Catching Fish

I had someone ask the other day, “why is it that you catch so many fish and we can’t seem to catch a fish at all.” Before I could answer I had to get more information. They preceded to tell me about all the things they had tried and went into great detail about all the work they put into planning every trip. After they were done filling me in on everything they had to say, I saw the problem. Every decision that they made was based on something they wanted. Their trip was scheduled on what worked for them. They went to the part of the lake that they had success before, even though the lake has changed a lot since then. Finally, they were fishing with the latest lure they saw on tv. What I told them was not revolutionary or even a secret. It’s the way people have successfully fished for countless generations.

First, you need to go to where the fish are. Fish can change location at any time and for many reasons. If you are fishing where they are not, you’re going to get skunked. To figure out where the fish are, you need to understand the fish: how they see, what they eat and what conditions they are most comfortable in. To understand what make a fish tic takes time on the water. Time observing and learning. Fishermen that catch fish understand that they have to go to where the fish are.

Timing is everything when your fishing. Knowing how to predict where and when fish will be is the second step to catching them. You see, if you plan a fishing trip on your schedule it almost always leads to a boring trip without fish. But when you plan your trip around the fish, it’s amazing how exciting that trip can be. And when you are willing to drop everything and go fishing when you get word that they are biting, those are the days that you will never forget. It really stinks when you hear, “man you should have been here yesterday.”

Once you have found the fish, if you want to catch them, you need to give them what they want. This can change day-by-day and hour-by-hour. Sometimes they are active and they will chase your presentation and other times you need to give them something right in front of their face before they will bite. Color can make all the difference in the world. Red can be the hot color one day and other days you have to cycle through gold, black, green, blue and white to trigger a strike. It is also important to understand what they are hungry for. If it is a worm bite and you are using minnows, color may not matter, you’re not going to catch anything.

If you want to catch fish you have to learn to ignore what you want and like and start understanding what the fish is looking for and what they are reacting to. You see, fish react to their environment. They make decisions based on the environment they live in, not based on what we think or even want. Productive fishermen have figured this out and that is why they catch fish. They are not lucky, they are purposeful in their pursuit of fish. 

The question we need to ask is, do we want to fish our way or God’s way?  Here are a few resources to look up to help you answer the question. Matthew 4:18-22, Matthew 28:16-20, John 13, 1 Corinthians 9:21-23 & Philippians 2. These are just a place to get started on learning how to catch fish the way Jesus called us to.

Tight lines.

Geremy Olson

Outdoorsman, Producer, Firefighter & Public Speaker

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