CTF name: P.W. Real name: Walt Mayhew Age: 51 Current City: Derby, CT Hometown: Derby, CT Family members: Wife – Linda, 5 children Jenny married to Ryan (ME_FISHERMAN), Krista married to Mark, Garrett engaged to Genevieve, Joe (17) Jr. at Derby High, Josh (15) Freshman Eli Whitney, Dog – Nicodemus, Cats – Beeper, Judah, Phoebe and the whole clan of brother & sisters in-Christ at Christian Community Church. Occupation: Bi-Vocational Pastor and Computer programmer
1. You just became a grand dad for the first time! Congratulations. Tell us about that experience. It’s our first so it’s a totally new experience. It’s been absolutely as wonderful as a few of our friends who have entered this chapter of their lives have told us it would be. Life is such a precious gift from God, which makes seeing the family line passed on such a real blessing. It’s pretty overwhelming and my Mom is still alive so we have four generation pictures to take. We’re looking forward to being a big part of Kayla’s life and are so thankful all our kids have chosen to stay in the area upon getting married.
Gramma & Pappy with Kayla & Mommy.
2. You have a large family. Tell us a little bit about all of them. My wife Linda and I just celebrated our 33rd wedding anniversary. We’re high school sweethearts. We began dating our Junior year. Linda works as the head of the Infant / Toddler room at the church’s childcare ministry (Noah’s Ark Early Learning Center.) Our oldest are twin daughters Jenny & Krista. Jenny is married (5 years) to Ryan (ME_FISHERMAN) they own a home in Derby. Jenny is a head teacher for pre-schoolers at Noah’s Ark. Ryan’s a math teacher at Derby High. Krista is married to Mark (2 years). She is also a head teacher for pre-schoolers at Noah’s Ark. Both girls graduated from Philadelphia Biblical University in Langhorne, PA with BA’s in Early Childhood. The childcare ministry serves approximately 50 children, has 10 employees, four of which are my 4 favorite ladies. My Mom at 75 is the fourth. She is the Director.
Krista and Mark just bought their first house in Ansonia. Mark is a Computer Network Engineer maintaining and servicing the networks in most of the hospitals across CT. Garrett is about to graduate from UConn with a degree in Electrical Engineering. He is engaged to Genevieve who graduated this spring with a BS in Nursing. She is an RN at Griffin. Their wedding date is Feb 10 2008. They went to high school together but didn’t date until their Junior year at Uconn. That’s it for our natural children.
We adopted Joe and Josh out of CT’s foster care system 7 years ago. Joe is 17 and a Junior at Derby High. He loves to read and is taking all honors course this year, hoping to go to college, maybe majoring in Mechanical Engineering. Josh is 14. He is very good a working on projects with Dad and knows nearly all the tools. He will begin his Freshman year this fall at Eli Whitney and hopes to enter a trade when he graduates.
Christmas 2006. From left to right. Back row: Mark, Garrett, Josh, Joe, Ryan. Middle Row: Krista, Genevieve, Jenny. Front Row: Walt and Linda.
3. You’re relatively new to the fishing addiction. How did you get into fishing? My son-in-law Ryan (ME_FISHERMAN) got me started about 3 years ago. Our family has an old-fashioned big dinner after church at our house each Sunday and usually all the kids come. One day over dinner he invited me to go fishing. He had a little aluminum boat at the time I think with just oars. I’ve never fished before but figure it would be a good bonding experience, so I say sure. About ten minutes passes and he says “I meant in your boat. We could go out on the sound.” At the time I had (and still do have) an 18’ bowrider along with my newly acquired 17’ Javelin bass boat. Well after we talked about it we decided to go and each bring a friend. I just drove the boat. I never even wet a line. But it was such a gorgeous day that day and it was so relaxing to be out on the water I was hooked! I bought a cheap Quantum combo, went in partners on the aluminum helping to upgrade it with a trolling motor, trailer, and outboard and we began fishing together. It’s been a huge blessing for me in so many ways. It’s allowed me to have a close relationship with Ryan and with the crazy dual job schedule I keep the relaxation is an absolute necessity, so much so that my wife really guards my Saturday fishing time because of the difference it makes.
Lake Ontario King Salmon Fishing June 2007
4. Balancing God, family, work and fishing can tough. Do you have any tips for people in managing their daily lives? In my life when God stays in His rightful position of coming 1st like in talking to Him daily, even continually sometimes, it just makes things just go so much better. Even the bumps in the road and the difficulties of life are so much more easily endured. From a task oriented point of view I’m probably not the best person to answer this question as I am continually double booking and forgetting things as just about anyone who knows me well would testify to. For me, e-mail and OUTLOOK are a REAL blessing. Email allows me to communicate when I have time and to get friendly reminders from people about things I need to do to put into my schedule on OUTLOOK. Once a task makes it to the calendar, there’s a real good chance I get it done. The people at the church laugh at it but they know as soon as a conversation is done I’m going to say “Can you email me a reminder about that.”
My first striper caught off the West Haven pier. 13# 2 oz. 32”
5. What’s the most powerful experience you’ve had with God acting in you life? The healing God’s provided on a number of occasions in response to prayer. Prayer is such a powerful tool that God has given us. Through it we have access to the power of the all-mighty creator and sustainer of our universe. I wish more people understood that and as a result prayed. In response to prayer I’ve seen water on the brain disappear in the head of an infant. I’ve seen excruciating back pain evaporate in an instant. I’ve seen migraine headaches vanish without a trace. To me that’s pretty powerful.
6. What advice do you have for the guy who is unsure about the existence of God? Romans 1:18-20 tells us that God testifies to His existence through creation or nature and I think especially for those of us that enjoy the outdoors that testimony is pretty powerful. I find it nearly inconceivable that an outdoorsman would be a practicing atheist. Look at the cycles that occur in nature. Look at the plan that unfolds in the seasons. Look at the wonder of the evidence of design found in the human body. I know from our earliest of days we are taught it all happened according to the theory of evolution. Evolution requires things to happen randomly because where there is a design or a plan there must therefore be a designer or planner. So, for example, we are expected to be believe that the earth was placed in the precise orbit it has within the solar system, tilted exactly on the angle its axis is on and with the mean temperature it has so as to be the only planet in our solar system to support human life, all which by the way if changed to a relatively insignificant degree would make the planet uninhabitable for humans to be by chance. With all the precision and evidence of design in creation for me the Biblical account of an all-powerful creator is the best explanation. I think you need more faith to believe in the theory of evolution than to believe God did it.
Personal best LMB 4# 4oz. Nov 2005.
7. What is your favorite kind of fishing? I enjoy bass fishing the best and especially smallmouth bass. The fight is the best per pound I’ve ever experienced! I’ve done quite a bit of trout / salmon fishing of the trolling variety. After my first saltwater trip, courtesy of Fuzzy where all I did was throw up once we got to the spot, I discovering Bonine. Since then I’ve done a few saltwater trips and a Great Lakes trip. They were a lot of fun and I’ll take up people on invitations, but I don’t have the time or money to get into saltwater fishing on a regular basis. So I stick to fresh bass fishing. That’s plenty challenging to me!
8. Do you have a certain size or species fish you are chasing that you haven’t caught? Heck I’m still trying to meet the Blue Fox Avatar Challenge! I finally gave up on that buck-toothed baby when Blue Fox moved away. My biggest largemouth to date has been 4# 4oz and I caught my largest smallie (3# 4oz) on the trip we took together night fishing on Candlewood. I’d love to land one that would get me into the Lunker Club in Bassmaster magazine, but I think that will require a trip outside CT. I think the Bassmaster Lunker Club should be regionally adjusted but that’s another story. For in state bass fishing my lifetime goal is a 7# LMB and 5# SMB. Those would be outstanding catches here. If that were to happen I’d definitely get replicas made for the fireplace and family room.
9. Describe your dream fishing trip or destination. Being born in San Antonio Texas, when my parents were in the Air Force, I’d love to go down there for some great bass fishing and visit the Alamo. Two lakes I’d love to fish are Lake Fork and Amistad. It would be awesome to haul in loads of large bass for a couple days in a row. I think that’s a real possibility. Heck my wife’s already agreed to a FL trip with some guided fishing trips on some of the great lakes they have down there.
10. You made the decision to become a Pastor a little later in life than some might. Describe what made you make that transition in your life. Well, I gave my life to Jesus and committed to following Him as His modern-day disciples at 34, so my spiritual life had a late start. Prior to that I lived pretty much without any regard for God and His word, even though I was raised going to a Methodist church in Derby. Looking back I think it started when I responded to a message our pastor preached about Jesus making His disciples “Fishers of Men.” Based upon that and some follow up discussions I got more involved in serving in the church, entered into a private Bible study with the pastor and began to use my gifts, talents, abilities and resources to serve Jesus.
Then one morning I was praying in my office in the house and I clearly heard the Lord tell me that He wanted me to serve Him. I drove straight to the church and asked to see the Pastor telling Him, either I was going crazy or God just spoke to me. He said later I looked like I “had seen a ghost.” I really had no idea what was involved, but had a tremendous respect for my pastor and felt so unworthy and quite frankly still do. To be completely honest I was happy with my life and my first reaction was I wasn’t interested in changing it. I had my own business. We were living in our custom built dream house. Simply put life was good! So I resisted following His command for some time until God made it absolutely impossible through circumstances and experience both good and bad to resist any longer. At that point I left the computer industry as a full-time profession, sold the dream house we built in Bethany, moved my wife, three kids, dog and 4 cats more than 1500 miles away and leave everything we had and loved behind to attend seminary or as my kids referred to it at the time “cemetery.” It was a difficult decision and a tough four years trying to exist on my wife’s earnings and what I could earn and go to school full-time. But at every turn God provided and demonstrated His faithfulness to us. It was His faithfulness that gave us the strength and faith to see it through. He eventually brought us back home to minister in my hometown of Derby and everything we laid aside to follow Him He restored.
Trip to Maine in June 2007. Josh and Dad with 3# 13 oz bookends!
11. As a longtime CTF moderator, you’ve experienced a lot of the behind the scenes stuff involved in running the site. Do you have an interesting or funny moderating story you’d be willing to share? Probably the most interesting thing related to moderating and being “behind the scenes” is to get a first hand glance at what it really takes to provide CTF to its members. The number of people involved in moderating was surprising until I saw first hand the volume of complaints and other related actions that moderators handle, especially in the off season. I would have never expected such cabin fever accompanied by the absolutely insane, sometimes inhumane, cruel and disgusting comments and attitudes people have displayed during that time. It can get surreal. Thankfully all of that has really gotten toned down a lot since you changed to a paid board.
12. How do you think the paid, private CTF board is going? I love it. The people who are here now, value CTF. There’s something about having to put your money where your …. well you know the expression. There’s far less attitude and far more camaraderie. I couldn’t believe the backslash when you announced the decision publicly. If was as if you owed people and somehow it was their right to participate. I know from a moderator’s standpoint it has made the function sooooo much easier to carry out and I enjoy my time on the site a lot more now. I realize how much work you put into the site and even at the cost of subscription am very thankful to have CTF. I’ve learned a ton of fishing information on a variety of species, baits, techniques and behavior and much of it being region specific. You can’t get that in any magazine, publication video, etc. at any cost! Additionally, I’ve fished with some great guys, developed some wonderful relationships and made some valuable friendships
Officiating at my daughter Krista’s wedding. I preach in business casual, but had to spiff it up for this one.
12. Besides fishing, is there any activity or interest you have that might surprise someone, knowing you are a man of God? Most probably think of a Pastor as a “people person” so maybe being a 100% total “computer geek” might surprise some. I’ve been attracted to computers in just about every facet of their use and existence since I was a youngster. My Dad was a computer programmer. I’m an avoid computer gamer. Right now I’m playing Command and Conquer 3 and Battlefield 2142. I like the war strategy games and the sports games the best. I’ve been in the computer industry in one form or another for over 35 years. I took my first full-time job in the industry as a Jr. Computer Operator while I was a Senior at Derby High. I’ve worked as en employee of corporations, as a consultant and being self employed. I’ve done everything from large mainframes to PCs. I even owned my own business building, servicing and programming PCs, building and serving networks and developing web sites. I still build computers and develop web sites for friends and family as a hobby. By example, I just finished building a 64 bit dual CPU AMD machine for myself with 4 gb storage, 1.1 tetra bytes of hard disk storage and a 1 gb video card to go with a nice 17” flat panel monitor.
13. What sports teams do you enjoy watching? My favorite sport to watch is baseball and I’ve been a diehard Mets fan since their inception in 1962 as “Casey’s Clowns” as my Dad used to refer to them. Tom Seaver’s my all-time favorite Met with David Wright being my current Met favorite. My second favorite sport to watch is football and I’m a Jets fan, have been since their inception as the NY Titans and the good ol’ days of Joe Willie Namath, Matt Snell, Emerson Boozer (love that name) and Don Maynard.
From my brother’s season ticket seats on the Jet home 20 yard line.
15. Do you ever pray to God while fishing, “Oh Lord, please let me catch a fish”? Funny you should bring that up, I did exactly that just last week. I was fishing a tourney and was fishless and feeling really bad for my partner. He’s been Mr. Bass and is an excellent fisherman. I had fished with him last year in my club and cost us 1st place by not boating enough fish to go with his limit. I asked the Lord for just one fish so as to not get skunked. I lost two nice smallies, one right at the boat that probably would have been my PB SMB. But just about 30 minutes before it was over I did catch the one fish I asked for a nice 2+# SMB. We still finished 2nd, but without that fish would have finished out of the money and his efforts would have been for naught. I thanked the Lord immediately after the weigh in and gave the winnings to my partner minus my $20 entrance fee, of course. 8-)
16. What fishing lure or technique has caught you the most bass since you started fishing? What has caught you your biggest bass? I’ve caught more bass on a spider grub than any other bait. It’s a bait Chris from the site and Dave Dziob, my club partner I was talking about introduced me to. My biggest bass came on a Mizmo pumpkinseed tube from Tournament Force Tackle fishing with Chris on an infamous Lake X (he made me swear not to divulge the location).
17. What is your biggest fear in life? I don’t really have any fear because of my relationship with Christ. I know He loves me, more than I could ever understand. He has demonstrated His faithfulness to my in my life repeatedly. So I know I can trust Him to take care of me and guide me always. One of my life verses, which I use as a signature line on all my e-mails, is Proverbs 3:5-6 “Trust in the Lord with all you heart and lean not on your own understanding. In all of your ways acknowledge Him and He will make your paths straight.” That coupled with 1John 4:18 which says “perfect love drives out fear” are the truths that keep let me bring things to the Lord in prayer and keep fear at bay in my life.
18. Have you ever had to overcome any tragedies in your life? Probably the toughest tragedy was the untimely death of my Dad. I’m generally not a very emotional person and it’s been more than 10 years since his passing yet it still brings tears to my eyes every time I think of it. He was a diabetic and as a result had major heart problems beginning at age 52. He had already had two bypass operations by the age of 62 and was supposedly going in for a “routine” single artery bypass. He never made it out of the hospital. Just before my Dad passed away we came back to CT after graduating from seminary. I had initially planned on going to PA as a church planter and the church I now pastor asked me to come home and help with the ministry as a regular member while I worked as a computer consultant to pay off some bills we incurred while in school. As it turned out we lived with my Mom and Dad for the last three months of his life, while we work looking for a rent. I will be eternally grateful to the Lord for that as I along with my wife and kids got to spend a great deal of time with him and in a way make up for the lost time while I attended seminary out in the greater Chicago area.
A day at Shea watching the Mets play with Garrett, Krista, Josh and Joe.
19. Describe your dream family vacation (no fishing involved). I really enjoy the week we spend as a family together on Lake Winnipesaukee each year as a family. All the kids come up. We rent a house right across the street from the beach and docks of the association the owner belongs to. We have a great time cooking out, swimming, tubing, and oops fishing.
I guess outside of that I’d have to look forward to retirement. If I get a chance to retire my dream would be to sell my house, buy an RV drive around the country to stopping in every state to see the many beautiful sites and scenery this country has to offer. Some sites that quickly come to mind are places like Yellowstone, Mount Rushmore, etc.
Garrett and Dad from their annual Salmon trip on Winnipesaukee each August.
20. You meet a vegetarian, atheist PETA member who is against fishing. What do you say to make him see the light? What I would say would depend upon what their objection would be or the reason they were “anti”. If they were willing to share (and usually people are when you ask) I would do my best to provide an alternative point of view and to see if they are open it. I’m a firm believer in the bumper sticker approach which is “Minds, like parachutes work best when they are open.” That’s true whether it has to do with fishing, faith, or something else. In order to impart information, wisdom or knowledge, a person needs to be open to such. If not, I simply wish them a good day and move on. Life’s to short to spend one’s energy banging your head against the wall of a closed mind. This approach allows me to spend my time where it can be more productive and potentially accomplish something.
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