someone mentioned being taught by good fishermen how to ketch fish ....
this reminded me of a man i met as a lil boy ...
it was the typical summer day and i was maybe 12 or 13 . i went everyday ketchn as a kid , if it rained we would ketch worms instead .well i walked all over the place and was blessed to be within a couple of miles of 2 or 3 streams and 2 or 3 lakes plus a pond or 2 . you cant quite imagine how many days i spent by myself ketchn . now as most of you know i am the chatty type that strikes up conversation with strangers . this can be a good thing and then it can be a bad thing , but sometimes its a fruitful conversation full of ketchn info.
this particular day one of my favorite spots was taken

it was quite a walk to the next spot so i walked up sat down and began to chat with this man in a lawn chair . the spot was under a very small bridge that had ONLY room for one person , the creek was small and the water under the bridge was deep and held tons of fish .
as we chatted i watched him throw his bait way under this bridge that was only about 3 foot off the water . he would tighten up his line and just hold it in his finger and concentrate .
he wouldnt even "look" over at me and just chatted while holding that line in his finger . well he was ketchn folks , i watched him ketch 3 different fish in just a few minutes and man it was killin me , the good news is he would just hold them a bit and chat with me about the size and species and general health of the fish before releasing them . pick up his bait ,put more on the hook and toss it back under the bridge .

after 15 minutes or so i made a comment about a beautful green heron an the bank not far from us . he never looked up and asked several questions about the bird . i thought WOW thats concentration on steroids , this guy wont even look away to see the bird . wish i was that focused .
well i made a stupid comment about why dont you just take a second to look over there sir , its right on the bank across from us ......?
he started to chuckle quite a bit and i just didnt get it . then he says son i am blind as a bat , i cant see nothing!!
i am blind !
i said excuse me sir ?

anyway i was totally caught up in this comment , and we began to chat quite a bit more .....i am the fifty questions guy ya know
i asked how could a blind person git down there , he explained his daughter drove him there and set him up in his chair
i asked how could he tell what he was ketchn ?
he said didnt you notice how i fealt the fish with both hands from one end to the other ?
i asked how can you cast like that without seeing ?
he said i fished under this bridge for years son and i know excatly whre it is and where to cast.
i thought he was pullin my leg at first , he was a ketchn like a pro and showed not a single hint of his disability

then i said how do you know when you git a bite ?
well he went on to school me in the very fine art of holding the line properly in ones fingers to feel the bite ....
this was just about one the kewlest of ketcherz i ever met folks ....
WOW could he ketch em ....
i think in 30 minutes or so of chattin he caught more fish under that bridge than i thunk it ever held .
the moral of this story yawl .....
never think you cant learn something from another ketchn person
even a blind man kan ketch fish well if he is tuned into the fish and his equipment !!!

YEP, YEP,...thats a fact....Ketchn, my friend, you are a 90 questions type guy in a 20 questions room...just saying...great story...I learned how to finger the line, from legally blind man (he could barely see.) while crappie fishing on a barge below Lake Wright Patman, as a 14 yo kid....he was slaying them crappie...and axing me to help him put minnows on his hook...

Great stuff. That's a heck of a way to learn.

Another great post Ketchn. Keep em comin. I guess when u lose one scence, u gain in another. That gentleman could probably tell what kinda fish it was before he got it up on the bank! Great story as always.

Nice. In my life I've found us solo young boys seem to receive great people that God puts in our path to prepare us for life and solid grounding.I call this type of event "A Reference Point"

Yes Sir!

Good story Ketchn

the moral of this story yawl .....
never think you cant learn something from another ketchn person!
The real moral of the story is some people never let minor or major things keep them from doing the things they love,ie living life to the fullest.While others look for any simple reason to get out of doing anything,for any reason.

Good story

+1