What does she mean when she says....

[50inchpig]

that I need to talk to her more in the boat? What can I ask her or talk about to keep her interested? Need some help, any tips are appreciated!

[Lisa Almquist]

I suppose you could ask her what she wants to talk about? That's what I'd do anyway. That's a good start to a good conversation I would think. You could ask her where she might want to fish the next time you go out. Maybe just show interest in what's going on with her job, the kids (if you have any)or maybe what to do the following weekend you both have off. I hope that helps!

[harvey lee]

When my wife comes along fishing, I try to pay some attention to her and just not get all wrapped up in what I'm trying to catch. If I'm fishing for eyes and she would rather sit and catch panfish or drift for them, then that is what I do.

I don't believe that she has a wonderful day in the boat when I just sit there and do all I can to catch a few fish and ignore her.

I would do as Lisa suggested and try and find a topic's she might be interested in talking about. My wife loves to go out in the boat and enjoy the day but she doesn't want to do that if I'm giving the fish 100% of all my attention.

[glenn57]

she can talk to you all she wants at home! why in the boat, its time to fish. J/K. I can talk smart now right? seriosly, my wife spends a lot of time with me in the boat and we really dont have that problem. she loves to fish that might be part of it or when its slow we dont have an issue talkin about things. and like harvey and many others have said if she aint happy......... good luck.

[UdeLakeTom]

Nah...I'll keep my left hander....It's way to late to change now.

Check out the ice fishing forum for the poor guy frozen!

[bustin lips]

I'd tell her there is time to talk later...right now I am talking to the fish

[setterguy]

Buy her an Ipod, the boat is quiet time.

[glenn57]

ult, could not find it on the ice fishin forum.

[Luvsoutdoors]

ahhh, Musky fisherman, married to one - not big talkers in the boat, kinda their nature. Always thinking about where to make their next cast! and of coarse you can't make eye contact because you have to watch the bait. Pan fisherman are more chatty and would win more congeniality awards. IMO

[Lisa Almquist]

I liked how you summed that all up Luvsoutdoors. I'm married to a man who isn't a big chatter in the boat either (but get him anywhere else-whoa that's another matter indeed! ) so I've always fished in a quiet boat. He's very focused on boat control, jigging, keeping us on fish and netting my fish constantly. heehee

[Maja]

You could talk about the front coming in. wink wink

[glenn57]

thats really funny lisa, im still laughing at that last post. hey hes trying to put ya on fish is my thought. he must be busy at work. so do you have the day off? cant wait headed north tonite. i may be going to duluth next week so look out.

[Luvsoutdoors]

You're right Lisa, yeah, boat control-you know its not easy putting us(women)on fish, takes all their concentration so we actually catch something. Or they can't hear us over the motor if you are trolling. Whatever-just be glad to be out there.

[Lisa Almquist]

My man is an A-One Fishing Guide, I tell you! I don't run our boat (I know, I know but I don't, ya know?! ) so I have to give him a lot of credit when it comes to some of those walleyes I bring in. Although my jigging technique and bite detection are second to none!

glenn, I DO have the day off! I've worked 11 days in a row and I have errands to run but I'm loving just hanging out here on FM for once! Yay me! Have fun up north-I'm not really sure when we're getting back up there. Give us a fishing report when you get back.

PS. Maja, I still love that lime capped cat you got there. Cracks me up! Being a cat lover who dresses her cats up, I sure would love to do that! But I know I'd get slashed in my sleep if I did and I'd deserve it!

[pikeguy2003]

Here is a tip that I hope helps you a ton! Me and a friend had the same exact problem when our wives were in the boat with us alone. So we had an idea!

Since our wives get along great, we started fishing together. Over the course of last summer we went out quite a few times and had a lot of fun. To our wives fishing is a social get together. The girls talk and fish, and we don't talk as much, and fish. It works on many levels.

When we would come off the lake we would usually stop and grab a burger. (It helps to have a cooler with plenty of ice to ice down the fish, since you are not going straight home to clean them).

By the end of summer this worked so well that we got to take a trip to Osakis. We've been wanting to fish this lake for years, and our wives thought it would be fun to go and stay at a resort for a long weekend. So we planned a 3 day trip to Osakis, and chose IdleWild resort as the cabins looked decent and there was an indoor pool.

Alexandria was not that far away from the resort so the girls could break away and go shopping if they wanted to. It really helps to have an option for them if the weather is rainy or really windy and they don't want to be out in the boat. My brother-in-law & girlfriend, who also get along great with everyone tagged along.

It worked out great, and was probably the best 3 days of fishing I had last year. The girls slept in each day, and us guys got to get up early and chase walleyes. Got our SERIOUS fishing done in the morning. We came in and had breakfast, and after breakfast we would take the girls out for sunfish. Since the girls like to talk, what we would do is troll for northerns with spoons or rapala's on the way too and from the spots we were going to for sunfish. We had to do this because it is hard to talk over an outboard when you open them up, and it allowed us to fish for northerns which the girls weren't really interested in doing. A little more of the serios fishing for us guys.

This changed after I handed my pole off to my wife, and she got to reel in her first northern. She is now interested in fishing for bigger fish, in addition to sunfish. Funny how reeling in a 5 lb northern can do that to a person?

Most of the time while they were in the boat we were baiting their hooks and taking their fish off for them. (Have a couple backup poles set up as well for when they tangle a line or a hook breaks off. This is really important, it is much easier just to hand them a new pole while you are retying a hook or cutting and redoing a line - whatever you do, do not show your frustration or get upset when they tangle a line. If you do, it will turn them off to fishing in a nanosecond - learned this from a friend whose wife used to love fishing with him - she now hates fishing because he is too intense about fishing).

My wife loved it, as she felt it showed that I cared more about her being able to fish than me, and she said it made her feel like she really matters to me. I think this is the key to the dilemma. Marriage counseling taught me that neither we, nor they want to be in second place. Not to another person or passion. Bottom line is that everyone wants to feel special!

We were really catering to them, and paying a lot of attention to them. We didn't get to catch as many of those big sunnies, but that's okay. They really loved being guided! Who doesn't! Seeing them get excited and having fun catching fish was really cool! We would then come in for lunch, clean fish, and relax. Have an afternoon bonfire, and do some grilling or fry some fish for dinner.

We had bonfires in the evening and cocktails, the girls would talk about their stuff, and us guys would talk about fishing. We got up and repeated this process the next two days. On the second evening after dinner, the girls decided to run into Alex to do some shopping and we managed to get out on the lake for an evening of walleye fishing.

Afterwards we had another bonfire. It was really great for both of us to be able to drink and not have to worry about who was going to be the designated driver! Everyone got to have a good time in that respect, as well.

I have to tell you it was the best 3 days of fishing I had last summer. Not only in the amount of fishing that we did, but also the quality of the fish we brought home, and the overall experience.

We probably caught 350-400 sunfish. We ate 40 sunfish between the 6 of us while we were there, and came home with 120 sunfish that were between 9-12 inches. We came home with 18 walleyes, 9 northerns, and a few crappies we caught while fishing for sunfish, and we were not even targeting the crappies. The thing that was crazy about it, is that we never caught our limit any time we were out in the boat. We would pick up some fish here and some fish there. The bite wasn't great, it wasn't really fast and furious. I think the key was that we spent plenty of time on the water, and had plenty of lines in the water, but it didn't seem like we were working that hard to get our fish either.

You might want to give a plan like this a try. The girls are already talking about going back to Osakis, and they have a lot more interest in fishing, now that they have had a really great experience.

This trip has become my benchmark to beat, and the cool thing is that my wife was included in one of my best fishing experiences ever. How ironic is that? Not the norm for most guys that fish!

Good luck and may the force be with you! Pikeguy

[gregg52]

thats funny lisa

theres lots of times where shes catches alot more fish than i do

you know it goes back to that deal with the l-serine on mens hand i believe its called

when i say its just as fun for me to watch her catch fish as it is for me to catch em she doesnt really believe that buts its true because i know i'm doing my job puttin her on fish

[glenn57]

lisa, will do.

[Maja]

Lisa, that cat cracks me up too. It's not mine- I found it in a random search on the net.

[yukon]

When kids were young I had to learn to unfocus? I would fish until they were losing interest and then we would spend time cruising, talking, laughing, exploring, whatever, and then go back to fishing. I found out the change of pace kept my wife more interested as well. Of course she almost always out fishes me so that gives her something to talk about.

[Gary Crichton]

Lets see if I can say this with no offense. Our cabin is a 4.5 hour drive, so we can talk then. We stay at the cabin and we can talk there if needed. Usually it is a book or a crossword puzzle she would bring to do while the drive is on. She also likes to sleep a little bit( well maybe a lot). So if we are out fishing, I know a book is coming with to keep her company as she enjoys sitting in the boat and relaxing. If an Eagle or other nature things happen a conversation may start for a little bit. I don't look to start conversations as we are here to fish.

Remember the commercial about an outboard motor. A women will say 2 million words b-4 the motor needs servicing and a man will speak maybe 10,000 words. I rest my case.

G.C.

[Iambjm]

that I need to talk to her more in the boat? What can I ask her or talk about to keep her interested? Need some help, any tips are appreciated!

Want brownie points? Tell her how much you enjoy having her in the boat with you. A tip to let women know why men don't talk more, take her out and teach her how to run the boat. Let her watch the locator and try and backtroll for a while, I can almost guarantee she won't be as chatty. Now that I run the boat, I realize how much concentration it takes. I tend to always be a bit chatty, but running the boat has taught me a lot - mainly patience. If all else fails ask her what she would like to talk about.

[Sandmannd]

What do you talk about other times with her? I would assume you could talk about the same thing. I have days were I spout off a lot in the boat and days where I just want to fish. My wife won't go in a boat so I don't have to worry about that. But to be honest, I would rather have her in the boat with me and talk more than fishing than to not get her out like it is now.

[Jim Almquist]

Quote:

Let her watch the locator and try and backtroll for a while, I can almost guarantee she won't be as chatty. Now that I run the boat, I realize how much concentration it takes. I tend to always be a bit chatty, but running the boat has taught me a lot - mainly patience

To me if you don't have good boat control it is a waste of time to go fishing. I want to stay on THE spot and not 10 feet away cause you might not catch anything and it could mean a difference in depth between catching lots or getting skunked.

I will talk about things going on around us while we are fishing ( look at the loons or eagle ) but I feel that time in the boat is time to enjoy fishing. Never stay out so long that she now is enduring the fishing trip. I always give updates on the depth and what kind of fish marks are down there. This will help to keep her on edge so that stay's interested and that way she won't miss any bites.The one thing that is a constant is that we will be on fish or we will be moving and if it seems like the bite is off then we will get off the lake. Make sure to have snacks and cool drinks along.

[Borch]

I liked how you summed that all up Luvsoutdoors. I'm married to a man who isn't a big chatter in the boat either (but get him anywhere else-whoa that's another matter indeed! ) so I've always fished in a quiet boat. He's very focused on boat control, jigging, keeping us on fish and netting my fish constantly. heehee

My wife would likely say the same thing. Although I talk more if we anchor up on a spot and slip bobber. For me this is more "Social" fishing time as I'm no longer glued to the locator or gps.

[mngirl]

Tell her you can't talk or you'll scare the fish!!!