Steelhead Fishing

When I was 12 years old our family moved from city life to ranch life. It was a radical change of life and scenery. Our ranch was located in the town of Gilroy in the foothills below Mount Madonna. There were creeks and small lakes around us.

I bought a fishing pole and began exploring the territories around us. Of course those creeks and small lakes were on private property, which meant I had to be stealthy as I spied out the land. One day I discovered an amazing fishing hole. It was on a small creek that was fed by Uvas Creek, which fed into the San Lorenzo River, which emptied into the Pacific Ocean in Santa Cruz. I first discovered steelhead fish in this creek. Steelheads are like salmon. After they are hatched they make their way to the ocean and grow very large. An average-size steelhead is around 6 to 11 pounds, but some get up to over 40 pounds. Unlike salmon, they don’t die when they return to their place of birth.

One day I dug up some worms, grabbed my fishing pole, and headed out to explore. I followed a creek looking for fishing holes. At some point I heard a loud noise coming from a section of the creek. I headed in that direction to see what it was. It turned out to be a beautiful waterfall about 20 feet from top to bottom. The bottom of the waterfall looked like a prime place to find fish. I climbed down some ledges and finagled my way below the waterfall.

I baited my hook with a worm and cast out under the waterfall. Instantly I got a hit! The fish didn’t feel like any of the small bluegill or small trout I was used to catching. This fish took off and wouldn’t stop until it broke my line. I was stunned! I put a new hook on the line, baited up, and cast to the same spot. Once again I got a hit immediately, and once again the large fish ran down the creek until it broke my line. I was able to get a good look at the fish before they broke my line. They looked like the largest trout I had ever seen in my life. Now I was on a mission, but first I had to find out what those big fish were. I did some research and discovered they were steelhead. I talked to some experienced steelhead fishermen. They told me you have to let steelhead run or they will break your line every time. I had to learn how to set the drag on my reel so I could let the fish run but keep steady pressure on it. I hooked and lost several more steelhead. My impatience was working against me.

One day I hooked into a good one and the fight was on. I let the fish run. I was able to slowly reel the fish toward me, but as soon as the fish caught sight of me it ran again. This happened three or four times until I was finally able to bring the steelhead in. It was an eight-pound beauty! I was very proud of myself.

Now you are probably wondering what steelhead fishing has to do with anything. Steelheads are a lot like people who are running from God. If you come on too strong, they run. If you put too much pressure on them, they might break their line of communication with you. There are a lot of steelhead types of people out there. I have a list of people in my prayer journal that don’t know Jesus. I use my steelhead tactics on them because some of them have run, but so far none of them have broken off communication with me.

I wonder how many of you have attempted to share Jesus or your salvation story with someone only to have them bolt? Timing is everything. Your intentions are good, but as far as they are concerned, you’re fishing out of season. Don’t give up on them even if it seems they are far away from God. They might be on their third or fourth run, but it’s only a matter of time before God’s love begins to wear them down. Keep the drag loose and keep reeling because at some point the Holy Spirit will bring them in.

“Come, follow me,” Jesus said, “and I will send you out to fish for people.” (NIV)

Keep fishing,
Steve