Newlyweds who fish together, stay together. But husbands remember, don’t give bad advice

I have a few readers, who are also anglers, who wonder if my wife, Elaine, ever fishes with me?

To answer that thorny question, I’m sharing a fishing story that goes back to when we were newlyweds some 47 years ago.

I had found a great little cove up at Millerton Lake where a bunch of bass were feeding. I had been doing very well fishing for them while walking the shore and I figured this was a great opportunity to take her up to the lake where she could catch a few fish and practice her casting.

So I invited her to go to the lake with me. It was going to be fun and I knew she would surely become a hardcore fisherwoman. (That was back in the days when I thought I knew a lot.)

We arrived at the lake and walked down the ridge about 70 yards to where we could look down into the small still water, a good 30-40 feet above the shoreline. From there, we could see bass swimming around all over the place – it looked like an aquarium!

That’s when I realized I had left my best lures in the car. Tons of fish waiting for something to eat, and I have to go back up the hill. Time for some instructions:

“Hon, just stay right here quietly until I get back and then we will start casting!” She already had on a good lure, so she asked me why couldn’t she try casting?

“You need to wait because you always cast to the right, and that tree to our right is where your line will end up, tangled in the top.” She was glaring at me as I reinforced my instruction.

I could see she wasn’t very happy and didn’t like it that I didn’t trust her to start casting.

A minute later I’m heading back down the hill with my lure and just as I come over the crest, I could see her holding her pole up high. Something wasn’t right. In the next moment, it became clear. Her line trailed from the tip of her pole to the very top of the tree I had warned her about.

She wasn’t happy and it was my fault.

Apparently she had set out to prove me wrong after I told her her line would end up in the tree if she tried casting.

She had let it fly!

You know those cartoons where there’s a wispy little black cloud right over the character’s head that shows how disgusted they are? I could see it over her’s. She was frustrated and irritated with me being a know-it-all.

It still took me years before finally figuring it that being right can be a costly decision. Keeping your mouth shut can be a great thing to do when in doubt.

Elaine still fishes with me every so often, but that day at Millerton is a lifelong memorable fishing trip she will never forget. And I will never live down.

Never give up!

Roger George: rogergeorge8@protonmail.com, Rogergeorgeguideservice on Facebook and @StriperWars

This story was originally published July 11, 2023 at 12:11 PM.