A Great Fish Story

Every once in a while, a fish story needs no embellishing.

David Hayes and his 3-year old granddaughter, Alyssa, were fishing in a pond behind his North Carolina home. Alyssa, who was using a two-and-a-half foot, pink Barbie toy fishing rod she had received from her father at Christmas, went inside the house for a “potty stop” while her grandfather held the pole. According to Hayes, she was gone only seconds when a mammoth fish grabbed the bait and took off for a half-hour fight. Alyssa returned and, after a good bit of girlish squealing and the fish thrashing about, Hayes landed a 32-inch, 21 lb., 1 oz. channel catfish. It turned out to be a state record certified by the North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission.

This story is personally interesting since I fish whenever I can and sometimes present a unique program in meetings called It’s Catching!. The presentation features hundreds of classic and antique lures well sprinkled with amazing fish stories as illustrations of Bible lessons and fishing for men. Alyssa’s Barbie rod catfish story will be included in the future.

Over the years, stories emerge of amazing catches on the simplest of gear. Fresh water fishermen can spend thousands of dollars on tackle, boats, bait, clothing and even sonar and never land a fish like Alyssa’s.

Missionary friends sent me a Chilean fishing rig, which is a simple round piece of wood. It is turned on a lathe and doubles as both a spinning and bait-casting device. It catches fish from a boat or the river bank. A friend I met in meetings turned one out on his own lathe in a few minutes.

When I was ministering in Honduras, I asked a pastor to secure a Honduran fishing rig for my program. He walked over to a table, picked up an empty plastic water bottle and handed it to me. He explained how Hondurans can’t afford expensive equipment, so they drink the water, tie fishing line around the empty bottle and wind on enough line to fish with hook and bait at the end. They snap the bottle forward, and the line peels off just like a spinning reel. Then they shift the bottle sideways and wind the line back on for the next cast. With equipment that cost just pennies, Hondurans are catching fish.

When Christ said, “Follow me and I will make you fishers of men” (Matt. 4:19), He must have known most of us would be timid, unsophisticated and modestly equipped, so He took full charge of the responsibility—“I will make you…”

He has given us a simple Gospel— the death and resurrection of Christ (I Corinthians 15), and simple modern helps to share that Gospel are ample and available.

Consider the lowly Gospel tract. A minister told me he was saved through picking up a discarded tract in the street at the New Orleans Mardi Gras. Another man came to Christ by finding a tract in the New York City Port Authority bus terminal.

Even a simple word can change a life. A member of my former church told me how a woman met him at the door when he was delivering milk and simply said, “Young man, you’ve an eternal soul to save.” It was enough to make him seek the Lord and come to salvation.

Invitations to a special outreach are also effective. A whole family came to Christ in one of my meetings because a church member gave the mother an invitation at work. Years ago, Norman Townsend, then known as New England’s own evangelist, held up a penny post card and said he was saved because an anonymous person sent that invitation to attend a rally where he heard about Christ.

Fishing for men is simple, and each catch is worth more than all the world’s wealth. Jesus said the worth of a soul was greater than any material gain (Luke 9:25).

If a toy fishing pole can land a record catfish, any believer can easily fish in the ocean of men with a personal word, a piece of Gospel literature, a phone call or a visit. Ecclesiastes 9:10 says, “Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with your might…” Christ promised in Luke 5:10, “Do not be afraid. From now on you will catch men.”

Find your place and keep on fishing!

Dave Virkler