Rivers in the Desert
The journey continues at Muscadine Creek. The last year was one of reflection and assessment. A year of talking things over with God, if you will.
I'll be honest, I questioned God a lot. My faith was shaken and tested. I began to wonder if God brought me to the season I was in just to abandon me. If we are honest, we've all been at this juncture in our faith...or we will be there at some point. But as the prophet Isaiah wrote -- there will be "rivers in the desert."
I saw my share of rivers in the desert during 2018 -- actual rivers. These were the places God spoke to me. Like the Apostle Peter who went back to what he knew best after the death of Christ -- fishing -- I too picked up my rods and reels and basically took a year to go a-fishing. When the fish started biting...the healing began.
Muscadine Creek: The first river I decided to try. Little did I know that in February the creek would become one of the most productive Crappie spots I've ever fished. They weren't record setting Crappie, but it was fun to buy a tub of red worms and just pull the Crappie out one after another. One evening after work, my youngest daughter and I decided to have competition as to who could catch the most. I believe the record was 12 for me and about 6 or 7 for her. Later in the Spring, Muscadine Creek proved to be very productive for 1-2 pound Channel Cats and 1-2 pound bass.
Towaliga River: 2018 was the year I decided to get serious about my catfish game. Several years ago, my youngest daughter and I were fishing the falls when we happened across a guy with a 30 lb Flat Head. He told me to try the spot he just finished fishing and so I put a worm on my hook and made a single cast. No sooner had the hook hit the water when the line peeled off the reel and snapped. So in 2018, I decided to try my luck there again with stronger tackle. That's when I started pulling 8-10 lb Flat Heads out of that spot consistently. Often I would get up at 6 am on the weekends just to head down to this spot by myself and I'd have supper caught by 8 am. BTW...nothing tastes better than Flat Head bellies pan fried with butter and garlic. Later in the summer I would catch a handful of small Bluegill on my fly rod and then use them for bait on the lake where I would catch 3-4 pound Channel Cats. Good eating size.
Line Creek: My second favorite place to spend time with the Lord was on Line Creek in Peachtree City. My girls and I liked to go swimming in the shade to cool off in the hot Georgia Summer heat. Then about 3 or 4 in the afternoon, I'd hit a very productive catfish hole. My choice of bait was again small Bluegill that I'd catch on my fly rod. I caught several large Channel Cats and Flat Heads. My youngest daughter caught her largest catfish there as well. Catfish tend to get really active just before a thunderstorm strikes. We were on the creek one afternoon when a rather productive thunderstorm was approaching. I kept telling my daughter, "One more cast and we'll leave." Well, I misjudged the speed of the approaching storm and before you knew it the tornado sirens were blaring. We grabbed our catch and had to run about 1/2 a mile back to the car. It was a little scary as we saw the funnel cloud pass overhead just as we got the car started. But we had a good supper anyway!
It's no secret that there is something spiritually healing when it comes to water. The Bible is full of allegory and real life examples. I mean there has to be a good reason why Jesus sought out the fishermen to make them disciples. Even after Jesus rose from the dead, the Bible details that he still liked a good fish fry on the beach. I guess I shouldn't be too surprised then that God would lead me to some good fishing grounds as I took time to reassess my life and get things sorted out.
I'm looking forward to more adventures here in 2019 and the many more lakes and rivers waiting to be explored by me and God. In that regard, I guess I won't be lacking for content -- stay tuned!
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