How do you do it???

[eyepatrol]

I read posts all over this site and notice guys that go fishing sometimes 3 or 4 times a week!

Two questions here.....

1. For the married fellas (especially those with kids too young to fish)....how in the world do you convice the wife to let you go out that often??? I'd love to go out that much, but the wife always wants me home either because she thinks I've been out enough for one week (which is usually only one day such as a Sat. or Sun.) or she wants to do various housing projects (darn home improvement shows!).

2. I read how many guys head up north to URL, or LOW or the Grand Rapids area. How in the world can you afford to do that more than once a year?

Showing a little envy here, but if anyone's got suggestions, I'M ALL EARS!!!

[fishin789]

When my kids were little I worked 2nd shift and thier mom didn't work. So I would go fishing in the mornings,and sometimes after work at night. when the kids got in school thier mom went back to work and I was put on third shift. I would go fishing while the kids were in school.or at night on one of my days off while everyone was sleeping.Of course I would get the extra time to go when the kids wanted to go. so that was more fishing time.the job I had was 4 ten hour shifts so I had three days off.one was always a friday. so with the kids in school and thier mom working I always had fri to fish.When I changed jobs it was a 3 twelve hour shifts at night. rotating every three weeks on what 4 days I had off.so that always gave me at least 3 days during the week to fish.Now that I'm not married anymore and the kids are all grown up I can just go fishing anytime I have time.

Oh ya the big thing I did was when I proposed to my ex I did tell her. You see how much I fish. I'm not gonna change.If you can not handle that say no to getting married.And if you are asking if I got divorced because of all the fishing. no that is not the reason why.

Another thing you can do is stop at a lake on the way to or from work and shore fish for a hour or so.It helps to keep the fishing withdrawls away till you can get out in the boat for the day or night.Also when you are home help out with the kids and house work as much as you can and they don't seem to mind as much when you want to go fishing.

As for being able to afford taking all the trips up north to fish. someone else is going to have to answer that.All I could afford was a couple trips up to mille lacs. once for the opener and a two or three day trip just before the 4th of july.With the gas prices as high as they are now I doubt that I'll make it out of the metro area this year.

[pikerliker]

I'm married with 3 kids myself. I have found that if I help out with the housework that I get more "liberties" with the fishing. I too usually have to work to get 1 fishing trip a week. I also find that if I bring a kid or two along it helps in the PR department!! Money is also an issue with me. My wife and I share the same money accounts, etc so neither of us make big purchases, take trips, etc without talking with the other one first. In the end it's a balancing act. I finally got a boat last year after working on her for a long time! I usually will work some Overtime to get money for a trip or two up north during the year too. Just so you know your not alone!!

~piker

[crappieDean]

Basscatcher -- I too have 3 kids(1 baby). I've been married for 8 years and love my wife. I plan on fishing about once/twice a week with 2 to 4 trips a year(2 to LOW and URL). This has been my secret to success. First and foremost, get her and the family involved when you can. Take them along fishing. When I fish with the family, I go to lakes that have playground equipment, docks, and trees around. It seems everyone is happy even if their not fishing. Second, if your wife likes fishing, plan on a family fishing trip. It may only be 1 or 2 days and doesn't have to be expensive. It may be a smaller lake just to do some panfishin. Third, I really like my wife to be involved in clubs with other women. (Stampin, Scrapbookin, Dice/Cards) They love the interaction with other married women. I've got a good buddy who does the same and so when we get a chance to go fishin', the girls got their own thing to do at one's home while the kids are possibly playin outside or watchin a movie. Fourth, plan the trips out in plenty of time so you can save a little bit at a time all year and then it doesn't seem like a big hit to finances at one time. Finally, help her out when she wants/needs it with projects that are important to her and the family.(cookin, dishes, wash clothes, etc) I don't play the trade off game. I enjoy those things and she sees that is important to me almost like fishin. Well, they work for me, maybe some can help you. Also, take a kid fishin, they will never forget it and they will love ya for it. (That comes from someone with experience in that area)

[Bald Eagle]

It looks like you have plenty of answers to your first question. I'll take a shot at the 2nd one. As far as trips to URL and LOW, and my personal favorite Winnie. The only reason I can afford it is because I don't have any kids and never plan to. I also married a woman who loves to fish. I have nothing against kids, but just can't give up the freedom of being able to come and go and do whatever I please. The gas prices are going to be painful this year, but something else will have to be sacrificed, (probably the home improvement stuff). I hope the wife doesn't see this!

Best of luck to all. Opener will be here in no time!

[eyepatrol]

Perhaps I should have been a little more elaborate on my first post. I agree with everyone here, and I do help out around the house and with our 18-month old son quite a bit. She's just not a big fisherwoman. She will sometimes fish, but mostly she likes to read a book while out in the boat. And because she's not a big fisherwoman, I don't think she really understands my passion for it.

We tried taking our son out a few times last year, but he just HATES wearing his life jacket. Cries and fusses the entire time. Because of that, it makes it un-enjoyable for my wife and we usually end up leaving the lake after only 2 hours of fishing. She is adament that he wear his life jacket at all times, I pretty much agree with her on that. I think I'll work on "training" our son on wearing his life jacket hear at home, so that when we get out in the boat, he'll hopefully be used to it.

As for the multiple fishing trips, well, I guess I'm just a little envious of others about that. With the house payment, 2 car payments, school loan, doctor bills, work and what seems to be an open checkbook at Walmart, it's just difficult to take that many trips, financially. Maybe a few years down the road we'll be able to do that. Not in the near future though...got another little one coming in August so I'm trying to prepare myself mentally for LIMITED fishing and hunting action this year.

It's all good though.

[Team Otter]

Basscatcher, both good questions. Allow me to give my $0.02 worth.

1. I am married with a 2-month old daughter at home. My wife thoroughly understands my passion for fishing and knows how much I enjoy doing it. As long as I pull my weight at home with chores, etc, she pretty much lets me set my own schedule.

2. I make quite a few trips north (probably once a month or so) over the course of the year because that's my homeland and the fishing is great. Pretty much my only expense when I make these trips is gas and a little lunch meat because my parent's still live on Pokegama Lake outside of Grand Rapids and our family has a hunting/fishing cabin between Waskish and Baudette. So, I'm pretty fortunate from that aspect.

Good luck in your constant pursuit of getting on the water more!

[eyepatrol]

Team Otter

Pokeg is a pretty darn nice lake isn't it! I lived up in Rapids for a year working out of one of our offices up there, but layoffs were imminent and I couldn't afford to get laid off so I came back to our office here where there was plenty of work. My former office manager from up there has a house on Pokeg. Pretty nice place to be, and a lot of fun on the 4th of July!

I lived on Bass Lake north of Cohasset when I was up there. Rented out a guest home from a guy. Fished off his dock at night in the spring and caught some real nice 'eyes...biggest one being 29.5 inches (but skinny as a pike...must have just got done spawning).

Fished Winnie a couple times too. That was nice, for the most part. Came out of Cut Foot onto Winnie and fished what I think they call the "Rock Pile"? Fished out away from everyone and caught a few. Found an underwater hump about 1/2 mile away from that spot and really started catching the walleye and jumbos. Wasn't long though until we had 6 other boats fishing within 30 feet of us. That in my opinion is the only downer about that lake. If you're out somewhere by yourself, you'll have guys motoring all around you looking at their locator to see what and why you're fishing there. Maybe that was just one bad experience, but I've talked to others who say the same. Besides the crowd, walleye fishing was pretty spectaular.

[pikerliker]

Basscatcher I also try to give my wife nights out to do her thing while I watch the kids. My kids are a little older now (7, 9, and 11) but I always have done it even when they were younger. We have always beleived that we each need our time to ourselves and have been supportive of each other that way. My wife too prefers to read in the boat when I have tried to bring her fishing. I am very passonate about fishing and while she doesn't understand it, she supports me in it. I also see guys abuse this though, taking multiple hunting/fishing trips and getting bent when the wife spends some money on something or wants to do something that he doesn't neccessarily get into. Just a bit hypocritical. Just be fair and communicate.

~piker

[fishin789]

basscatcher. when the kids are as young as yours you have to break them in slowly. only stay as long as they are happy.This could be 5 min. so be prepared.when my kids were little thats all the longer we stayed the first time. slowly stay a little longer each time. pretty soon they will make it most of the day.just don't push it, or they will hate going.take it slow and go places where they can catch fish lots of fish. you won't get in much fishing time but it will pay off in the end when they will want to stay and catch fish.

[eyepatrol]

fishin789

Yeah, right now my son is too young to do any fishing with a rod or anything, but I plan on working him into it. My parents live on a shallow lake with rough fish and I plan to spend some time down by the shoreline with him this year catching some bullheads and maybe a carp or two. I brought some sunnies home from Washington this winter which was an eye opener for him. We also went to Cabelas last fall and went through the fish tank area. Wow, he could not take his eyes off the fish!

Last year out in the boat he was only about 8 months old, so I don't think he really understood what was going on. Hopefully this year he'll comprehend things a little better. I'm excited to teach him about the outdoors and the values of being an outdoorsman. If it takes, great. If not and he doesn't like it, that's fine too. Better not to force them into it or they'll hate it forever.

[love2fish4ever]

basscatcher, I have 3 boys 18, 15, & 12. I've been divorced for 5 years now & they've always lived with me & I don't get child support & I always been a very avid fisherman, so I can relate to the time & money issue when it comes to fishing, especially in the begining when they were 5 yrs. younger. It does require learning to balance the time & money & it sometimes comes down to being satisfied (for the time being) with the quality of the times you can go vs. the number of times. All things come in time, but like fishing it does require patience. If there is something your wife enjoys doing by herself or with a friend make sure she has equal time to so, that should allow you fishing time without opposition. As far as fishing with little ones, I found that the lifejacket was an issue & the boat was confining after about an hour. So I started shorefishing which gave them more freedom, plus I began going to places like the west side of Kohlmier (a very small lake in Owatonna) where there was a small playground about 30 yds. away. I also went to the west side of Clear Lake in Waseca, there is also a playground there. Just some ideas that helped me. L2f

[fish-bone]

Basscatcher, My wife and I have had the same issues with the life-jacket. I have six kids and they all had the same problem.....the collar area and back of the neck pad. We solved that problem by finding a collar-less jacket. There are a number of them out on the market. If you have a toddler, there are ones that they slip into and zip up. Have them swim and play in it along the beach, and they get used to it quickly. For the older kids, same thing...collar-less with mesh over the shoulders. This is alot more comfortable for them and they will stay in the boat wearing them for a lot longer time period. Hope this helps!

[Team Otter]

Basscatcher,

Pokegama is a great fishery and often gets overlooked by many locals and visitors. There are patterns for catching 'eyes out there that very few people are trying or have even heard of for that matter.

Winnie is tough to beat for being able to put fish in the pan and the potential for putting one on the wall. There are plenty of spots to fish on Winnie, so if people do move in on you, just move on to the next spot. I don't let things like that get to me. It's not worth it.

Good luck on the water.