Stewart Venable
March is a great time to be on the water. The fish are biting, and the weather is usually on a solid uptrend. Each year, without fail, this is the time I start hearing the phrase “me too.” Who might that be? My wife, of course. Once the temps are nice and warm in the afternoons, she is ready to come out of hibernation and join me on the water.
The first time this happened I was a bit shocked. She showed no interest in “getting hot, sitting around forever and smelling like fish.” I asked her why she wanted to join me all of the sudden. After her explanation, I came to realize there was nothing “all of the sudden” about her desire to join me. She didn’t understand what fishing was all about. She only knew the few things I had told her about my outings. The events were usually summarized something like, “We left at 4 a.m., caught four fish and now I’m home.” No wonder she didn’t understand, I wasn’t communicating the true allure in terms she would appreciate.
Things changed once I talked her through the reason why I NEED so many different rods and reels, had seemingly infinite colors and sizes of lures and discussed the all-important mystery of why all the soft plastics smell yucky. I found that she was now interested and that I was actually excited about her coming along. The only thing left was to make it happen.
I fully expected the alarm clock to mark the beginning, and end, of her trip. She had coffee ready when I woke up. After the first tangled backlash, I knew it’d be time for tanning. But she picked up another rod and kept on casting. I just knew that once she had to hold a squirmy, slimy, and let’s not forget smelly fish that she would finally call it quits. Once again, she had remembered all of my necessary gear, complimented me on my preparedness, and pulled out a pair of fish grips. I couldn’t wait to get home, not because I didn’t have fun, but because—as has become a tradition—she outfished me.
The moral of this is simple. Gentleman, do not think your significant other doesn’t want to go fishing with you. It may be that you’ve never communicated how much fun it can be. And ladies, if you want to go, or just wonder why your house smells like oily plastic and greasy shad, realize that he might not have picked up on your signals and interest in the sport. Thanks to a little communication, my wife knows why I NEED more new tackle. I also get to enjoy my two favorite things at the same time… fishing, and taking pictures of my wife’s fish, which are usually larger than mine. Turns out I’m the co-angler.
Stewart Venable is on the Jackson Kayak and XX21 fishing teams, he is a pro-staffer for Bass Crazy, Pond Pro Kayaking, Dobyns Rods, YakAttack, Bending Branches, Ram Mounting Systems and Orion Coolers. He can be reached at (704) 307-9427.
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