How to get the wife involved?

Hey guys,

So the wife just doesn't understand why I always have fishing on the brain. I got to thinking about it and she has never really done any bass fishing, only the casual bobber fishing for catfish etc...So the question is whats the best way to get her to at least like it also?

Was thinking i should take her on a guided trip in hopes of just getting on a lot of fish. Only thing is she has never ran a baitcast. I would love to get her into it so that we might be able to do couple tournaments and other trips when i get my boat.

Took my fianc� to squaw creek a year or two ago and let her toss around a black/blue worm all day. She loved it.

You should get her hooked on golf!

Hook a good one and let her have the pole . When she experiences haulin in a big one that usually will do the job at hooking a person .

It doesn't matter what you do to get her started that is the easy part. Keeping her into it is the hard part; even after the boat is purchased and you take up fishing couples together. Wives are just like that. Things come along in couples life that bring will bring her back to the home. One hard thing is as the kids grow older she doesn't want to be away on the lake in fear that something bad will happen to one of them and she can't get home fast enough. As our daughter started driving her trips became less and less as she wanted to stay close to home. West Texas required long weekend trips to fish tournaments.

She has the biggest fish hanging on the wall and contributed greatly to all of our tournament wins with CAST. It just didn't hold up when it came to family. She has never complained about me going because through her 15 years of fishing with me she understood how important it was to me.

Tried that already. Now her clubs are in the attic collecting dust

Careful what you wish for. Between my son and fishing buddies I have more than enough people trying to get in my boat.

Worst mistake ever getting the wife involved in fishing. Fishing is my getaway time. Not to hang out with my wife. Send her to a basket weaving class and tell her she needs to stay with it till she becomes the best at it. Now go fish

My wife actually likes MLF which could help start that 'bridge' possibly. Getting her on the boat fishing is more like taking a young kid fishing though; have other activities ready (books), have patience, and leave when she is ready.

Take her sand bass fishing. That's what I've done a couple times, and she loves it!

The weather and fish need to be working in your favor, how many times does that happen a year?

Mine goes shopping....occasionally she will read a book on the back and lay out. I fish to get away....she respects that. That being said I think its awesome to see more and more females get involved with bass fishing and all types of fishing. Those girls have that passion we do...it cant be taught or forced. The only time my wife is gonna fish is if im on some crappies

I got my wife 2 spinning setups for dropshot and wacky rig. She can catch em pretty good and likes being out on the water. Only time she gets bored is if the bite is really tough but then she just hangs out on the boat and enjoys the outdoors.

This. Took my wife and kids out to Whitney a week ago and we were dropping spoons straight down on big schools of sand bass and striper. An easy way to fish their own pole and caught a ton of fish. I think my wife ended up having more fun than all of us.

Bring her on a guided trip with Pack. He will set her up with a spinning rod and coach her along. Then your wife will catch a 10.25# bass, and you will have to hear the constant bragging/smack talking coming from the front of the boat the rest of the day. Oh yea, and you'll get the occasional quip about how easy it is to catch a DD bass.......what a fun day.....

I'll take mine if she asks but I am not trying to get her to enjoy it. I like leaving for trips on time, not stopping for bathroom breaks every 15 minutes on the road andnot wanting to go to the marina to shop or eat. Fishing is my get away from stress. I do not try to increase my stress odds by trying to convince someone to enjoy what I am doing because I enjoy it.

When my wife and I got married she could not understand my obsession with fishing. We were in San Diego at the time. I said come along I would love to share my fishing hobby with you, she said okay. At the marina on one of those over crowded party boats she went to step on the boat, about that time the boat did a major dip and a major uplift, she immediately puked all over everything. She went out but was sea sick the entire trip. After 40 years she still remembers that day as if it was yesterday. When I ask her to go she just politely says she has some gardening that she has been looking forward to.

I just take some chicken and beer she is ready to go in a heart beat. Loves to night fish in the summer on Roberts.

i understand the comments about this is "my time", and why would you want to get your wife involved in that.

BUT, I think it's important to include her from time to time, especially as your life moves into retirement. if you want to get her involved, she needs to catch fish. since I suck on Fork, I joined a club and I take her to one of the private lakes about 3 times a year. we have a blast and it gives us one more thing to do in retirement.

on the golf thing, she needs to enjoy that as well. she plays with me 4-5 times a year mostly on vacations. the rest of the time I play with my buddies. to aid in her enjoyment, I make golf easy for her. no matter where the womens' tees are, she plays every par 3 at 100 yards, par 4's are 250 yards, and par 5's are 350 yards. I just use my gps and pull off the cart path at the right distance and she tees it up right there. she's shooting her best scores ever, and enjoying it more.

I think you will find that as you move towards and into retirement, having things you can do together will make the journey much more enjoyable.

my 2 cents....

Been with my wife for almost 30 yrs, married 28 of them. When I met her she proclaimed that she liked to fish but didn't know anything about bass fishing.
I had a 20ac lake that I grew up fishing on and carried her there, handed her a torpedo and told her how to throw it. 2nd cast she had a 4lber explode on it - game over.
I taught her to back the trailer in a Walmart parking lot at midnight with a few cones set out, she backs better than most men I see at the ramp. Taught her to drive the boat in case something happened to me while we were out.
We've fished tourneys together almost since we've been together. She likes the competition but enjoys being on the water more than a win.
No arguing about fishing expenses when they fish with you.

Find a small lake, have her throw a topwater and watch her learn to love it.

Ha ha!! forgot about the backing the trailer. I recently bought a new F150 with the trailer backup assist option. now, I get the truck and trailer lined up on the ramp, and she uses that to back me in. like you, we practiced at the big church parking lot across 515 from the Burnin' Stump Lodge. She's not great, but she can get it done.

Like the others said, take her "bass fishing" and find a huge school of whites and you'll have her hooked.

killachinchilla

Show her this and maybe she will understand!

I fished "my time" for years. Fortunately, I met a woman that loves to fish and loves being with me. Now she's in my boat every time I'm in it. And honestly, I wouldn't have it any other way. Just take her. They will love it!

When I married my wife she was just your typical mall hopping city girl. We met my dad and mom at a lake they were camping at and I took her out on dad's boat to a favorite crappie hole and baited her hook for her and she had a blast catching slabs. I later bought a boat and took her crappie fishing a couple times and once when running the lake saw the gulls hitting the water where the sand bass were schooling so we pulled up and I had her throwing a crank bait and catching sandies and it was on after that. The first large mouth she caught had her hooked. Every time after that I would mention going and she had her stuff ready the night before, I thought she was going to sleep in the boat so she didn't get left behind. She doesn't go with me now every time because I may take dad or I have a buddy I fish a couple tournaments a year with but she does when I don't. It's great and we both enjoy each other's company.

You keep buying fishing stuff and hand her the billl... Jeez....
Just pickin.... It would be great to have your wife as your fishing partner!!! Good luck...

a Vicodin and a couple of drinks......

Lunches don't pack themselves. She can help with the prep.

My most enjoyable fishing trips are with just my wife and the dogs. We have an absolute blast whether we catch them or not. I was fortunate, janel already knew quite a bit about fishing and just needed a little work on a bait caster to be ready to go. Now I back the trailer down and dump her and she picks me and the dogs up on the courtesy dock, she loads the boat on the trailer too. It's a beautiful thing.

My best suggestion to the OP is to take the wife out on a beautiful weather day and make it more about having fun than grinding out bites.

Mine can make a mean sammich and out fish me!

Thank you all for advice! Lots of good stuff to take away from this thread!

Mine wouldn't enjoy bassfishing if I were to put her on a 12lber every trip.....just the way she's wired. GL!

My wife never goes out with me . She just does not like it , I do not go to malls , just don't like it .

Awesome thread.

Your wife is awesome!

My husband fished with friends for about 20 years. In 2002 I told him I would like to start fishing with him. Friends told us about their couples bass fishing club. We joined and have had a blast. Have made so many friendships in the club. They have monthly meetings and month tournaments. It's fun and competitive in a friendly way.

I was a real rookie when I started and I still make some knucklehead mistakes but I love to laugh about it.

We retired last year and moved about three hours away. We still fish with them occasionally.

Now my husband and I mainly fish just for fun. We enjoy reading about new baits and shopping for them. We attended the BassMasters Classic in Houston and just returned from a two day spring tournament with the club on Sam Rayburn. We are partners in life and in fishing. We really enjoy fishing together even when we have little "heated discussions" (i.e. fights)!!!

Just a perspective from a wife!

My wife used to complain a lot about how much a fished and how much i spent on quality gear. I took her with me on her first trip using a bait caster and she broke off a fish in the 12-13lb class on literally her 5th cast. She probably landed 10 quality fish that day and broke off a few more. She knew what it was all about after that and doesn't complain on a $25 spool of good line. To this day she cringes when we pass berkeley vanish on the shelves.

get her a tacklebox full of scrap booking materials

And I cant leave to fish with out mine. I get in troulbe if I go to bass pro with out her. lol I guess Im a lucky man

My wife NEVER fishes. My girls will fish, but my wife won't. I am good with that, and she is good with that.

A guy's out fishing by himself and seeing another guy fishing with his wife, yells out to him "hey, how do you get your wife to go fishing with you?" The other guy yells back, "how do you get yours to stay at home?"

Why doesn't my wife look like these women??????????????

Wife will come fishing if she knows its going to be a short day or a 4-5 hour night fishing trip. She doesn't do the "start at 4am/get home at 7pm" gig. I'm good with that.

My wife went out on my boat one time.......I hit the largest waves, as fast as I dared.....she has NEVER gone out again.......

upside is if the fishing is slow you can find a secluded place, and well you know

Nothing ruins a fishing trip quite like pulling up to your first spot and having the person in the back of the boat ask, "How long are you planning to stay today?"

I guess i'm pretty lucky. My wife loves fishing as much as I do.
Most days she out fishes me too.

♥️

I spent 10 years with a piece of buxom arm candy 7 years my junior that otherwise didn't fit my life well. She went out fishing with me a few times but she was just going along with it as a price to pay for getting to live well.

I ditched her and found a real girl my own age. She loves to fish and hates shopping unless it's for cool stuff like boats and gear. Already highly adept in the, uh, feminine arts, years ago she wiped the slate clean and relearned and improved everything, right down to the art of the perfect foot massage. Never have I known such an intelligent, honorable, pleasant, helpful, superb person. I had a 24 year head start on her as a bass angler and she still outfishes me often.

A couple of years ago I made a huge killing in the stock market. Told her to get anything she wanted with a very high ceiling. She got one of them ol' newfangled silly-cone hot pads for the kitchen, replacing this horrible, stinky, greasy old thing that was used about 10 years too long. I think it was six bucks. She sure likes that hot pad, tho.

We celebrate 20 years next Valentine's Day. I shudder at the thought of what life would be like had I lacked the gumption to blow up an unsatisfactory household. Most men I know are a tragic cyclone of unfulfilled desire within. I want for nothing. Absolutely nothing.

People who hitch their wagons to those they have little or nothing in common with baffle me. Divorce lawyers seem to love 'em, tho.

I tried to get the wife interested in Bass fishing, but she said it was too slow. So I switched to taking her fishing for sunfish. She caught a lot, so she was happy. Then one day we were TT camping and I was out on the lake catching tons of crappie. I went back and got her and she mopped up on them and said it was the most fun fishing she ever had. We are now crappie and sand bass fisherman.

Further, she is now a demanding crappie fisherman. She demanded that we get Spot-lok and Livescope so her worthless hubby could find the fish and stay over the structure. Ok, said I.

I don’t think it’s a good idea to start the wife with a bait caster. Mine, at my suggestion, took my expensive “almost impossible to backlash” and made a tangle I should put in Ripley’s. Spinning reel is the way, at first.

Wisdom

My first two wives didnt fish,...married to #3 for 12 years.

I have known my wife 37 years and have been married 28 and she has just started fishing regularly with me.

The boat is in her name and she drives a F150 FX4 but she doesn't back it in.

I will line it up and back it in some and then get in the boat and let her back the rest of the way in and then she parks the trailer.

She only goes with me if I can't find anyone else to go so I'm not alone if something happens.

My wife hates fishing, lakes, boats, outdoors in general. I cool with it.
She likes making soaps, knitting, and arts and crafts stuff. I hate that stuff....and she’s cool with it, too.

We are happy that we both have hobbies and neither of us regulates the others involvement with our hobbies.

The wife unit?? Nah, fishing my my time to get away!

She asked me "why do you need all of those fishing poles, can't you only use one at a time?"

I responded with, "can't you only wear one of those pair of shoes at a time!?"

I just bought my wife a shimano alx dc reel today so she can get accustomed to using a bait caster. I took it in the street after I spooled it up and I was very impressed by its performance. I could bomb it all the way down the street and let it bounce without ever putting my thumb in the spool. It didn't backlash at all. I would definitely check those out rather than spinning gear. She was using a few of my spinning reels, but after she broke her line fighting a huge bass last weekend, she decided she wants some good gear to catch Big fish. 2 of our last 3 trips she has hooked a bass 8+ pound bass that has came up and then broke her line. Meanwhile the biggest fish I had caught was 3.5 lbs...

I’ve created a monster with mine. So don’t even get me started. Lol.

I like to get my wife out three or four times a year. I do that on great weather days, fish are in an eating mood, low wind and its a boat in the water about 8:15 and off the lake about 11 type deal. That timeframe prevents having to find a decent onshore bathroom in the middle of the trip. I learned all that through the school of hard knocks (e.g. "what were you thinking taking me out when the wind is blowing 12mph?)" I have better luck with her fly fishing (the Madison river is a little more scenic than Lake Lewisville on most days, and generally catch more fish) and quail hunting because of how much she loves the dogs, but I have fun taking her out for the short trips and playing guide for a day.

Ok here are a few suggestions. If you are confident in your fishing ability then take her out fishing to where you catch fish. A drop shot is a good technique to catch bass on. I taught my daughter in law how to bass fish that way, actually both daughter in laws. It is my wifes favorite technique but she also likes to throw a tx. rigged baby brush hog and a carolina rig. With the drop shot you can either use spinning tackle or a bait caster. I always teach them how to drop shot with a bait caster with a reel that is designed for finesse fishing. A fantastic reel for her to learn with is the Daiwa Tatula SV TW 2020 model. It has a small profile and you can set up the reel so she doesn't have to thumb the spool and she can still get pretty good distance out of it. As she gets the hang of it you can loosen it up a little for longer casts. Once she gets bit and catches a fish on her own.....she will be hooked.

A finesse worm, a baby brush hog, and a super fluke are three good soft plastics to start with.

You taught yours very well.

Introduce her to the tennis pro.

My Wife fishes with me 99% of the time. She has started limiting the times she goes in the dead of the Summer. I was lucky; she already loved to fish and knew how to throw a bait caster.

Have you taken her out in the back yard and given her the basics of chunking a bait caster? As you well know, it takes time and patience to get the hang of it. Maybe you could find a find a female bass fishing guide, let them get on the front of the boat and talk fishing. She will either like it or not.

There is a lady on here named MrsFishunter that is looking for some back seat opportunities. Maybe she could help you out.

https://texasfishingforum.com/forums/ubbthreads.php/topics/13737082/area-fishing#Post13737082

Amen...

My wife fishes with me 99% of the time. She cant use and wont use a bait caster unless it dropped straight down, so I accommodate her with spinning gear.

She's quite the stick and has no issue with bait, taking them off or whatever.

Started her off when we were dating 28 years ago and never once regretted it!

Consider taking her to El Salto or Picachos -- or both. You'll get to fish for big fish, the guides will completely take care of her (tie knots, unhook fish, etc.), and the service is incredible.
My wife took me for my 40th birthday in 2009 as a "once in a lifetime" deal back when she didn't fish, and now we've been back nearly 20 times. She even went without me last year when I couldn't make it.

Admittedly, I'm biased, but here's our guide to the options, including advice for women:

www.halfpastfirstcast.com/el-salto-and-picachos

Buy a lake house.

My wife and I have been married for 5 years and she is a city girl, turned country. She loves to fish, but she wants to catch something when she goes. I get it!! I want to catch fish and I want her to catch fish too. If I catch all the fish and she doesn't, this is no good. She has to catch some too, to keep her interested. So here's what we have done over the last 5 years and it has made all the difference. I first started my wife out by buying here on spinning reel set up, that lasted about 2 trips. So one day I just told here and showed her how to throw a bait caster (H2O Mettle). It's different at first but they get better real quick. My wife loves to worm fish, (because she has had Corporal Tunnel Surgery, so continuous casting tires her pretty quick) The only thing is that, she doesn't set the hook well, so she feels the bite and gets the fish on, but they tended to jump off, This was frustrating to her and made her think she couldn't catch fish. Well I stumbled on to a couple of things that has made all the difference. 1) get her the right equipment, the one just like you use., and 2) teach her how to drop shot. I promise this is the greatest thing in the world for the following reasons. 1) if she is using the same equipment as you, she will have more confidence, 2) Drop Shotting will get more bites and you can do it shallow or deep, and 3) No worries about Hook Setting, just start reeling. My wife has taken to this like a Duck to Water.. She now gets more bites and puts more fish in the boat. We fished a 3 hour Friday evening tournament twice this summer and took a 2nd and 5th place finish out of about 30 boats. In the first on she caught 4 of the 5 weigher's and in the other one I had 3 and she had 2. Got a check in both events and she felt good because she contributed. That makes me feel good when she has success. So in closing i will explain the set my wife uses: She uses a M 6'8" 2 Power Bait casting Rod (Limit Rod) with a Diawa Tatula 100 Reel with the spool control set on 12. 10# Fluorocarbon line, a #1 Owner Down shot Hook, 1/4" tungston cannonball weight, and 4" Texas Rigged Finesse worm. For her, this is the ticket.

I hope this is helpful and you two can enjoy time on the water together and catch a bunch.

Take them when the fishing is good and let them experience what we do.

Been with Jess since 2001.
She has always fished but not in tournaments.

I used her to jackpot a CAST tournament on Squaw Creek.

everything went our way and we got 2nd place. She caught so many fish that day I barely fished LOL .
once she saw how a tournament is in real life and her being super competitive, she was hooked!
So we finished out the trail ended up winning the top 6 and AOY. the rest is History! Since then we have been top 5 and added another AOY last year in the FNS couples trail.

She loves bass tournaments so much that she even helps me game plan for the upcoming tournaments.
in 2015 she fished pregnant all season and all the way up until the week before our youngest was born LOL
she is a rare one and I landed her somehow?

Take her somewhere that combines sightseeing/hanging out and fishing. For me that means taking my wife to Caddo in the spring or fall when temps are not extreme one way or the other. Stay at Shady Glade or rent one of the many houses available on the water in Uncertain, Tx and break up the time between fishing and cruising around. Fish at sunup, cruise around sightseeing on the most beautiful lake in Texas, run up the river and tie up to the dock at Big Pines Lodge or RiverBend for some catfish and a beer, fish in the evening.......Best of both worlds(for her). I have even in the past combined fishing Caddo with spending a little time wandering around the shops in Jefferson(😢remember it’s about her too).

This is a man who is still getting "some" on the regular.

well played sir!