Hooked on a different kind of love
I did something last weekend that I haven’t done in a long time. I went fishing with my wife Karen.
Surprised? It’s funny but out of all my friends that are either charter captains or avid fisherman, I can think of only a couple that regularly fish with their wives. So, when Karen came up to me and asked me to take her fishing, I didn’t know what to think. My first thought was either she had gone out and bought some expensive item and was buttering me up before springing the news on me or she was going to tell me something like “I’m leaving you because you love fishing more than you love me.” or “You always smell like a fish.” She knows me alright.
You may have gotten a chuckle out of that last line but during my teen years and beyond I lost more girlfriends because of my passion for fishing than for any other reason. And the line “you love to fish more than you love me” was usually the last thing I heard from each of those lasses.
But when I found Karen, she was a dream come true. She actually encourages me to go fishing! If I were the suspicious type, I might wonder why she is always so fired up to get rid of me. Knowing that I am always hooking or cutting myself, is she playing the percentages by taking out a large insurance policy on me? Is there uh, another man? But after over fifteen years together, I think she is one of the few women that I have ever met that realizes that I am a better person after a day on the water. I am more relaxed, easier to be around plus since I do all the cooking, she gets to sample some mighty fine vittles after a day of me foraging in and around our waters.
Having lived and worked on Daufuskie Island for many years before we got married, Karen is no stranger to water. Back when she had her company Daufuskie Seafaris, she commuted to work each day by herself on some of the lamest excuses for a boat imaginable. If it rained, she drove through it. If the wind howled and the seas were rough it didn’t stop her from making the run all the way from Broad Creek Marina on Hilton Head to Freeport Marina on Daufuskie. And on the nights when she would host large group functions on Daufuskie, she would make the run back to Hilton Head by herself very late at night with no running lights simply because they never worked. Now that is my kind of gal.
Back to my day with Karen. Since it had been some time since she has done any type of fishing with me I decided to make it an “easy” day. One thing I do know about women and fishing is this: for some reason they feel the need to spend at least an hour getting ready to simply hop on a boat. Clarifying that statement, I don’t mean helping with the bait, rods, etc. but rather putting on make-up. I will never figure out why women feel the need to put on make-up and meticulously style their hair when they are going fishing. Maybe I’m wrong but I seriously doubt that fish look up and say “Wow, what a knock out, I think I’ll bite on her hook!” I guess it’s just a girl thing.
my boat and headed out to do some sheepshead fishing. It was a little cramped with all the towels, bottles of lotions, bags of this and bags of that she felt the need to bring along but that was O.K. If fate caught up with us and a nuclear war erupted while we were out, we could have survived for months on all the things she brought along. Heck, I would have never thought to bring along a Cuisinart. Them women think of everything!
Arriving at one of my super-secret fishing spots, we baited up and began fishing. Of all our inshore fish, sheepshead are by far the trickiest to hook, With human like teeth they can steal the bait off a hook in the blink of an eye. Maybe not the best fish to target since Karen was rusty so my only my only advice to her was “if you even think you see the rod tip move, rear back and rip the fishes mouth off!” With that I whispered a silent prayer that the sheepies would be chewing because from experience wives don’t have much patience if the fish aren’t biting. The day was gorgeous with a slight breeze and I really wanted to spend the afternoon out there and not have to run home because things got too boring.
I had to move a couple of times before we found fish and the bite was absolutely on fire. It took her a couple of misses before she got the hang of hooking sheepshead but once she did she was all in. The first few were borderline keepers which we released and then the big boys showed up. I’m talking line stripers that gave her the what for. In all we caught at lease 30 sheepshead and released every single one. Every spot we hit was stacked with fish that acted as if they hadn’t eaten in weeks!
Maybe my silent prayer worked because this was a pitch perfect husband and wife outing. True or not she has expressed interest in going again real soon which slightly shocked me. I can’t guarantee the same results but all in all it was a wonderful way to spend the day together.
Collins Doughtie is a 60-year resident of the Lowcountry, is a sportsman, graphic artist, and lover of nature. collinsdoughtie@icloud.com
