May

Chosen by Randy Rowley 5/27/25 ©

On April the 28^th, Ander Meine of Bassquatch Bass Fishing Guide Service announced on his Facebook page a contest for a free evening fishing trip that included a professional photo shoot. The winner will receive a gallery of high-resolution edited photos, and the trip may be featured on his social media and website. To enter one had to like the post, follow his Facebook page, and tag a fishing buddy. I promptly liked his post and tagged five fishing buddies (I was already a follower of his Facebook page).

On May the 5^th, Ander informed me that I’d won the trip. He asked if I was OK with Lady Bird Lake in central Austin as our destination. I said, “Sure!” and asked my son, Ryan, if he’d like to be my fishing partner. He promptly said yes.

On May the 8^th, we met Ander and the outdoor photographer, Trinity Lambiase, at the boat ramp by the Holiday Inn. We launched and proceeded slowly west and down the lake via Ander’s trolling motor, as the lake has a rule against fishing boats using their gas motors.

Our first stop was the Congress Ave. bridge. Ander spot-locked his trolling motor within casting distance of one of the center pylons. He asked Ryan and I which of us would like to fish with a white chatterbait and which of us would like to fish with a purple drop shot finesse Roboworm. As fishing with worms for me is akin to watching paint peel, I quickly volunteered for the chatterbait.

Ander showed us how to fish both lures. For the chatterbait, he told me to fish it fast enough to bump the top of the grass. If I fished it too fast it would be above the grass and if I fished it too slow it would dig into the grass. For the drop shot worm, he told Ryan to let it sink to the bottom and drag it as slowly as possible. Soon we were chunking our lures, while Ander fished with a Texas-rigged Senko. I found that it was hard to fish the chatterbait correctly.

After several minutes, the chatterbait had only produced grass, so Ander switched me to a green pumpkin swimbait with a weighted hook. He told me to fish it like the chatterbait.

For several minutes, there was another bass boat in the channel, which is where Ander wanted to be. They finally left and Ander took their place. We fished near the bridge for around 45 minutes. Ryan and I didn’t have any customers, but Ander caught three bass – including two that were north of three pounds.

Ander then headed to the next bridge down – the South 1st St. Bridge. There Ryan caught his first two bass, and I caught one – all on drop-shot Roboworms. Ander added a couple more bass to his tally.

We didn’t stay at the South 1st St. Bridge as long as we did the Congress Ave. bridge. We then headed towards the Mopac Colorado River Railroad Bridge, but fished the banks along the way, starting with the south side. Ander switched me to a white toad with a double take hook.

The bank had a lot of vegetation sticking out of the water. I threw the toad so that it landed at the edge of it or into it. It worked like a buzzbait – I had to crank hard to get it to rise to the top of the water.

Soon I had a blow up about 4’ from the vegetation. I set the hook, and the fight was on, but it was a lot easier than I expected. Soon I discovered why – it was running towards Ander’s boat. About five feet away it saw the boat and made a hard turn to my right. Now, I felt the weight of the bass, and it was a good one. But the hard run unfortunately dislodged the hook.

A few casts later I had another bass blow up on the toad. This wasn’t as big of a blow up and it didn’t fight as hard as the first one. It also got off the hook and didn’t stay on as long. I asked Ander what I was doing wrong. He replied that I needed to “hammer them” (set the hook hard)!

Ander then went to the other side to where Shoal Creek meets the lake. He also switched Ryan to a chatterbait. When we reached the Seaholm Water Intake Facility, Ander switched us to drop shots. I didn’t complain, as my right arm was tired from cranking in the toad. Ander said that the area between Seaholm and the opposite bank had a lot of boulders. Soon we were dragging our worms among them. Ander added at least two bass there, Ryan added two, and I added one.

While fishing there, I felt a hard thump. I set the hook upwards, as Ander instructed us to do with drop shots, and the fight was on. The bass started stripping drag, and for a moment I thought that I was on a bay fighting a bull redfish. But then the line went slack, undoubtedly cut by a boulder.

We then went to the Mopac Colorado River Railroad Bridge and spent the rest of our fishing time there. Ander caught around three bass there, Ryan caught another two, and I caught one.

Ander ended the day with around nine bass caught, Ryan caught six, and I caught three. All of Ryan’s and my fish were caught on drop shot worms. Ander caught his bass on worms, a swimbait, a jig, and a chatterbait that was just sitting in the water. Between Ryan and me, I caught the largest bass – a 2.6 pounder and a 2.4 pounder.

During the trip Trinity wore her camera’s capture button out taking pictures. Afterwards she assembled the best pictures into an album – she even made me look good!

How many of us have gone through our Christian lives thinking that God should use us in particular ways, but God has other plans for us? We believe that we’re supposed to do something, and God says, “do what?” God’s plan for our lives is far superior then ours. He was there before we were born. Jeremiah 1:5a says, “‘Before I formed you in the womb I knew you.’”

Psalm 139:13-16 says, “For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well. My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place, when I was woven together in the depths of the earth. Your eyes saw my unformed body; all the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be.”

We might not be the most knowledgeable or the most articulate person. We might not have the best singing voice or have the patience to handle children. But God has a place for each of us that fits perfectly into his plan. We’re all needed to serve on God’s team – he isn’t interested in any of his children being bench warmers.

In 1 Samuel 16:1-13, God directed Samuel to go to the house of Jesse of Bethlehem to anoint the next king of Israel. Samuel asked Jesse to bring his sons before him. Jesse first brought his oldest son, Eliab, and Samuel thought that he was surely God’s anointed. But God rejected him and said in 1 Samuel 16:7b, “‘The Lord does not look at the things people look at. People look at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.’” Every time Jesse brought another son in front of Samuel, God told Samuel that he wasn’t the one. Jesse brought ten sons to Samuel.

Finally, the only son left was the youngest one, David, who was tending Jesse’s sheep. Samuel told Jesse to send for David. When David arrived, God said to Samuel in 1 Samuel 16:12b, “Rise and anoint him; this is the one.” David, who was probably the smallest and least experienced of Jesse’s sons, was to be Israel’s next king.

Jeremiah 29:11 states, “‘For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.’”

God has already chosen you and he has plans for your life. We just might not see them. We might be like David – the smallest and least experienced or consider ourselves unqualified, but God looks at our hearts. The onus is on us to discover what those plans are. So, how do we do that?

Read and meditate on God’s word. (See Joshua 1:8.)
Seek the counsel of mature fellow believers. (See Proverbs 11:14 and Proverbs 27:17.)
Ask God. (See Matthew 7:7-8 and James 4:2c.)
Listen to God while serving him. (See Matthew 25:14-30.)

Sometimes we’re chosen, like I was by the random number generator or similar that Ander probably uses to select the winners for his free trips. Other times, we have to discover what specific mission or task God has for us. But the key is to always be willing to go.