This is really a good question because it can open the door to doing a lot of fun things together locally and travel adventures everywhere. In this month's issue of Fly Fishing in Saltwater there are two articles dealing with fishing and your spouse. One is "Couples Retreat" and the other is "Getting the Green Light". Both are good reading.
I started my wife out fishing with something small that I was sure she could handle and was fairly easy to catch,,,,,,shad. The warm weather this time of year made wading the sandbar at Verona a lot more comfortable for her too. The one mistake I made here was giving her too light of a rod. I started her out with a 4 weight thinking it would be easier for her to cast, but after the first couple of shad she asked if she could use my 6 weight and liked it a lot. On the way home that evening we stopped at Kiene's and bought her a new SAGE RPL+ 696 that she's used ever since.
Here's my son starting his wife out on her first shad.
After shad it was only logical to hand her one of my 9 weights and see how she could do with a little bigger fish,,,,,salmon. This was quite a jump in size but it taught her how to fight bigger fish. At first I had to help her cast the heavier shooting heads but she soon got the hang of it and did quite well on her own.
So, what do you do next to keep her interested in the game? Take her to Florida and the Keys. Barracuda are great fun and can be had wading any beach or shoreline. Throw any bright flashy fly or spinner and you're sure to get a grab with little trouble. We rented a boat for a few days looking for tarpon and she came up with this nice grouper. Talk about luck and some good eating.
Since then we've made a couple trips to Kona where she's taken Aku and papio but the real treat for her was going to La Paz with me on several of Jay Murakoshi's trips that I hosted. Here is where we met Darian and his lady partner Renee', who is also quite a fly fisher as well.
Here's Kim with her first BIG dorado
Jack Crevalle (aka. Toro)
Roosterfish
Yellowtail
African Pompano
a big Skipjack
And her list goes on and on and I completely forgot about her stripers in the delta. So, all I can say is make it easy for her at first and then let her do what she likes to do best. A few trips to warm places is always a good encouragement for her to tag along.
Tony
TONY BUZOLICH
Feather River Fly
Yuba City, CA.
(530) 790-7180
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