Preparation is key

"The one that got away" is an angling cliche, an archetype for many tall tales told by the fire in a fisherman's inn.

We've all experienced the loss of a fish, and at times it's just "one of those things"- we do nothing wrong, but somehow the fish's cunning prevails. At other times, we know it was our fault, and we endlessly re-run the scenario in our mind's eye for weeks to come.

Three such stories from my own fishing come immediately to mind.

The first was a float fishing session for carp, when- unaccountably- I'd set up my float, plumbed the depth and started fishing without checking that I'd set my clutch. The float dipped, I struck, and a large carp tore off towards the far bank. The clutch on my reel was so loose it might as well have been a baitrunner, and by the time I'd tightened it down to a reasonable tension the carp had taken about 30 yards of line, and with everything too slack had shed the hook.

The second two stories both concern pike. On the first of these I'd brought my large specimen net, but failed to set it up. I was fishing with fellow Christian Anglers member Pete, who had his own net (very small- we were originally fishing for perch, and I'd only switched to a livebait for pike when a couple of our small fish were attacked on the way in), and as I drew the pike towards the miniscule net it angrily gave one last head shake and was gone. Had the 42 inch net been set up we'd have landed the fish, a fact we were both aware of, as the pike swam away and my line went slack.

The last story is similar. I was spinning for jacks when I connected with something much bigger. I played the pike for about 10 minutes before it was beaten, and then the fun started. The fish looked to be somewhere between 17 and 20 pounds, and there was no way it was going to fit in my net. In the event my fishing companion adroitly utilised TWO small landing nets, scooped the "head end" into one, the "tail end" in the other, and somehow successfully netted the pike.

We were walking proudly up the steeply sloping bank, my friend holding both landing nets, pike balanced within the two, when one of the landing net handles snapped beneath the weight, the pike fell to the ground, the hooks flew free and the pike slid back down the bank and into the river's depths. No weighing ritual, no photo and my biggest ever lure caught pike was gone. Gutted doesn't come close!

There's an old saying which has it that "failing to prepare is preparing to fail", which is why Paul's words in Ephesians 6:10-18 about the "full armour of God" are so important. If we're to stand firm in our faith we'll help ourselves no end if we read Scripture regularly, commit ourselves to prayer, join a local church and look for opportunities to meet with other Christians.

Like the Boy Scouts, there's everything to be gained by "being prepared."