The Fly Fishing Wife

[Bahama Momma]

Can you own too many fly fishing magazines? My husband thinks you can. Since I have taken up fishing, the amount of "Women’s" magazines that enter into my household has dwindled to almost none. My husband used to read his Cowboy’s Weekly, front to back, and then move on to one of my magazines and look at the recipes and whatever else he may find interesting, to kill time while sitting …um...around.

He asked me the other day if I own any other magazines besides fishing magazines that he could read. I was shocked… "But honey, I just got the new Fly Rod & Reel issue two days ago…. That’s new reading material." He moaned and groaned for a while because he can’t escape the fact that I love to fish. Maybe he is jealous because football is only a few months out of the year, and fishing can be year-round, weather permitting. (And that weather permitting part, is MY opinion…if it is below freezing, I am not going!!)

I really don’t know what his problem is. He’s the one that insisted that I join him and take up the sport of fly fishing. But now that I love it and that I’m almost as good at it as he is, his tune is changing.

He and his buddies were sitting around the other day talking about fishing. He says to them, "I am NEVER going to take my wife fishing with me, ever again!" - "That bad, huh" - "Yes, she did everything wrong! She did EVERYTHING wrong! She talked too much, made the boat rock constantly, tried to stand up in the boat, used the wrong flies and WORST of all she caught more fish than me!"

Come on guys, lighten up a little. Take you wife fishing. Cheer her on. So what if she catches more or bigger fish than you. You should be happy for her. You’re the one that taught her how. Right?

I’ve tried to patch things up a little. Last week I ordered him the 2005 Women in Waders calendar. Maybe that’ll put a smile back on his face.

 

[Curtis]

Hey there Bahama Momma. If my wife had been a fisherlady, we may still be together. J/K

Actually, she was not a very good sport. One day I got a new fly rod. Could not go fishing for about a week but really wanted to feel this rod out. I asked my wife to do me a favor. I said I would clip the point off a fly and asked if she would put it in her mouth and run around the back yard and shake her body and just act like a fish. SHE WOULDN'T!! Shameful!

Anyway, welcome aboard.


And Mike, HA HA HA HA!!!!

 

[Fish Bones]

So Momma... how did you come up with your user name?

 

[Chris Hewett]

Come on guys, lighten up a little. Take you wife fishing.

I took my wife fly fishing. Several times. Got her her own box of flies so she wouldn't "feel bad" about losing mine. Gave her what lessons I could and stayed with her most of the time. She tried it, honestly decided it was not for her, and found some other things that interest her more. During her short time with a fly rod she caught one each of 5 different species of trout, a couple of which not many people catch. Still not her cup of tea.

Of course, maybe if just once I had taken her to a river that didn't have tall trees lining the banks on both sides for mile after mile she might not have spent so much time getting her fly out of the trees and she might have enjoyed it more.....

 

[Bahama Momma]

Steve, my husband gave me that name. It sure wasn't my fist choice but he thought it was soooo cute. I let him have his fun. He's a pretty good guy but sometimes he can be a real sexist pig. Anyway, I mostly fish saltwater. That's mainly because I go with my husband a lot. That's the only kind of fly fishing that he's interested in. I'd soon like to try a peaceful trout stream somewhere.

Cute story Salmo. That's almost exactly how my husband got me started. The only difference is I love it. Now I'm like a sponge, trying to soak up all of the fly fishing knowledge that I can.

Curtis, too bad you’re wife wouldn’t play a long. It actually sounds like fun to me. If I were her, I might have even taken you up on that offer.

Mike, if I was too hard on you I apologize. I have to constantly put up with the chatter from the men at work. They're doing it for all the wrong reasons. I was just caught off guard on the forum. The fact that I'm presently suffering from a major case of PMS doesn't help either. Can we call a truce?

This forum has really been a great help. Thanks guys for working with me and allowing me to participate.

B-Mom

 

[fshfanatic]

Mike, if I was too hard on you I apologize. I have to constantly put up with the chatter from the men at work. They're doing it for all the wrong reasons. I was just caught off guard on the forum. The fact that I'm presently suffering from a major case of PMS doesn't help either. Can we call a truce?

B-Mom

Upon rethinking my comment, purhaps it was worded a little "off center", trust me when I say that I meant no disrespect. I tend to "shoot from the hip" as anyone that knows me will agree.

I too must apologize.

 

[Fish Bones]

Momma:

I taught my wife how to fly fish... at least so I thought. The first time I took her fishing was on the San Juan River in NM. I hired a guide to take care of her so I could fish. She caught more fish and bigger fish. The next time I took her fishing, I had to do everything for her. I hardly got to fish. She was totally inept. She got her fly stuck in here cheek. I must admit that I had fun removing it. I don’t take her fishing anymore unless I hire a guide to take care of her. Then we can both enjoy the day.

As a fly fishing instructor, I have had many female students take my course because they couldn’t learn from their husband. The husbands always say “she won’t listen to me so maybe she’ll listen to you.” One of the fastest growing segments of fly fishing is women getting interested in fly fishing. They also make some of my better casters. They seem to relax and finesse the cast more than the guys.

I’m happy to see that you and Mike have patched thing up. He’s really a good guy. He’s just sometimes taken the wrong way. I’ve never met anyone strictly via the internet that I could call a friend until I met the Fanatic.

OK Momma… keep posting. We’ll help you all we can!!! We have some truly qualified instructors on this forum. Doug Macnair is one of them and he is very knowledgeable. I've seen that you've gotten his advise before.

 

[utroyalwulff]

I would say that your husband is a pretty lucky guy. Most all of us fly fishing bums wish we had a partner that would fly fish with us where ever our adventures take us.

 

[BigCliff]

I would like for my wife to be interested in fly-fishing, but considering she let me fish on the honeymoon, I guess I can't complain.

One suggestion I will offer for anyone wanting to get their wife started is to at least have the initial casting instruction taught by someone else. She'll likely find the whole hobby less frustrating if she doesn't see how frustrated you get trying to teach her how to cast. At the shop I worked for in San Antonio the two managers would actually have the other guy work with their wife on casting anytime the need came up.

I'll also agree with Steve that women learn fly casting easier and make it look easier than men do. They just don't seem to have the urge to whip the rod harder when the line isn't doing what they want. I did manage to teach a college girlfriend how to cast/fish and she caught over 10 fish her first time out. If only she would listen that well all the time...

 

[Krisannethemum]

Hi there!
My husband likes to fly fish and hasn't gone in years. We just got married in October and I would love to learn how to fly fish. So I was thinking of arranging a surprise long-weekend fly fishing trip.

Can you tell me where a good place to go in September would be? Obviously, it would need to be wife friendly and not too much on the rough side.



Krisannethemum.

 

[Fish Bones]

Help me out by answering a few questions...

1. What type of fish would you prefer? (Trout, Bass, Saltwater, etc... Since you're just starting out, I would NOT recommend Saltwater)

2. What area are you interested in? (Close to home, no limitations, a particular state, etc...)

3. How many days?

4. What type of accommodations? (Nice hotel, cabin, camping, wilderness adventure, etc...)

This is a start. Let me know and I'm sure we can help.

 

[Fish Bones]

Hello Krisannethemum:

Are you still around? I was just wondering how your new life in fly fishing was going. Did you get your husband's suprise fly fishing weekend arranged?