[Chorus]
Keep your lure in the water, don't just sit by the shore
There are souls to be caught everywhere in this old world
Go where hearts are plenty, don't just drift with the tide
Keep your lure in the water, in the waters of life
[Verse 1]
The lord said, "Simon, haul your nets in
From now on you're a fisher of men"
Well, I like fishin',
That's why it caught my ear
The Lord knew how to get to me
And what I'd need to hear
[Chorus]
Keep your lure in the water, don't just sit by the shore
There are souls to be caught everywhere in this old world
Go where hearts are plenty, don't just drift with the tide
Keep your lure in the water, in the waters of life
[Verse 2]
When the sea is troubled and it's hard to stay afloat
And you feel like Jesus is sleeping in the boat
Don't you dare give up on the Prince of Peace
And in the middle of the storm
You will find a sweet release
[Chorus]
Keep your lure in the water, don't just sit by the shore
There are souls to be caught everywhere in this old world
Go where hearts are plenty, don't just drift with the tide
Keep your lure in the water, in the waters of life
[Verse 3]
Yeah keep your lure in the water, in the waters of life
Keep Your Lure In The Water
Song Meaning
Randy Travis leans entirely on his own hobby for the metaphor in "Keep Your Lure In The Water," turning fishing advice into evangelism advice without forcing the comparison — "there are souls to be caught everywhere in this old world... go where hearts are plenty, don't just drift with the tide." The song stays inside fishing vocabulary throughout rather than switching to more conventional spiritual language.
"The Lord said, 'Simon, haul your nets in, from now on you're a fisher of men'... well, I like fishin', that's why it caught my ear" admits plainly that the specific wording of Jesus' call is what made it personally resonate, not a more abstract sense of calling. "The Lord knew how to get to me and what I'd need to hear" treats that specificity as intentional rather than coincidental.
"When the sea is troubled and it's hard to stay afloat, and you feel like Jesus is sleeping in the boat" pulls in the storm-calming account directly, applying the disciples' own moment of doubt to anyone currently struggling to keep at the work the song is encouraging.