Anyone who thinks fishing is easy has never fished with my husband, Chad.
When I grew up my dad took weekend trips to Florida to fish with friends and bring home coolers full of fish for my mother to clean and cook for a fish fry. Chad grew up fishing with his father. He told me stories of turning off a farmer's fence so they could cut across the field to get to the "good" fishing spot. Don't worry, they always turned it back on. His father used to say "I'll pay one of you boys $10 to pee on it." Neither Chad nor his brother, Nate, ever took the chance.
Fishing was all around me in pop culture. I watched Laura Ingalls with a pole and sourdough balls for bait on 'Little House on the Prairie'. My sisters told me how they were too scared to swim at the Milford, Connecticut beach for months because the fake blood used to film the bite scenes in 'Jaws' washed up on the shores when they filmed it in New York. And who could forget Norman and Ethel from 'On Golden Pond'?
Fishing was something I had always wanted to do but never had the opportunity to try.
I didn't pick up a fishing pole until I was around 20. My first catch was a three inch sunfish that I caught up in weeds. I couldn't even reel it in. I may have fished three times since then.
About three years ago, Chad said he wanted to find a canoe and start fishing again. We found one on Facebook Marketplace and we made plans for the weekend to go to Sibley Pond in Canaan. That morning, with no knowledge of how to fish, I wound up catching four bass. I thought to myself "This is so easy. You cast a line, reel it in and, lots of times, there will be a fish on the other end."
Little did I know how wrong that was.
That fall, I would find Chad in the living room watching YouTube channels of people fishing, giving tips and reeling in large bass. There were videos with reviews on poles, lures, worms and frogs. I admit it. I laughed. What can you REALLY learn from people who don't even live near you giving you tips on fishing with products that are probably too expensive to buy?
But over the winter...learn he did.
The next year we upgraded from a canoe to a Sundolphin boat. Ok, it's really a plastic dinghy that we found, again, on Marketplace. It's only eight feet long. There's not a lot of room but it does the trick. We have the system down on where the tackle box goes, the oar, life jackets and his four poles and my two. Chad added a trolling motor, some batteries and an anchor….we are able to fish all day. And everyday, Chad would reel in fish after fish while I would catch just a few.
I was getting better though. He showed me how to hold a bass when I caught one so I wouldn't hurt it. He showed me how to take the hook out (you have to push down with a jerk and it comes out) without using a pair of pliers. He showed me how to tie a hook on a line with a uni knot (you have to spit on it because if you tie it dry it will break). He showed me how to Texas rig my worms and crawfish.
He was showing me so many things that it was hard to remember them all.
Spinner baits can navigate through most anything without getting hung up.
Frogs are top water and you have to jerk them along to make them look like they're hopping.
Crank baits have clear plastic lips on the front of the lure that make them sink. You can't use these in areas with vegetation.
A lipless crank bait has two sets of treble hooks that can seriously injure you. Don't use these in vegetation either.
A weedless jig, his least favorite lure, can be used just about anywhere.
Those are just some of the things I do remember. It's the ones I forget about in the heat of the moment that frustrate me the most. For example:
When you catch your lure on a lily pad you have to push down on it to set it free. I, on the other hand, keep reeling and pulling which only makes it worse.
When you have a bass that catches you in the weeds, don't keep pulling because it will just break the line. You not only lose your lure...but you lose the lunker.
Wear polarized sunglasses. I always forget to grab them. By the time I remember, we are half way across the pond.
Look behind you before you cast. The other person's pole, line or the actual person could be there. If Chad had a nickle for every time I have almost hooked him, he could have bought a brand new bass boat…three times over.
And the biggest thing I forget:
He's been fishing for 40 years. I've been fishing for just under three.
This year I decided to keep a rolling total of the number of bass we have both caught. A little competition makes things exciting. The tally at the present time is Chad 99, me 50.
That's right. He has (almost) twice the amount of bass as I do.
And it's frustrating!!!
Take today for instance. We headed out early and I was the first one with my line in the water. I had one on and totally didn't set the hook. What happens when you don't set the hook?
You lose your fish.
Approximately one minute after my screw up, Chad lands the first bass of the day. What runs through my mind? The same thing he tells me EVERY time we fish:
"Feel the tug. Let 'em take it. Set the hook."
He tells me this EVERY time. Not to belittle me but to remind me. Again.
After I lose my first fish, I take a deep breath and think od that for the rest of the day.
We came into a batch of lily pads and he put on a frog from a new package that came into the mail the day before. He casted and there was a huge fish that came out of the water right next to his lure. He reeled his line back in quickly and said "Watch this!"
Sure enough he casted in the same spot. His arms were extended as he slowly reeled and he hesitated for a second. We could see the wake behind the frog. "Here she is!" And he yanked his line. That fish was hooked and he reeled her into the boat. 3.5 pounds of pre-spawn bass was scooped up by me in the net.
And he did it over and over again.
It was like watching a how-to video in "reel" like.
After seeing his success, I tried to emulate everything he did.
And couldn't.
I wasn't frustrated…I was down right mad.
What was he doing that I wasn't? We had the same equipment, the same lure, the same spots. I couldn't understand.
I couldn't set the hook.
I'll admit it. I pouted.
A lot.
I caught a final one by trolling back to the truck. That doesn't count. In fact, our totals from today didn't make it on the board. He had probably 25-30 fish.
I had 4.
I was so upset with myself for catching only four fish in four hours.
Fishing takes knowledge. Fishing take finesse. Fishing takes patience.
Fishing is hard.
I know I post pictures on Facebook and Instagram of the fish we catch. It IS fun (when you're landing them). What you DON'T see is the hard work that is put into catching them.
I have a new respect for fishing men and women. It's not just rippin' lips. Like any profession, it takes time, equipment, knowledge, practice and skill to become, not just good, but great. When someone with as much fishing knowledge as Chad has says something to you, you need to listen. They're not saying it to be a know-it-all. They do it to help you become a better fisher. So, we watch the YouTube videos together, pick up better equipment and try and get out in the dinghy more often.
"Feel the tug. Let 'em take it. Set the hook."
Remember that.
Tight lines everyone.
