ROCKWALL, TX (September 29, 2014) David Routh, a longtime North Texan and avid fisherman, won first place in the National Junior Division for Bluegill in both 1958 and 1960; wins that secured a mention in Field and Stream. Yet, even with all those accolades, his most unique trophy came not from a tournament, but from a fish itself. It wasn’t like Jesus pulling a coin out of a fish’s mouth to pay taxes, but it was awful close.
While trolling onLakeLavonin 1959, Mr. Routh hauled in five lunker bass. Now, we‘ve all heard fish tales, and some folks swear fishermen are fibbers; professor William Sherwood Fox once quipped:
We ask a simple question
And that is all we wish:
Are fishermen all liars?
Or do only liars fish?
But fishermen lie in relation to the size of their catch. Mr. Routh never once mentioned length or weight of any of his bucketmouths; in fact, he didn’t seem to care. He described only what he found inside one. As they cleaned the catch, he and his brother spotted something shiny, a flash of gold.
The only gold I can imagine resting on lakebeds would be the symbols of love and success. There’s no telling how many wedding and class rings are mired along the bottom of bodies of water. Tons of happily married men who love the outdoors have experienced that sinking feeling when the water temperature shrinks your fingers and the ring that could only be sawed off, slips right over the knuckle, careening into the deep. It nearly happened to me as I paddled the Spring River in Arkansas just a mere month after I said, “I do.” The ice-cold constricted my hands while I helped folks right their boat, and my token of eternal promise dangled on the tip of my fingernail.
I’m sure there are tons of old guys who’ve considered heading out to the drought-stricken dry beds of Lavon, to search for their sunken mementoes. Men like Jerry Rogers, who in 1956, strolled along the dam and fell in the depths, his new class ring slipping right off. Who’d blame Jerry if he swiped a metal detector around to find his lost treasure?
Unless a fish found it.
See, Jerry Rogers knew both David Routh and his brother Larry, even went to Garland High with the latter. So as the Routh brothers peered into the entrails of that bass, they realized the gold was a ring. In fact, it was aGarlandHigh Schoolclass ring from 1956 with the initials “J.R.R.” carved in the side. They dove into the yearbook and Jerry smiled from the page, his plunge surfacing in their memories—after three years his ring was returned, by a fish!
Catching fish is a fun thing, but when I read about Jesus and the coin, he doesn’t seem all that excited; probably because the money was going to taxes. Which makes me wonder if Mr. Routh’s fish was just the Good Lord’s way of finally having fun with a catch. I mean, what could be more exciting? You catch a fish, find a ring, and realize it was your buddy’s? That’s a story only the heavens can tell, and there ain’t no lying there.
By Blue Ribbon News guest columnist Scott Gill of Rockwall, a teacher, coach and author of Goliath Catfish. Follow Scott’s blog at scotttgill.tumblr.com and read all of his “Front Porch Ramblings” at BlueRibbonNews.com.
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