Wife Shops, I Fish.

[Bassun]

Sometimes I amaze myself at how I can miss some of the most obvious ideas.  Every year we (wife and her family) head out shopping as the fall approaches.  Usually we end up at outlet malls, or other big shopping areas.  The wives shop, the guys kind of follow them around and hope to find a "guy" store to kill some time in.  Hours and hours of the day spent in a concrete hell of screaming children, long lines, and just general crabbyness of other disgruntled shoppers.

 

Well, a couple months ago we were planning another one of these trips and I was naturally dreading it.  What's worse, I was going to be the only guy going as the others were indisposed of... ok, yeah no biggie been there done that but meh.  So I was looking at a map of where we were going and noticed a small lake nearby.  That's when it clicked.  DOH!  Drive them down to the outlet, then go fish while they shop!  I would get to try new places, and still be there to drive etc as needed.
 

So, off we go to Mebane, NC.  They shopped I went to a little lake about 5 mins away from the outlets.  I had a bunch of bass gear in tote and had hopped to take a john boat out on the lake... skipping the story, I ended up fishing some bait feeders for catfish and had a freaking ball!  I fished, they shopped -- then called when it was time to head back to pick them up and go eat.  I mean really... fish all day, then go out to eat.  Man was it rough, lol.

 

 

This past weekend we did it again.  This time headed to the Tanger Outlets in Pigeon Forge, TN.  Well, there is Lake Douglas just about 25 mins away (depending on traffic).  But, I know they pull the lake waaay down in the fall, so I figured why not try fishing the tailraces from the dam.  This time I scaled back the gear I took and built a rod pod out of 3" pvp pipe and strapped it on the roof of the suv.  I headed to the dam to find a good few people fishing. 

 

First off, it is excptionally well designed for bank fishing near the dam.  Secondly - my lord it's amazing how big of a difference in water flow there is when they are generating power vs when they are not.  If you are along the banks anywhere near this dam, be prepared to get back up the bank when they start releasing water.  I know, kind of common sense, but I've never seen water rise as much at a dam before.

 

Anywho -- I ended up only fishing for a few hours and discovered a fantastic Hybrid and White bass bite at the lower end of the pool next to the dam (2-3 inch white grubs fished in slack water or casted out and drifted over the newly covered rocks when generating water).  I didn't keep an accurate count, but I know I was around 3 dozen (maybe more) in just a couple hours time.  I didn't catch any monsters, but I had a complete ball catching new fish in a new place -- and at the end of the day, ended up again at a pretty nice restaurant (AppleBarn this time) to wrap things up and then headed home.

 

So, now instead of dreading shopping trips with the wife and family, I start looking for new places to fish.  So far it works out great, and to check in with her I just send a pic of a fish that I've caught.  She knows I'm ok, she replies and I know they are ok.  It's been win / win so far, and the only bad thing is that I've been drug along for these shopping trips for years now and never even thought about turning it into a fishing trip.  What's worse, at times there have been places where I've even said, "Man I'd love to be fishing that." while we were shopping. 

 

Maybe everyone else has already been doing this, and I'm just a nub who missed the obvious -- but if not, then I recommend looking at it as an option.  Sure, you may need to pay for a non-resident license - but pft, who of us wouldn't spend a little money to get to go fish.  I know for us it keeps everyone happy. 

 

I will suggest building or buying a rod travel case to strap on top of the car.  I have traveled with the rods on the rack and it works, but for a few bucks you can build a fairly cheap and very effective "rod pod" as I call it out of 3 or 4 inch PVC.  I may have went a little overkill, but I made mine 8' long, out of 3" PVC.  I glued an end cap on the front and placed an end cap on the rear.  I drilled a single hole in the end of the cap to avoid vaccum and I then cross drilled throught the cap and tube and use a trailer hitchpin and clip to ensure the cap cannot come off.  (Sanding the pipe down will make it easier to open).  Then I took a few old rag socks and bundled them up and shoved them in.  My thought was to keep the tip from smashing into the front of the pod when breaking, but the rods kind of slipped past the socks a little and they held the rods in place. 

 

I wouldn't leave them like that for days, but for a few hours it worked great.  I have some other ideas on what may work better, such as a piece of elastic near the butt of the rods pulled tight to hold them in place.  But for now this works great and was a lot cheaper than a hard rod travel case for one peice rods.

 

 

 

 

[mrmacwvu1]

Good for you. I did the same thing back WHEN I was married. However one trip the boat broke down and I dropped my cell in the water. I was five hours late picking her up. She was not the happiest shopper.

[Bassun]

LOL I can imagine.  That could put the stops to it pretty quickly. 

 

I remember once, many many years ago - before we were even married being very late from fishing.  We (her and some of her family) were supposed to meet at like 6pm to go eat and then to the movies.  Well, her brother, brother-in-law (now removed) and I went wade fishing.  We knew the area fairly well, and fished much of the creek before.  Well, the in-law suggested start at point X and wade up to point z and it should be a couple hours.  Well ... the creek took a turn around a mountain that we didn't realize...

 

We were hours late, and ended up stopping fishing and just walking to try to get back.  Needless to say, once we made it back to the truck - we were all three in hot water.  We ended up fishing then walking for a total of like 8 hours on what we thought would be a few hours of fishing.  Yeah, the ladies were not even remotely happy.  Needless to say, we didn't make it to dinner or movies...

[Bluebasser86]

You must not have kids. No way I'd get to fish and leave my wife with our son all day.

[Bassun]

You are correct, we do not have kids.  That would likely change the dynamic for sure...unless they went with me - but that's a whole new can of worms lol.

[MO_LMB]

I like this plan.

[Sam]

Sounds like you did great and your wife needs a special Christmas gift to allow you to do this.

 

No way my wife would allow me to do this.

 

She likes how I can mix and match colors better than her so along I go to Talbots, Chico's, etc. when she goes shopping.

[Bassun]

Sounds like you did great and your wife needs a special Christmas gift to allow you to do this.

 

No way my wife would allow me to do this.

 

She likes how I can mix and match colors better than her so along I go to Talbots, Chico's, etc. when she goes shopping.

 

Yeah, you're right, lol.  I do have a great wife, and I probably should make sure I don't burn this bridge!  Course, I have to admit that it was many years before I saw the light, and started the fishopping (see what I did there lol) experience.  Maybe she just feels bad for all the years of shopping I had to endure... 

[gardnerjigman]

You must not have kids. No way I'd get to fishing and leave my wife with our son all day.

My thoughts exactly. Add kids into a full day of shopping and you have officially slipped into the 7th circle of hell! No way I could pull off a fishing trip during this!

Great story and awesome compromise for you and your wife!

[tomustang]

I'm glad my wife isn't like that, she'd rather fish than shop with other women.

[Bassun]

I'm glad my wife isn't like that, she'd rather fish than shop with other women.

 

She comes with me some, but for her shopping > fishing by far lol.

[reb67]

I'm glad my wife isn't like that, she'd rather fish than shop with other women.

x2

 

My wife hates shopping she much rather be fishing

 

I am so D*** lucky