I know most of you have heard the bible verse "Give A Man A Fish You Can Feed Him For A Day Teach A Man To Fish You Can Feed Him For A Lifetime." You know I thought I completely understood the meaning of this verse until this morning, before I began to write this blog.
Definitely there is the factor that if you just give someone something to eat that your will only fill their appetite for that very moment. But if you teach them how to prepare the meal that will give them the knowledge to do it themselves and they can repeat it over and over, so they never go hungry again. But now I think about it there is a lot more to the verse.
Today many Anglers will be hitting the waters to fish tournaments. Me and my partner Ken Thayer along with others will be fishing the "Yadkin River Crappie Trail Championship. Ken and I won last year's championship on High Rock Lake, What an Amazing Memory That Was, That Will Last A Lifetime.
Ken and I met when he booked a Guide Trip with me to learn more about Live Scope Crappie fishing. That day went great we caught several fish and I think Ken learned a lot about the Live Scope. During the day we had discussed many things including how I loved to fish Crappie tournament. Ken said, "Hey If You Don't Mind, I Would Like To Maybe Fish One Of Those Tournaments With You One Day. At the time I was a little unsure, but I said what the heck, "Ok Will Fish A Couple." Well, a couple tournaments turned into a whole year with the Yadkin River Crappie Trail. Then at the end of the year came the 2023 Yadkin River Crappie Trail Championship. Now the Championship tournament is not decided till the night before and it's between High Rock, Badin, Tuckertown, and Tillery. They do a reverse draw and the last lake out is the lake the tournament would be held on. That week I practiced on every lake and had great practice days, except for my favorite and home lake High Rock Lake. Oh, my practice day there was terrible I couldn't find any big fish. So, the drawing happens the night before and what lake was selected, High Rock "UHG!!"
The day of the tournament went just like practice went I was running around the lake, like a chicken with head cut off. At 11 o'clock I believe Ken and I only had 3 average size fish and I was freaking out. I believe Ken said at that time " It's All Good We Have Plenty Of Time Will Find Them, You The Man Jack!" I believe that's one of Ken's saying when he knows I am flustered, LOL! I looked at Ken and said your right buddy lets go to where the big fish were a week ago. So, we took off to right outside of Sailboat cove. I put the trolling motor down and looked around and said there is a Big One, Boom put it in the boat. Looked around some more there is another one, Boom put it in the boat. At that point I turned to Ken and said "Their Here Buddy" Ken's response I will never forget, "Go To Work Jack Do What You Do And I Will Weigh The Fish." At the end of the time limit I knew we did all that we could do and left nothing on the water.
At the weigh in I was a nervous wreck, watching the weights come in. It finally came to Ken and I and we had over 14lbs and some change, which put us in 1st place with a few teams left to weigh in. One team after another the weights could not reach our weight. Then the final team Kevin & Mary Hawkins came to the scale and I knew they knew had to catch them. Wow their weight was just tenths below Ken and I's 14 plus pounds. WE HAD WON!!!!
Now if you read this till the end, you're probably wondering why did I tell this whole story? Well, lets go back to the Bible Verse. 'Give A Man A Fish You Can Feed Him For The Day, Teach A Man To Fish You Can Feed Him For A Life Time!"
Teaching a Man to fish isn't only about feeding their appetite it's also about the memories and moments that you experience while learning to fish, which will feed the body and soul. So, when you go out and you have to learn something new remember take in every moment and share every moment with the person you're learning from.
Ken Thank You for being a Great Partner and Friend when I needed an ear to talk to!
Everyone Fishing Today, Tomorow, or in the Future, GOOD LUCK AND REMEMBER ENJOY THE MOMENT! GOD BLESS!!!!
Everyone please while you're on the water fishing please wear a life vest. Below are a few life vest on Amazon that are light, comfortable, and worth every penny of your life.
Comments