WJSW? Fishing slow but signs bring reward

The sign is the left when you enter the hodgepodge that is the Selma Curb Market. Right across from the check out counter, next to the cooler of iced-down strawberry and grape drinks and above the selection of red worms, wigglers and super jumpers, is the sign that asks the moral question: “Would Jesus Steal Worms.”  There’s no question mark, probably because there’s no room for it, but the question is certainly implied.

The sign always makes me smile, and last weekend, when I stopped on at the curb market to buy minnows on my way to our fishing camp-camphouse in Dallas County, I had my iPhone, and snapped a picture of the sign. 

I posted the picture on Facebook, sending it out before Lucille, our labra-something dog and travel companion, and I pulled away from the curb market and drove the rest of winding way down Highway 41 to the camphouse.

I had plenty of likes, and one comment (“Yea, I think he would just make some instead”) by the time I got way off the paved road and arrived to meet the boys at our shack on Pine Barron Creek, our hideaway that we call the Wild Kingdom.

The fishing  -- with the minnows purchased at the curb market (I didn’t buy or steal any worms)  -- was slow, slow, much slower than the cyber likes for the Would Jesus Steal Worms picture.

I only caught  a couple of keeper Crappie during hours of pier sitting, hook placing and watching Pine Barren Creek flow to the Alabama River. 

But, I saw the sky morph from sunny bright to cloudy bright to orange-tinged dusk and twilight, and I studied cranes and water turkeys as they soared and dived in their own fishing expeditions.  

Just being there – in this remote natural world of moss-covered trees, gator filled waters and morning, noon and night songs from creatures seen and imagined -- is more than half the fun of fishing off our pier.

It’s a place where signs in country stores offer an implied, kind warning like Would Jesus Steal Worms, (surely, only the biggest of back-sliders could pilfer a plastic tub of super jumpers while reading that phrase), and where you have to know to ask for small minnows for crappie, not the big ones intended for catfish fishing.

It’s a place where you can enjoy yourself, find some peace and see the Lord’s grandeur in every sound and sight, even if the fishing aren’t biting.

Song of the day:

Fishin' Blues, by Taj Mahal

Betcha' goin' fishin' all o' da' time
Baby, goin' fishin' too
Bet yo' life, yo' sweet wife
Catch mo' fish than you

Many fish bites if ya' got good bait
Here's a little tip that I would like to relate
Many fish bites if ya' got good bait
I'ma goin' fishin', yes I'm goin' fishin
And my baby, goin' fishin' too