My neighbor Dub owned a cabin on the banks of the bass filled waters of Caddo Lake in the Piney Woods region of East Texas. I was privileged to accompany Dub on one of his late autumn trips to this fisherman’s paradise. Spanish moss drapes over the cypress trees lining the channel that meanders past the screened porch of Dub’s rustic cabin. In this surrealistic setting Dub and I experienced the strangest fish tale of our lives.

Arriving late on Wednesday night we went to bed quickly with the intention of making a predawn appearance at the lake. Frogs, crickets and cicadas droned through the night as we dreamt of landing trophy bass.

I woke up at the sound of the screen door squeaking on its hinges. Peering sleepily through the doorway I could see Dub’s burly torso in the half- light of dawn. He was headed for the lake. I scrambled to my feet and grabbed my gear. Dub had already made several casts by the time I stumbled down to the water.

"Good morning, Dub." My raspy voice was barely loud enough to be heard over the croaking of the frogs that surrounded us.

Dub was chipper as every as he said, "You know there’s a guide in the little town of Uncertain who says, ‘A bad day on Caddo beats a good day any where else.’ He looked at me with a smile and added. "I’m inclined to believe it, how about you?"

Dub watched me to measure my mood as he reeled his lure toward the shore. The lime green color of Dub’s crawdad- shaped lure caught my eye. It was just a foot from the bank in about a foot of water. I could barely make out the dark shape of a large fish. The fish seemed to be lying on its side. Its mouth was open. It was reaching for the lure, but for some reason it had stopped. Fish and lure seemed to be frozen, suspended in time only inches apart and only a few feet from where Dub and I were standing,

"Dub, don’t move." Dub’s net was lying on the ground between us. I bent down and picked up the net trying not to spook the fish. As smoothly and quickly as possible I lowered the net into the water and scooped up the hapless fish. It took both hands to secure the net as I brought the heavy fish to dry ground. It seemed to spring to life as Dub grabbed it by the lower jaw and pulled it out of the net.

Dub said, "Will you look at that?"

"What is it?" I asked.

With his free hand Dub pointed at the fish’s cloudy left eye. "This fish is blind in that eye. That’s why he didn’t move when you reached for him in the water."

Dub took a picture of me holding the fish and then we released it back into the lake.

Dub chuckled a little as he turned to me and said, "You know for an ordinary guy, you sure do make me think about God a lot."

I looked at him blankly as he continued, "You see what you did for that fish, reaching down and plucking him out of the water like that. It’s a perfect picture of what God does."

"I think I know what you mean, but why don’t you spell it out for me?"

"Well maybe this will help." Dub reached into his fishing vest and pulled out his pocket-sized New Testament. Thumbing through the pages he said, "Its right here in Colossians, chapter one, verses 13 and 14, "For He delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of His beloved Son, in whom we have redemption the forgiveness of sins."

Dub put the Bible back into his pocket and continued talking. "Of course, you’re a lot more like the fish than you are God."

I was just about to react when Dub began to explain. "Its not just you. We’re all like that fish, blinded by sin, unaware of the danger we’ve put ourselves in." He stopped talking long enough to make a cast. "But when a man puts his faith in Jesus Christ, God reaches down and saves him. Plucks him right out of danger just in the nick of time. It’s an amazing story isn’t it?"

I nodded my head in agreement. "Dub, there’s one thing that bothers me though."

"What’s that?"

"Well, no one is ever going to believe that I reached into the water and pulled out a one eyed bass."

Dub laughed and said, "I know. I saw you do it and I don’t believe it." He thought for a moment before he said. "Well, if it makes you feel any better, a lot of folks can’t believe what God did either."