since we got a boat my wife started to love fishing......

the problem....

she still can't tie a lure or bait her line or take a fish off.

how do i teach her without frustrating her or making her think i'm being mean.

Try this:
http://www.tnoutdoorsmen.com/knots.htm

As far as the knot my hubby taught me to tie a palomar knot. He says it's the strongest and easiest. Baiting the hook the only thing as far as bait that I fish with is minnows and I don't have a problem putting them on the hook.

Taking fish off the hook. That takes a little time. I don't have a problem anymore taking fish off of my hook, unless it's a catfish and then I cut the hook on them. It only took one time for me to get finned by one and I don't even fish for them. I guess it's all just time and patience.

Good luck and ya'll catch lots of fish.

I am sure she can do all of the above , its just easier to have you do it. Just kidding.

Patience is key here. Gradually get her to the point of doing it all herself. Otherwise she may get frustrated and decide fishing isn't all that great after all... now that would be a shame. Gently lead her to getting to want to learn, and make it easy as possible. The palomar is a great knot as mentioned above. It is easy to learn, and she should do fine with it. http://www.animatedknots.com/palomar/ind...imatedknots.com

Let her learn on the computer via this link...it does it all fast, or slow in animation, and it is a great tool. She should do fine with it from there. As far as lures...she can put a swivel on the end of the mono, and then just clip lures on...that would be very easy for her. Taking the fish off....now that one may take the most patience for you. The more she is catching fish...and sees you take them off, she will get used to it, and eventually want to do this herself. She may be a bit nervous about that. She her how you do this, and make sure she has a good pair of pliers. Some guys just pull hooks out by hand, and she probably wouldn't want to do that, at least not at first. Tell her what fish are safe to lip, and which ones are not. Teach her the varieties of fish. It shouldn't be too long and she will be able to be independent about this.

Just keep a pair of needle nose pliers handy. WHen you catch a fish and its a keeper, hang it over the livewell, grab the hook with the pliers, and shake like heck. The fish comes off the hook, and falls in livewell. Some people might think that is cruel to the fish, but they are going in for fillet removal surgery anyhow. If the fish isnt a keeper, do the same thing but not over the livewell.

As far as tieing practice, get some anchor rope and practice knots on the anchor or on some other large piece of metal. A school teacher in our bass club uses this technique to help his high schoolers teach elementary school kids to fish. Funny part is the girls are usually the ones who bait the hooks and remove the fish.

thanks

i use the palomer too never have any problems, but when she does try to tie a knot she usually tries to tie a bow (doesnt work) i think just to make me do it.

i'll keep workin with er'

When teaching someone to tie a polymer I always make the loop way to big on purpose so the student can see exactly whats going on. You might already do that but just thought I throw that out there in case you dont.


Just noticed yall are in stecphenville. Yall go to leon, cisco, or hubbard creek much?

As an easily frustrated wife myself, don't ever ever EVER roll your eyes when she asks you to show her something again!

taught my wife to tie a palomar took a little time but she got it

Leon about every other time out
never been to hubbard creek
fished one small tourny at cisco with friends dad a couple years ago.

Cisco is a nice lake. Its a hard lake to fish though. Theres a long point that stretches way out in the lake and is straight across from the ramp parking area.

be ready to have her out fish you




the best thing I ever did was to get my wife to fish.

challenger,
she usually does anyway. even tho most of hers get away she always lands more.

was the last one used as bait for the others?

yep I was the bait and net boy.

I got my wife into fishing she loves it when her fish is bigger than mine I just got to get her to fishing tournaments

I got my ex girlfriend into tournaments last year before we were ex's. The first one she went to she beat me with only 2 fish. We bothe caught fish allday but they were all liluns. The next one was a tough day where everything you caught was a keeper and nobody had a limit. I weighed the only 3 I caught and had the most fish out of all the other sacks weighed in. SHe zeroed that day. I think that one was a huge wake up call.

I'll give you a little tip: doing those things for your wife is just like holding the door for her or carrying in the groceries. Sure she could do those things herself, but she wants to know that you think she's important and worth pampering a little.

My wife's biggest problem when trying to handle fish was when they started to wriggle and jerk around. I had her handle a few fish with a glove on and some pliers to remove the hook. After a few outings using this technique, she got accustomed to the fish's movements in her hands and no longer needs the glove.

I've been fishing with my husband for a few years now. He showed me how to take the fish off by putting a rag around the fish when having to hold it to get the hook out with pliers. Sometimes I can get them out with my hand but most of time I need the pliers. I freak out a bit when the hook is near the eyes or inside the mouth too deep and he will help me with them. When I first started he pretty much did everything for me. But the more I got into it, the more I wanted to do things for myself. So I started asking questions he was pretty patient with me. I still will not take a catfish off of my line (which now he complains softly about taking off for me.) Be patient and I'm sure she will start wanting learn more for herself.

you should happily tie her hooks put on her bait and remove the fish off the hooks and be happy she is out there with you instead of sitting at home calling your cellphone and bitching at you about when your gonna be done...

I agree with the above - be happy she wants to be there but I will tell you what I did to overcome all of "icks" of fishing. My ex took me chasing sandies one day on Ray Bob (20+/- years ago - wow can that be? anyways...) we caught upwards of 100 fish that day and after having to ask him to remove 10-15 and missing all the ones we could have been catching it made me start trying it and by the end of the day I was a pro "fisher taker offer"... even had a chewed up thumb - I wore it like a badge of honor and from that day forward I was hooked. I fished all my life but always played the little girl thing until I realized "heck this is fun for real". Since the divorce I have taken on fishing as my sport of choice and now do it all the time and can handle it all alone - from boat to tackle. oh and btw - the ex hates that which makes me love it more!!!!

Hmmm, I'm the one who got my husband into fishing. I always getting stuck tying his hooks and lures because he "couldn't see to tie a knot"...ahem b.s. he forgets how to do it. I finally worked out a deal with him. I'll tie and bait and he has to take the fish off the line. Unfortunately, he cuts the line so often it seems like all I do is tie and bait...tie and bait....tie and bait. I'm considering drowning him this summer.

make him buy a new pair of glasses, problem solved :-)

after reading this maybe i'll keep doing everything so she can get more time (and i wont drown)

Don't worry about all that and just keep taking her with you and let her know how much you like her being with you. the baiting and taking fish off will come in time. Just think as long as she is with you -you can fish as much as you want and not worry about getting home and finding her mad, because she is with you....my wife loves to fish and some of our best times is out on the lake togeather and just letting everything go by without us for a while. Been marraried 18 years and I Love Her More Than Yesterday But Not As Much As Tomorrow. Men have you told your wife you love them today? We went out Saturday i caught two sandbass and she caught two Hybrid one of them right at 12# but seeing her catch them was more fun than if i would have caught them.

update:

she can tie her own hook (not very well i still guide her through it) but getting better
she takes off her own fish (except catfish) but will hold them
seems to want to go even more than me
and always outfishes me.

I am not sure what to do in a case such as yours.

However......I implore you to NOT do what I did with a "potential" wifey about 4 years ago!

Vernice had aggravated me to "take her fishing" so she didn't have to sit around the trailer all day avoiding repo people from RENT IT NOW, inc.

So I took her. First off, she tipped over the chum bucket and that was a mess. Next she snarled my best garage sale Quantum level wind into a HUGE nest! Thirdly she started chunking a Lazy Ike with a little Zebco 33 and hooked me in the shoulder!

Got the hooks outta my shoulder but had to CUT my best fishin' shirt to free that Lazy Ike!

It was about this time I yelled, CAN'T YOU DO ANY %$#@#@#$$%%% THING RIGHT!!!??

She was quiet after that and didn't fish much....kinda gazed off in the distance and such.

Vernice left later that night and I ain't seen her but one time since then, I think she was with the same guy that repo'ed my wide screen tv.

So there is my advice to ya, don't do like I do!!

I agree, my wife is my princess and loves to fish, I gladly tie the knots, take the fish off and bait the hooks even though she knows how and can do it as well as I......It gives me a chance to spoiled her a little... she certainly has spoiled me over the past 47 years.

My wife wants to do it all herself. It can be a bit frustrating to watch her struggle with things that come so easily to me.

I have come to realize that I need to turn my head and not watch the struggle, just like my Dad did for me, it is how we learn. She will ask for help when she needs it. Also, some of the times when she catches more than me i have to swallow my pride and look at what she has done to the bait (soft plastics mostly and how they are on the hook) and then i will start catchin too. All in all just have fun and do not get frustrated, and remember that the fish are still there, and you will have a better relationship if you and she can find the system that works best for you.

Wade

Amen bigdipper, I'm with you, could'nt have said it better.

my wife was the same way, she will bait the hook now and unhook the fish, but i still do all the rigging for her.

Well my story goes something like this (And I planned for alot of that from the beginning) Recently I walked into a retail outlet and low and behold there was a pretty girl working there. So naturally since I was looking for a flashlight I asked her "Can you please tell me where ya'll keep your flashlights" Of course she just pointed me in the general direction so off I went. Later as I was checking out I saw her again and said "Hey do you like to fish?" She said "Yes I love to fish" (now at that point I was thinking yea right in a lawn chair with a beer in your hand and your rod in a rod holder and a cork on the line) (Turns out I was right I replied "write my number down and we'll go fishing" she did. 5 hours later she called. We talked about an hour and half. We made plans to go fishing the next weekend. I knew since this would be our first fishing trip/date; it would be rather important to get fish in the boat to keep her interested and happy so she would want to go again. I'll also note here that the last few trips I had made to several different lakes prior to our trip I hadn't done very well. So with all that in mind I choose to drive an extra 30 min (2hrs total one way) to a small slot lake called Fayette in La Grange Tx. I knew that would increase the odds of either of us catching BIGGER fish and more of 'em.

So that's where it all started for us. Her first five casts with a crank bait while I was jacking with a Trolling motor adjustment that the "Minn Kota Authorized to work on them Guy" screwed up ... she caught her first 3 pounder. about 3 hours later she caught another almost 3 pounder. She skunked me lol I didn't get a bite all day. Then we drove home for me to face my buddies with my getting skunked by a Newbie story.

During the trip I asked her to "please" watch me as I was backing the trailer in and out of the lake and everything I was doing. I told her that someday if we were to continue fishing together I would need her to be able to eventually do everything.
Because what if something ever happened to me, say for example during the day I slipped and hit my head and or somehow got hurt and she couldn't drive the boat or work the trolling motor or back the trailer or load the boat, then we could find ourselves in trouble.

It most certainly could happen! But the idea worked she started paying attention to the details so after I got her unstrapping the boat, boat plug etc. Then I had her pull the trailer out. And it went from there. The next weekend we went to Falcon Lake (South Texas) Most of you probably know all about Falcon Lake. We launch.... I picked a spot that had trees for me to throw a worm but deeper water behind the boat for her Crank Bait. Within the first 30 min she did it again. Another 3 pounder and again before the day was over. I got skunked again lol AT FALCON that's just wrong. lol

I also had her drive the boat for the first time she loved it. After 4 trips with me I took her with me to fish the Permian in Del Rio Tx. as my partner. The next thing I added to the equation were Walkie Talkies which turned out to be really good. She was nervous pulling the trailer out and bringing it back having to deal with all of the Tournament Traffic but she could reach me on the Radios if she had a question or concern. Having the Radio put her more at ease.

She would mention being nervous about the Traffic... I just reassured her calmly that, that is why I pay for Insurance and that I couldn't do it with out her And "WE" couldn't win the 10,000.00 if we didn't work as a team which by the way includes tying your own lures and yes I taught her The Palomar knot back during the first trip.

Anyway, by the middle of the second day of the Tournament she was trying to tell me what I should do to find some fish. lol I thought to myself how funny she's only three trips from a lawn Chair a beer in her hand and a Cork and she's already trying tell me how to catch'em. Those dang 3 pounders lol

Anyway, we weighed fish both days. I told her I needed her to take'em up to the weigh in because I already had experienced that part of the action. Even though I really hadn't during a bigger Tournament. But It was a small sacrifice because I knew if she did it it would be fun for her and it was We didn't get in the Money but we out fished last years Champions which was cool That part helps me sleep at night lol

So 5 total trips to the lake .... she baits her own hook. Removes the hooks out of her own catches. Works the trolling motor some if I need a minute to retie something, backs the trailer and most importantly CATCHES THE FISH LOL The only thing she's complained about so far was how early we had to get up the first morning of the Tournament. (This is where the Flowers come in when the Tournaments over and we're back home) Good Luck keep it up get her on some big ones and she'll be hooked. The links below are the pics of her fish during the first two trips outlined in my story and in the order in which she caught them.

http://i213.photobucket.com/albums/cc231/shawunltd/FISHING%20PICS/P8220223.jpg

http://i213.photobucket.com/albums/cc231/shawunltd/FISHING%20PICS/P8220229-1.jpg

http://i213.photobucket.com/albums/cc231/shawunltd/FISHING%20PICS/P8300253.jpg

http://i213.photobucket.com/albums/cc231/shawunltd/FISHING%20PICS/P8300249.jpg

Just be glad your wife fishes with you. I'd love it if my wife would go out with me every now and then.

Sounds like you guys are ready for the Open Couples Tournament on Amistad in Nov. Check it out on the tournaments page.
Tommy

I was really enjoying your story, thanks for sharing that!!

Tommy, thanks for the heads up about the OCT in Del Rio. I will definitely check that out kelkay I'm glad I was able to share it and that u enjoyed it. I was hoping I did a good job writing it well enough to express all of the Humor (at my expense lol) that there was in the experience. I think I slipped into the ladies forum with this. If so I apologize for the intrusion if it was one.

I added some pic links to the original post above of her first 2 trips and 4 catches. The links are in the same order as they were caught throughout the story. Notice no pics of me or my catches (see story above) lol

I have a problem but in the opposite sex. My husband didn't catch a fish until he met me 6 years ago. When he learned I was into fishing and if I ever got married again after my husband died I would be marrying someone who enjoyed the sport like I did. In fact, I traveled alone for 8 years before meeting my new life partner.
Well, he was really into fishing then. I taught him how to cast, fillet fish, bait his hook, etc. and he did wonderfully and caught more than me most of the time. In fact I was impressed with his quick learning capabilities and his enthusiasm. We'd go fishing every day even in the rain. I was in heaven. Couldn't imagine life any better.
Well, shortly after I said "I do", he kinda lost interest in fishing!!??!! Don't get me wrong...he will go fishing, it's just he doesn't have the patience and will go only if the fish are jumping out of the water and landing at his feet.
And so it works both ways, no gender excluded.

Wow talk about role reversal Like you say it usually goes the other way. Well honestly, thats very common. Because of stories like yours and other similar ones I've heard; I think I've learned that in all reality it is very rare to find a couple were both parties are equally obsessed with Fishing or any other one thing equally for that matter. It's strange how sometimes it goes that way.

The young lady I spoke of in the story did good and went on and on about how much fun she had. However, we haven't fished together since that tournament. I have gone a couple of times myself since then but didn't make a big deal about her going to see how she would react.

She hasn't mentioned it or mentioned a burning desire to go again or asked "Hey when are we going again". However, she doesn't turn down other stuff that we do together. So I suspect that down the road it may not be the same as it started out. There may be issues about me going fishing so much but thats what I do and if she or someone else signs on well that's what they'll be getting. "A Guy that won't neglect his relationship but won't stop fishing either." Somewhere in there as with all things there must be a balance.

The bottom line I guess is you can lead horse to the water but you make them drink. But that doesn't mean the horse that doesn't want to drink has the right to kick the one next to him or her if they want to drink! lol

Nice pictures. She did catch some good fish! If having a woman fish with you is important, say for a condition of marriage...you had better be more sure. This woman may or may not be a fish addict. But, if she hasn't asked, that is not a good sign.

Oh my, that is rough. Sorry to hear this. Yes, if I ever got married again, it would be very good if the potential mate loved fishing as much as me. I tie flies in my spare time, and enjoy gardening, watching movies etc... I would like a man to fish with me when I go. It is not always safe to go alone where I fish. My son comes with me sometimes and he is 16. He likes to fish too, but not nearly as often as I do. My daughter is 18 and she used to like to fish. Now she hasn't been fishing since she just turned 17.

Yes'mam (Kelkay) that safety factor can be a factor . I purchased my first boat ever on June the 14th 2008 on my 40th birthday. It's a 1992 Cajun 19 1/2' 200 HP. After the initial purchase I've been on about ten different bodies of water across Texas and most of my trips alone. Most of my learning curve and after took place by myself. One evening just before dark like a dummy I dropped a 2008 Quantum Tour edition on a Carrot stick in the lake pretty close to some trees. I went in the water so fast to catch it which I did successfully lol but after getting back into the boat lol I looked around to see if any other boats had, had the chance to watch the feasco (I'm betting I spelled wrong lol ) There were none around and thats when I realized for the first time after all the other trips I had made alone "Hey wait a minute... what if I had got hurt then or ever just slipped in the boat tripped, whatever and was hurt no one would know. I still go fishing alot by myself and sometimes prefer to but I'm more careful.

Exactly. I go to spillways fishing some, and the people who come there now and then are a bit scary. Plus they have had shootings out there. (two or three) One night I was out there and a bunch of people started partying out there, getting drunk, smoking weed, and getting a bit wild for me. I packed up and left, just in case there was trouble. We were the only ones out there besides that group. I couldn't believe how quickly they were becoming out of control. Another day a couple of guys were young and acting stupid. Throwing beer bottles and breaking them, getting way drunk, and trying to start trouble...just daring you to look at them. Most of the people are nice, but there are some seedy characters out there.
Snakes can get in the boat with you too, and that is one of my biggest fears. I hate water snakes of any kind.