Couples Fishing

I like people that fish. It’s not like I dislike all others…but those who fish, I get it, I understand their need to feel a big fish throbbing on the other end of a line. I work with one of the area’s best anglers; Tim Entrekin is one of those ‘good-guys’ here in the RBB School System. Tim is not only handy but he’s pretty smart when it comes to fixing and getting things done. Through the years we have talked fishing many times. Seems like I don’t make it to my classroom on a Monday that the two of us aren’t talking about our weekend activities. The funny part comes when one of us goes to pull out our camera or phone. Such was the case just recently…so, when I saw Tim pull out his phone I knew he had caught a ‘goodin’. What I wasn’t ready for was the fact that Tim had landed a 4 ½ pound smallmouth. If you aren’t up on smallies…the state record is 7 pounds and anything over 3 pounds is a real trophy.

The beauty of our friendship is that I am as happy as can be for Tim when he lands a big one…and I know he feels the same way on those days when I pull out my camera to show him one of my trophies. That is how it should be but it’s not always that way in other sports. Fisherman are different. Truth is that Tim and I are on different ends of the fishing spectrum. As you know…I am a fly-guy and do most of my fishing in moving water or from a small float tube. Tim is a conventional fisherman who owns a big boat and takes it all over the mid-west. While I don’t fish the same as Tim…I think we both benefit from our short chats as we talk water temps, types and colors of lures/flies that are working and of course all the odd things we see as we travel back and forth on Indiana’s waterways.

I like to ask Tim what was working for him on a weekend; how deep was he fishing, what color of lure he had the most luck with, etc…As a fly-fisherman I can learn a lot from the conventional guys. Perfect example is just a couple weeks back when in early April I caught a 6.5 pound bass down in Greene-Sullivan. I sat mid-week at my tying vice and came up with two patterns; one was multi-colored with shades of yellow, orange, rust and brown. The other was tied to look as close to a silver/black Rapala as I could make it. The first fly was what I caught the big bass on and later in the week I switched to the silver and black fly…it was exactly what they wanted as I caught a mixture of bass from 13 to 16 inches on it. Both of these color patterns came to me via Tim; he had mentioned to me on multiple times that he had caught fish on just such color patterns.

Tim is a lucky guy…for you see he gets to fish with his significant other. Vickie and Tim fish together all the time and in fact, on many occasions I have to say that the photo that Tim pulls out to show me…it is of Vickie holding a big bass. I say that Tim is lucky because fishing is for the most part, is time spent in a casual, carefree and beautiful surrounding. When you get to do that with your significant other…who can gripe?

“Tim and I enjoy fishing because not only do we love to fish, but we thoroughly enjoy spending time together; we enjoy the quietness of nature and being out on the water”, says Vickie. Wow…I couldn’t have said it any better. If you are a fishermen then you know exactly the sentiment, that quiet time on the water is just something that is hard to explain.

Tim and Vickie fish the USA Bassin Co-ed division and they just got through fishing their first tourney of the year, it was held at Brookville Lake in East-Central Indiana. The big smallie Tim is holding in the photo above was caught while fishing together at Brookville. The couple will also be fishing the Co-Ed Classic this fall on Kentucky Lake…which happens to be Vickie’s favorite lake and favorite place to fish.

Now…just in case you think Vickie goes along to sit and hold a bobber and fish each time while reading a book or knitting a scarf-you’d be very wrong. She is one intense fisherwoman and to her credit she has thus far landed two seven pound largemouth bass; she caught one on Kentucky Lake and the other was hooked at a strip pit here in the Hoosier State. “I keep telling Tim that he better be ready to put one of mine on the wall alongside his if I ever catch a bass of eight pounds or bigger”, said Vickie. I have a sneaking feeling that Tim might just have some company up on the wall for his big fish.

Vickie told me that fishing together really works well for the two of them, “We are best friends and enjoy pretty much the same things. We spend eight to ten hours a day on the water while fishing and it still never seems to be quite enough”. I have to say that Tim’s Vickie sounds much like my Vickie. Come on folks…if you are looking for a way to spend significant quality time with your mate then what better place to do so than in the outdoors. When you do I am sure that like Tim and Vickie…you will truly Enjoy the Great Outdoors.