to Orlando…….got here the end of April. Before we left though we had the opportunity to go to a private horse farm with 5 small lakes on it.

After being treated to an awesome lunch that day, we fished with our friends…….from 3pm to 5pm we caught virtually nothing…….only a few small bass and a bluegill. Then a little after 5pm the fish turned on and we had the best fishing day we’ve ever had in Florida. I caught around 6-7 bass between 3 and 5 pounds and Leanne caught a whopper 8 pounder! I had been catching mine on a soft jefk bait and then top water frog and suggest Leanne change from her deadsticking fluke method to catch more fish……….boy was I wrong just a few minutes later Wham……the 8 pounder.

Moral of the story…….we’ll I’m not sure on the big fish but overall prayer, patience and persistence followed by perserverance really pay off!

Well guys Febuary has been a bit slow. Oh, I’ve fished alot and caught plenty of fish but nothing very big……In fact the picture of this two pounder is the best I can remember since the last post in January.

But hey that’s life there are season God leads us through…..some are exciting while others are a bit slower. Both are good and God teaches us valuable things along the way.

This month I’ve been working a lot getting Joni and Friends Florida ready for our Fishing with Friends Day in Jacksonville, the team boats wraped and Fishing with Friends shirts updated for 2009……not very exciting but fulfilling just the same. You see God wants us to prepare for the exciting “big” things he has in store and knowing that keeps me jazzed in the slow times.

Only God knows what March will bring……maybe my first 10 pound bass!

I fished long and hard today with little success until about an hour before I had to head home. I was fishing a long canal in Boca Raton where I’d caught some decent fish but today despite the good weather, beautiful water and my “expert” techniques…..yeah right……noting was biting. I really had lost most of my confidence that there were fidh there or that I could catch them……cast after cast, bait after bait I kept trying so as not to get skunked.

Finally I caught a few small fish in an adjacent canal and got a “wee” bit of confidence back in my fishing. Then as I was about pack it in and go home, I caught this gal on a NetBait finesse worm wacky style with an Eagle Claw kahle hook……..I worked it like a jerkbait from the grass and saw a flash and swirl…….pretty cool stuff.

You know this reminds me of the “P”s of being disabled……prayer, persistence, perseverance and patience……these have helped me along in life and you never know what God has in story for us if we’ll just hang in there and trust Him.

Well went out to Elizabeth’s canal area early today before my first DR appointment in a few years and looky what I found. I caught it on a NETBAIT junebug trick worm with an EAGLE CLAW 5/0 hook……..no weight.

You know bass feed early in the day…..especially when it starts getting hot. I’ve found that not only do I catch more fish then but it really boosts my day spending time wiith God in the outdoors or in my house before I get into the 9 to 5 stuff.

Well, I’ve had my eye on this nice retention pond by the toll road here with a parking lot for the booth workers and Sunday I went out to try it.

It looked pretty flat and accessible as they had just mowed the grass. However, the mowers had left some ruts around the banks and after venturing within 4-5 feet of the waters edge I got stuck!

Now you should know that getting stuck is nothing new for me……it does not happen a lot but I’ve had my share of flat tires, mud puddles, sand dunes and even falling out of my chair…..one with a top watter popper and small bass hooked on my shoelace.

Usually, I start praying and thinking about how to get out of the situation and God sends some unsuspecting jogger or walker by to help me. This time though despite cars zooming around the exit ramp all around me no help was truely in sight……so I turned to my avenue of last resort…..calling Leanne.

Now it’s not that I don’t want to call Leanne, I just don’t want to worry her……plus she usually gives me a bit of a SAFETY talking to afterwards.

This time was no exception……after rescuing me, seeing that I was ok, she gave me a few stern words…….kinda like God does when we stray a bit or have a lapse in judgement……we can always call on Him though and He’ll always come rescue us……kinda like my blessing of a wife.

You know the lake by our boat storage place I mentioned earlier? Well, I forgot to post this beautiful peacock bass I caught last summer there.

I saw a lot of top water/subsurface feeding action so I started throwing a 3/8 ounce Heavy Cover spinnerbait with Eagle Claw hooks. This one had a gold with green and red skirt. I ran it normal several times without a response so I sped it up just under the surface with a blade popping through the top of the water every few feet…….WHAMO…..these fish are great fighters.

It was not my first Peacock bass but as I probably won’t ever make it to the Amazon to fish for the BIG ones, it was a great reminder of how blessed we are to live here in South Florida and how God knows and answers the desires of our heart in a variety of ways.