“Twin Bridges, One Leaky Legend, and Catch of the Day” 

This ballad was cooked up under Lake Waco’s twin bridges,
live from the leaky deck of the USS Sassy.
Credit goes to Owen, Wilder, Dazy, and Rick.
Names, lakes, timestamps, and the “super‑secret bait”
have been altered to protect the not‑so‑innocent… here goes.

Fog on the water, we cast again,

From the USS Sassy, 1984 14‑ft center‑console beauty.

She leaks like a WikiLeaks dump in the dead of night,

rides low in the stern,

But she’s too dang stubborn to ever overturn.

                                

DazyDoodle sniffin’ high, doin’ the spin,

Golden doodle FBI… still can’t find her own tail again.

Super‑secret TightLine bait, don’t tell a soul!

(It’s just cheap chicken Walmart weiners in a Tupperware bowl).

Dug “THE” catfish lurkin’ down below,

Older than Rick’s truck and twice as slow.

He smirks at our lines, rolls his whiskers and grins,

“Y’all still here? Bless your hearts... nice try my, TightLine friends.”

AI GENERATED (cause i figured it out!)

Owen and Wilder, wild as loose kites,

One casts for the moon; one tangles with night.

Future of TightLine, already legends in play,

When you fish for what’s good, life serves a “catch of the day.”

I told the captive group, my distant‑distant cousin Kurt Cobain once almost claimed,

“They laugh at me because I’m different.

I laugh at them ’cause they’re all the same.”

Owen and Wilder paused, heads tilted like baby philosophers,

trying to decide if Kurt meant the catfish… or them.

ALSO - AI GENERATED (again, cause i figured it out!)

Out of nowhere, Rick broke the silence with his latest conviction:

the Adult Drink of TightLine Catfishing

is headed toward Ensure ... strawberry and chocolate edition,

a blend he claims jump‑starts early mornings

and excuses questionable decisions.

Lake Waco whispers, “Stay one more hour.”

Lake Belton answers, “Bring strong bug spray power.”

Mosquitoes buzzing like jets on trim,

We fight ’em off with a cooler of Slim Jims.

It ain’t glitter boats, it ain’t fancy bling,

It’s the USS Sassy, leakin’ like a screen door in a hurricane.

Rick, me, two grandsons, one doodle with the zoomies,
a running prayer drifting over the water:
“Lord, don’t let us be the news at six, please.”
And Coach Lou Holtz whispers from above... 
do right, do your best, show folks you care.
So we try… in our own TightLine way,
with chicken weiners, a leaky boat,
and enough bug spray to fog the whole bay.

MY DAD and a CATFISH ROCK-GREATNESS (somewhat true) story

My dad was telling me about the time his distant cousin Jimi H. and distant cousin (from the other side of the fam) Janis J. went fishing together. According to him, it was one of those excellent mornings where Lake Waco was calm and there was no way they shouldn’t catch catfish...

For some weird reason, a few hours into NOTHING, Jimi was staring at the water just mesmerized when he finally said, “Knowledge speaks, but wisdom listens.”

Dad said he wasn’t being deep; he was actually talking about catfishing.

“Knowledge” was Jimi explaining for the tenth time why his super-secret dough bait should work.

“Wisdom” was the catfish ignoring him completely.

Janis didn’t even look up. She just flicked her tightline and said, “The more you live, the less you die.”

Dad said she meant keep your tightline in the water long enough and eventually something happens. Or it doesn’t. Either way, you’re still alive and the catfish are still laughing.

After a long stretch of nothing, Jimi asked, “Janis, you think there’s catfishing in heaven?”

Janis shrugged. “No idea. But whichever one of us goes first must come back and let the other know.”

A few weeks later, Jimi died (Sep 1970).

Dad said one quiet morning, a few weeks later, he and Janis were back on Lake Waco alone, because that’s how these stories work, and she heard a whisper drift across the water:

“Janis… it’s me. Jimi. I got some good news and not so good news”

She didn’t even flinch. “So? They got catfishing up there?”

“Oh yeah, tournaments every morning!” Jimi said. “Perfect weather. Clear water. Catfish practically volunteering to jump in your boat.”

Janis nodded. “What’s the bad news?”

Jimi sighed.

“You’re scheduled to fish in the tournament tomorrow morning…” (Oct 1970)

BONUS: Here's my grandson hitting a homerun! - (20+) Facebook

 

TightLine Catfishing Thanks - Jimmy and Janet

After 1,736 Sundays — more than 33 years — of faithful service at Church Under the Bridge in Waco, Jimmy and Janet have announced their retirement as leaders, effective the week after Easter. What began in 1993 as a breakfast meal and Bible study with six homeless men and women under the I-35 bridge became a congregation of more than 225 friends: Black, white, and brown; rich and poor; educated in the streets and in the university — all serving the same God who created us all.

Through funerals, weddings, letters to prisoners, meals, softball games, songs, baptisms, and more hugs than we can count, Jimmy and Janet have walked alongside the poor and marginalized, and those whose wealth and privilege needed reorienting toward the kingdom of God. Their leadership has been a living sermon of grace, grit, and gospel.

A Personal Note from TightLine

Jimmy is a great friend and tennis buddy from way back, I was blessed to work with his family on the tennis courts for many years, and I got my start with TightLine Catfish donations through him and CUB - Church Under the Bridge. His encouragement and example helped shape our ministry’s heart for feeding and fellowship. 

The Tightline Crew: Rick, Dazy and I honor their legacy and celebrate their next chapter: more global trips to serve the poor and unreached in Haiti, Mexico City, and South Asia; continued teaching at Baylor, Truett Seminary, and local churches; and loving on their 12 grandchildren!

Here are few pictures from this past Sunday at Church Under the Bridge

The size of the congregation varies each weekend, 

but usually there are about 100 to 150 people.

 

Baylor students helped with a Health Fair, which brought out a few extra attendees.

Our line stretched far under the bridge—TightLine Catfish served about 150 plates.

Roughly 560 pieces of TightLine catfish hit the fryers under Interstate 35, 

Kyle, Liz, and Bill were slinging plates so fast the bridge shook more than the traffic!

What a GREAT crew of servers: Leni, Alex, Wil, Harper, and Wilder, backed by 

GREAT FRIENDS…Eddie, Bill, Kyle, and Liz, 

who somehow made serving under Interstate 35 feel like home.

Rick getting some TightLine hugs from Alex

WE ARE SO BLESSED!