Author: bkonkle

A good friend and I were fishing at Patagonia Lake last Thursday afternoon when we started noticing how the clouds had quickly built up over us. It was a welcome relief because it was very hot and muggy. In my fisherman’s way of thinking though, I figured we would probably get rained out and that would end our fishing. We had wanted to catch a mess of sunfish for bait, as we were going to try and get on some flatheads. We were starting to catch a few when we started to hear a noise some distance off in the trees. I told Derrick that I think we better get off the lake quickly. We high-tailed back to the marina and no sooner did we get tied up then the heavens cut loose on us. The wind cranked up and branches started flying off the trees and the rain came down in bucket fulls. Then the hail (pea size) started. The hail probably lasted for half an hour. The rain kept up for probably an hour or more. When we tied up at the dock, I stood up and my fishing hat blew off into the water and the wind quickly blew it away. I thought, “there goes a nice hat.” Well, there was a young family tied up at the dock also and the boy tried to snag the hat with his rod and then the father tried, but to no success. So the boy decided that the hat was too good to lose and he dove in and swam about 15 yards out and retrieved it. Many thanks to the young boy (shame on me for not getting his and his family’s name) for doing that. We all raced under the marina porch and watched the storm. The father stayed in their boat and caught a small channel cat. The boy brought his rod over and caught a channel also. The rain eventually stopped and we headed back out to finish catching our bait. We got a few and decided to set up for flatheads. We had one decent take down but no hookups. I think this storm really affected the flattys. You know, storms can affect fishing that way and I thought we drove all that way and nothing (flatheads) to show for it. On our way home, I started to see some of the blessings in the day: 1. I was out with a good friend, 2. We were safe, 3. We met a nice family and gained a couple of new subscribers, 4. Got my hat back. The next morning Dianne (my wife) and I were talking and she said that the rain we had at our house was “like a love pat from God.” That statement sure put things in their correct priority. It has been so horribly hot and dry here and God new what we needed when we needed it. Dianne really needed it that day; the heat was really getting to her that afternoon while doing her outside chores. Isn’t that just like our God??!! To give us things when we NEED them. Jesus said in Matthew 6:31 – 34: “And yet I say unto you, That even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. Wherefore, if God so clothe the grass of the field, which to day is, and to morrow is cast into the oven, shall he not much more clothe you, O ye of little faith? Therefore take no thought, saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed? (For after all these things do the Gentiles seek:) for your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things.” A lot of our lives is taken up with thinking about why isn’t God doing this or that and not about simply trusting him. God sums it up in Isaiah 55:8 & 9: “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the LORD. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts.” Maybe this is where I need to end this post.

Filmed another installment of Pan Fish Wednesday (I know it’s really Tuesday) today and met a very nice young boy and his father out fishing. They were visiting from Colorado. The boy asked if I had a YouTube channel because he saw the camera equipment. A short time later the boy reeled in his first ever bass and I had the privilege of filming the exciting event. That video will come out possibly next week or the week after. It was neat to see a father and son out fishing together: way to go Dad! I believe it is becoming a thing of the past. The father and I were standing next to one another fishing when I suddenly caught a crappie. The father remarked to me that we only see what is on the surface, because that fish seemingly came out of nowhere. That statement got me to thinking about the Apostle Paul and as I am writing this post, King David came to mind. We see only what is on the surface (the exterior) of a person and not what they are really like. Paul was not a good speaker (I Corinthians 2:1-4). If Paul was in some of our churches today he would probably be laughed out of the pulpit. And yet God used him to write the majority of the New Testament and to bring more people to a saving knowledge of Jesus than anyone else outside of Christ Himself. When Samuel came to anoint the new king at Jesse’s house (Samuel 16), he thought sure that it had to be one on David’s brothers because they physically looked the part. And yet God chose young David, the smallest of them all, because David was “a man after mine own heart” (Acts 13:22). So the next time that we are out fishing and we are trying to “read the water” to see what kind of lure or bait to use, remember we can’t always see below the surface. Or when we meet someone and we make a snap judgement call of that person, remember we can’t see below the surface and that there may be a Paul or a David in that person. “But the LORD said unto Samuel, Look not on his countenance, or on the height of his stature; because the LORD seeth not as a man seeth; for man looketh on the outward appearance, but the LORD looketh on the heart.” (1 Samuel 16:7)

Had an epic morning in the Itty Bitty Lure Challenge! Wait till you see the video that will come out on FishingWithOhDad this Friday August 21st. Here are some of my friends that allow me to use the pond.

Fishing sure can be a funny (I don’t mean hilarious- even though it can be that too) thing. What may seem like the correct lure to use might not be the one you need to use. What lure may work at one time, won’t work now. What speed of a retrieve worked one at one time, work work now. It can be slightly frustrating and sometimes highly frustrating endeavor. That was the case in today’s video. I tried several things that had produced fish before and had no success. So, I just kept at it until I found something that would work. Watch my video to find out what it was that worked and how things went on the water. This got me to thinking that with Jesus, we never have to figure out what will work in any situation we find our selves in. The plan is found in God’s Word! The most basic of all the plans that will work EVERY time is found in Romans 10:13: “For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.” This most basic of God’s plan ASSURES us of a home in heaven. For the here and now, one of God’s most basic of plans is the Ten Commandments (Exodus 20: 3- 17). Yes, they still apply to us today; which if they were followed would sure make life on earth a whole lot easier. God’s plan(s) always work; there is no second guessing or trying a different way: for “Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.” (John 14:6) Works every time!!

Did you ever have one of those days where you were totally blown away by the events of the day? Well I had one of those times this morning. An epic few hours of fishing. I started a new FishingWithOhDad series called the Itty Bitty Lure Challenge and man did it get off to a rip roaring start. The video will be out on August 21st.

Sometimes when you go out to fish and try to make a video, you end getting skunked or only catch a few fish. So what do you do to make a video that is worthy of my subscribers? Well, what I did was go through my video archives from this year and last year and cull through some videos that had poor sound quality, no sound, or only a few fish caught, and cobble together a cool video!! So grab the popcorn, sit back, relax, enjoy the music and watch a bunch of fish being caught! But the Great Creator never had to cobble together anything! God says in His word that: “…God saw every thing that he had made, and, behold, it was very good.” (Genesis 1:31) Psalm 139:14 tells us: “I will praise thee; for I am fearfully and wonderfully made: marvellous are thy works; and that my soul knoweth right well.“ Unlike my video, God’s creation (that includes us), was never pieced or hurriedly put together. He made it and us perfect in the beginning. And one day it will be so again for he says: “And he that sat upon the throne said, Behold, I make all things new.…” (Revelation 21:5) and in Revelation 21:1 He says that John “…saw a new heaven and a new earth; for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away…” “…Even so, come, Lord Jesus. (Revelation 22:20)

I found this short video on Facebook the other day and it sure brought back a lot of memories about teaching my boys how to fish. It also reminded me of our God given responsibilities as fathers on how to raise our children. Proverbs 22:6 tells us that we should: “Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it.” Deuteronomy 6:7 says that: “And thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children, and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down, and when thou risest up.” And in Deuteronomy 11:19 we are told “And ye shall teach them your children, speaking of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, when thou liest down, and when thou risest up.” As this father in the video is teaching his son to fish at an early age; we are to start teaching them early in life to trust the Lord for all things in his life, to love the Lord with all his heart, to lean on him at ALL times so that some day he can trust Jesus as his personal Saviour and make him LORD of his life.

My last fishing video on “Fishing With Oh Dad!” shows Noah and I improvising to be able to use a small boat to catch bass. It was a great time on the water!! When I read today’s devotional in “Days of Praise” I thought Jesus never had to jury rig anything. God knew from eternity past that he would one day send his son to die on a cross for the sins of the whole world. It was planned from the long ago past and nothing surprised the LORD, even when man fell into sin in the Garden of Eden. He was and is a “nail in a sure place”. (Isaiah 22:23) “He is the anchor of the (our) soul, both sure and stedfast.” (Hebrews 6:19) In these times of turmoil, Jesus can be trusted for keeping us in this life and also in the life to come. I hope that you have trusted him as your Saviour and also that you would have made him Lord of your life. Hope you enjoy the video!! And thanks for watching.

I tried again at the tiny pond and again met with no fish and no bites. It sure has me stumped as to why I can’t catch any fish there. Apparently it is loaded with cats. Running out of ideas as to what is going on and what to use for bait. I think I have tried about every think there is for bait, including last nights session using catfish guts!! I have some thoughts but sure would like the opinion of others out there as to why I can’t catch anything. I welcome your comments.

After a month (July) of some of the lousiest fishing, the Lord gave me a great morning of fishing. I had been seeking the Lord about the horrible fishing lately and about what to do. Jesus once told several of his disciples in John 21:6- “And he said unto them, Cast the net on the right side of the ship, and ye shall find. They cast therefore, and now they were not able to draw it for the multitude of fishes.” Well, I couldn’t do exactly as Jesus told his disciples, because I wasn’t in a ship and I wasn’t using a net. But there had to be some principle here that I could apply to me. The disciples were fishing on one side of the boat and apparently never considered that there was another side to their boat! Well, I was doing the same thing! I never considered that there was another side to the daytime. It’s called morning. So, I went out in the early morning and the Lord blessed me some great fishing! Here is the video showing what happened. Hope you enjoy it.