Fishing is for Girls

I don't know how it happened. But I have officially become the girlfriend of a fisherman.

What does this entail, you may ask? I, myself, am still learning the ropes. However, I can tell you that I may be experiencing some important life lessons. Operative word here is "may."

The first lesson I learned is patience. Fishing is not an immediate payoff. There's all this stuff you have to do in order to even get your line in the water. For instance, you have to drive to the lake. You have to launch the boat. Park the trailer. Find somewhere to pee because all the restrooms are closed for the season, apparently. Learn how to drive the boat, in a manner that is pleasing to the master fisherman. Bait your line, and get it in the water. Only to hope that you'll actually hook something, other than algae.

Multi-tasking is another necessary skill. I had to drive the boat, hold a line, drink my beer, and take photographs ALL AT THE SAME TIME. Now tell me that isn't difficult. Unfortunately the better you are at one of these skills, such as drinking beers, the worse you get at the remaining necessary tasks. Just in case you were wondering.

Quite possibly though the most difficult of all was the need to hold my tongue. Not just when being instructed on what to do, but also to keep any and all unnecessary conversation to myself. It is the natural instinct in me as a girl to want to chat away. I mean, I have the man that I love all to myself out in the middle of nowhere with no distractions. Of course, I'm going to want to pick his brain and talk about everything and anything that comes to mind. I quickly discovered that part of the allure of fishing is the waiting, and the peace and quiet. Not to mention it takes him a lot of skill to fly fish and "milk the cow" or "strip the line" or whatever it was he was doing. So distracting him is not the best idea.

Finally, I had to learn to be humble, and NOT rub in his face that I caught way more fish than he did. Keep in mind, however, that his way of fishing and my way of fishing are not even on the same tangent. His takes actual skill. Mine just takes reeling in the line when the fish bites. So, while doing a fish dance in a tin boat in the middle of a choppy lake may be appealing, it's way better to just laugh, smile and get a kiss.

At the end of the day, however, I felt so....fulfilled. I caught lots of fish, and while I was disappointed I had to throw them back, it was so much fun catching them. I was pleased that Ben would want to take ME to the lake, not his buddies, and spend a day together, while he shared with me one of the things he is passionate about. Although, obviously it's win-win for him because he doesn't have to take turns driving the boat so I can milk the cow. He can fish all day, while taking advantage of time with me. But, in summary, I'm happy to be the girl of a fisherman. I imagine that in time, I'll catch the bug, and look forward to these trips even more. I'm honored that I'm invited.

Just invent a pole that holds my beer and my camera while simultaneously driving the trolling motor. Then I'd really be a happy girl.