Ode to fishing spouses who give anglers enough line to follow their passion, but also keep them grounded

Having a supportive spouse is a critical part of having some sort of a fishing life – if that’s your passion. I’m lucky to be married to Elaine, who sticks with me even when I drive her crazy!

She’s never been an angler but she grew up as a coach’s daughter in Selma so she knew enough to see I was as serious about fishing as I had been about my many years of decathlon training. She understood my competition mentality and let me follow it – doing things like fishing all night or missing family gatherings.

Spouses of fishing addicts have to try to tolerate the malady in order to keep the peace, but it’s not critical for them to have to understand it. After all these years of putting up with my fishing, Elaine also knows that I’ll work to build up some positive credits to offset the “fishing debits.”

She will listen to me tell her about my last trip and I explain how bad it was. She’ll think about what I told her for a minute then ask me, “If you knew it was going to be bad, why did you go?” Recovering, I tell her that that’s why I’m a good fisherman – I go fishing in spite of bad bites! She looks at me like I’m few bricks short. I hate rational logic when it’s used against me!

So I tell her I’m going fishing tomorrow and I’m getting up early. She’s been putting up with the instinct to be the first angler on the water for a long time; she knows it’s an incurable disease and she’s a good sport. she asks me when I’m getting up and I say 4 a.m. and every time she’ll say, “Why so early? You said the bite was better later last time!” Of course, she’s right, but I hold my ground. “Honey, you never know when the bite could pivot to an early one!” My answer sounds hollow even to me.

Spouses keep us humble and grounded. I catch a big striper that just about anyone else would consider a real trophy. I show Elaine the picture of my mighty catch and she says, “That looks just like the one you caught last week! Are you sure it’s not the same fish?”

Hey, my wife is much smarter than I am and she has all the common sense – I’m thankful opposites attract. If we both had the same passion it probably wouldn’t be pretty .

She’s allowed me to be me and do my thing. It takes someone special to appreciate and live with a fanatical angler. Someone who puts up with me like my wife does is a blessing. Hope you have one. Never give up!

This story was originally published December 10, 2019 at 12:00 PM with the headline "Ode to fishing spouses who give anglers enough line to follow their passion, but also keep them grounded."