"As far back as I can remember I’ve
always loved to fish"
When i was 5 years old I would be content to fish
for hours as long as dad put a worm on the hook once in a while. Many years have past since my childhood but time
did not diminish my zeal for fishing. One day I found myself fishing
Lake Ontario tributaries for spawning salmonoids. This was a new experience for me and I found the challenge of
trying to land 20-30 lb. king salmon alot of fun. The more I fished up north the more I heard about steelhead (sea
run or lake run rainbow trout that grow to large sizes). I learned that many experienced steelhead anglers consider a successful
day just catching a steelhead and many fishermen have spent years without catching a steelhead.
I soon became determined to catch a steelhead and set dates to head north when the fish were in the river. I learned first
hand just how difficult these fish were to catch. Two trips of fishing from dawn to dusk produced not even hooking one of
these fish. I planned a 3 day trip in late October, the first two days produced
nothing, but at the end of the second day, I found a pool that was holding steelhead, so I planned to be there first thing
in the morning. It was still dark when I arrived at the river. After 20 minutes, another fisherman approached and asked if
I minded if he fished the pool also. Not minding, I said, "sure", and he started fishing about 10 feet downstream.
I was surprised that he quickly hooked a steelhead and played the fish down river. He came back and hooked another fish. I
soon lost count of how many fish he hooked. I hooked on the same type of fly as he had on but nothing worked. I simply couldn't
hook up with a fish. Seeing my frustration, he came over and gave me some
pointers. He told me a large run of steelhead were in the river and that I needed to use a longer, lighter leader and change
my drift. Doing what he suggested, it didn't take long before a large steelhead took the fly and raced down stream. After
a twenty five minute battle I landed a 13 1/2 pound steelhead - a real trophy.
BUT
THAT WASN'T MY CATCH OF A LIFETIME...
I was working as a mail handler
moving sacks of mail from tractor trailers. One night I was taken back when a driver named Tom asked me if I felt I was going
to heaven. I thought for a minute, being a regular church attender and what most people would think of as a nice guy, and
said, "probably." We got together a short time later and Tom shared
from the Bible that no one deserves heaven by being what they feel is a good person. The Bible says that there is no one good,
no, not one (Romans 3:10) and that all have sinned and fallen short (Romans 3:23).
JUST
LIKE FISHING FOR STEELHEAD, I THOUGHT MY METHOD WAS RIGHT, BUT I WAS WRONG.
Jesus said "The only way to the Father is through Me" (John 14:6). Most people know Jesus died on the cross for
sin, but they fail to realize that He died for their sin. The Bible says that the wages of sin is death (hell) but the free
gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ (Romans 6:23). Even if people think we're good we still need Christ,
without Him we are doomed to hell, which the Bible describes as the lake of fire and eternal torment (Revelation 20:10). It doesn't matter how bad or how good you think you've been, Christ loves
you and His death on the cross is sufficient to cover your sins. All you need to do is let Him into your life. Christ says,
"Behold, I stand before the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in" (Revelation
3:20). That door is your heart. Don't be like I was and feel that you
are good enough to get into heaven or let pride get in the way. Life is short, the Bible says that it is like a vapor that
soon passes away (James 4:14). Everything we possess on earth, we will leave behind when we die. Jesus said, "What good
is it for a man to gain the whole world, yet forfeit his soul" (Mark 8:36).
IF YOU FEEL THERE IS SOMETHING MISSING IN YOUR LIFE...
...remember that
Christ can change your life. All you need to do is give Him the opportunity.
You can ask Him to come into your life right where you are now. All it takes is a simple prayer like, "Jesus, I know
I don't deserve to go to heaven and that I'm a sinner. I accept what You did on the cross for payment of my sins.
Please come into my life." But don't stop there. Jesus said, "Take up your cross and follow Me" (Matthew
16:24).
HERE ARE THREE THINGS THAT CAN HELP YOU FOLLOW HIM:
1. Get a Bible and
start to read it. 2. Find a church where the Bible is taught as the infallible
Word of God and attend regularly. 3. Pray daily. Find a time that you can
spend in prayer every day. Committing to these 3 things will help you grow
as a Christian. I can now
catch steelhead on a regular basis, but this has taken committment to practice different techniques and alot of reading on
these fish to learn about them. The more you read the Bible and pray, the
more you will learn about God. Please consider this - if you forget me and
this tract you've lost nothing, but if you forget Christ, you've lost everything.
Bob Delonas
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| 20 lb salmon river steelie |
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| Delaware river walleye |

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| Delaware river winter walleye |

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| Delaware smallie |

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| Delaware stringer winter eyes |

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Weekly report 01/27/12 Fished the Delaware yesterday with cold rain and 32 degree air temp. Just when
we had enough misery and were ready to give it up, the bite started, about 4:30 pm. The walleyes went on the feed for about
an hour and we ended up landing 6 walleyes and one 2 pound river chub and lost a few at the boat. The shinners under
the floats is what they wanted, tryed jigs and shinners on the bottom with out a hit. The little stream by my house is
flowing high with this rain, the Delaware river will come up and schould bring the fish close to the bank. Warm weather
is predicted this week and I would stay off the ice on the lakes and bank fish the Delaware with jigs and shinners. Another
consideration, the salt water fishing is very good for Tog, Cod and Ling, many the party boats are reporting limit catches. 01/20/12
Fished the Delaware on Tuesday, broke through about 6 feet of ice on the bank and launched the boat. I had 15 takes using
shinners and 5 solid hook ups, landed 3 Walleyes the largest 22 inches. Lost a large fish ? also, I was using river
floats and will use that as the reason for so many missed fish. The shinner fished under the floats were all they wanted.
Got some other reports of some nice Walleyes coming from the river. Heard some fisherman on the ice but be careful
you need at least 4 inches, warm up predicted end of next week and I dont know what that will do to the ice. There is
still a lot of time for a good freeze up. 01/13/12 I made two trips on the Delaware this week and landed one 15
inch Smallie. I got other reports of a slow pick of Walleyes between 16 and 19 inches. The cold snap this week schould move
some Walleyes in thier more usual Winter holding areas. My hope is the river will stay open and we can fish for
them. If the weatherman is correct thier schould be some safe ice on the smaller lakes and ponds by next week end. The ocean
was fishing very well prior to this storm and it is a wait and see if the storm and the cold put a halt to that. Even
if the river and the ocean shuts down it was a consistent fishery since the end of September. This was probally the longest
run of steady puting fish in the boat that I can remember. Thank you Lord for the great Fall early Winter fishing. 01/06/12
Had a slow pick of Walleye from 3 to 6 pm today. Managed to put 6 fish in the boat up to 19 inches. The fish were holding
close to the bottom and were caught on shinners that were jiged and fished on floats. The Delaware is still a little cloudy
which may be why walleyes seem to be the predominent fish being caught. Got reports of a large pod of Stripers about half
way between the Hook and Cape May. These fish are large and on the feed.12/31/11 Happy New Year. The flu and work have kept
my outdoor adventures to walking the dog, but did get some reports and have checked accu weather. Cold blast on the way will
hit Monday and last to Thursday with windy conditions. Smaller Lakes and ponds may freeze but long range says warm
weather next weekend that may put a kibash on any ice fishing. The Delaware schould stay open and Tommorow
and next week end would be the best days. The Delaware has been consistent except when the water has gotten muddy and I believe
it will stay that way to it Freezes if that happens. Windy conditions this week put a damper on the salt water, so that is
a wait and see . I plan on fishing the Delaware tommorow for either Smallies or Walleye . Happy New Year once again ,
if you made the resolution to fish more this year good for you. More important though is make the resolution to have a better
relationship with Jesus Christ . May you be blessed this new year and thanks for reading this web sight.
LINKS
Salt water Reports
Lackawaxen Water Flow
Flatbrook/Sussex Co report
East Branch Water flow
West branch water flow
NPS site Delaware river info and map upper river
Pennsylvania Sportsmen Portal
Wayne county N.Y. fishing report
weather information
salmon river reports
Do you want to know more about a personal relationship with Jesus Christ?
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