As many youngsters in northern Wisconsin do, I liked to fish pan fish off the end of a dock. Just a cane pole, some worms and a bobber. The blue gills and perch would school around the bait and you could see them four or five feet down in the clear water. You could even try to move the bait over in front of one of the larger fish. But the small ones were very aggressive and would often dive right at the bait and be hooked. If I pulled up right away on the pole, the fish would be hooked in the mouth and it was easy to hold the fish and back the hook out. Then I would often throw the fish back in the lake. If the fish was very hungry; or I was a little late in tugging up the pole, they would swallow the bait and the hook. Now they were done for. To get the hook out meant to pull it back out and this would kill the fish. Another thing I noticed was that I could catch the same fish several times if it had just been hooked in the mouth and released.

Now and then a big bass would swim in slowly. Come right up to the bait and then swim away. Occasionally they would bite but usually went after some live bait like a frog or plug being cast out and reeled in past them. Then they would strike with force and put up a huge fight.

There was a longtime Doctor in Hayward that had taken out hundreds of fishing lures from various parts of fishermen’s bodies. They are mounted on a board in the National Fishing Hall of Fame in Hayward. In each case he pushed the hook through the skin and then snipped off the barb so he could then back the hook out the hole without further ripping up the flesh.

How like Satan and temptations of the flesh. He places the bait out there and it looks enticing and good and indviduals gather around and try it. Most only get hooked in the mouth and wriggle free or are released. But some swallow the bait and become addicted and often die as a result. Some get hooked bad and God, the great Physician has to push the hook through and snip off the barb to free us from the bondage. How good it is when we follow our parents warnings about dangers in life and go to church and learn how to look to God for help. Then we can be like the big bass, that swims up, sees the danger and swims away.

For you see, in so many of the temptations in life, the barb is hidden and we don’t realize how hard it is to get rid of the hook We end up hooked for good unless we seek God and his help in getting rid of the barb. Don’t be fooled into thinking you will just be released. Satan is a very good fisherman and he likes to keep what he can catch.

Have fun fishing and remember this story, it may save you from getting hooked some day and finding the barb so hard to dislodge in your life.