Northwest Fishing Reports

Age old question for people on this forum that seem to be fishing quite a bit more than me (envious!).

I'm having a hard time finding more than 2-4 hours/week to fish mostly because of family and work. I get up at 5am to fish a couple hours before work once or twice a week, and sometimes leave work early for a few hours at the hole in the river. I almost never have the weekends mostly due to obligations, house work, and baby daughter.

So how do you do it?

i dont have many responsibilities, i rent, no kids etc.

I wish I had the magic answer for you, but as you know when you have a family it is very tough to find fishing time. I have a family and full time job. My situation is probably different than yours, but here's how I get my fishing time:
1) I'm very lucky to have an understanding wife. She knows how much I love to fish so she cuts me some slack when I want to go. I make it up to her with house chores and taking care of the kids, etc.
2) I'm lucky to have a job that I can work my own hours. So I usually fish on the weekdays very early in the morning and then go to work and work late.
3) I have some friends that like to fish casually who also have kids. So every now and then we go out on the weekend and the children play while we try to fish and keep an eye on the little ones. It's not a perfect scenario, but at least were fishing!

Good Luck. I hope you find a formula that works for you.

W4y I think you will find that your situation is more the norm. All my kids are out of the house, but for me finding 4 hours a week to fish isn't always easy. I have learned to plan my time off from work around different fisheries I want to work.

I my self is blessed enough to be transfer for work in a 3 minute drive from my favorite fishing holes, I can use my lunch break to fish or leave home early and fish before work starts.

W4y wrote:Age old question for people on this forum that seem to be fishing quite a bit more than me (envious!).

I'm having a hard time finding more than 2-4 hours/week to fish mostly because of family and work. I get up at 5am to fish a couple hours before work once or twice a week, and sometimes leave work early for a few hours at the hole in the river. I almost never have the weekends mostly due to obligations, house work, and baby daughter.

So how do you do it?

Sounds pretty equivalent of my schedule. Before work or at lunch...with an occasional weekend outing. If it were not for the weekday trips I would t get out much.

MAKE TIME!

Married business owner (owner, operator) with 1 kid (4 year old). Lucky enough to be able to schedule a day off here and there for myself. Then, get all my household chores done...and stuff around the house to make my wives life easier BEFORE going to the river.

Its simple.

1) Kick kids out
2) Get old
3) Retire
4) Ask wife for permission (do chores FIRST!)
5) Go fishin when ever you want!

Larry3215 wrote:Its simple.

1) Kick kids out
2) Get old
3) Retire
4) Ask wife for permission (do chores FIRST!)
5) Go fishin when ever you want!

perfect for a general life goal

Please see what I posted below
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W4y wrote:Age old question for people on this forum that seem to be fishing quite a bit more than me (envious!).

I'm having a hard time finding more than 2-4 hours/week to fish mostly because of family and work. I get up at 5am to fish a couple hours before work once or twice a week, and sometimes leave work early for a few hours at the hole in the river. I almost never have the weekends mostly due to obligations, house work, and baby daughter.

So how do you do it?

Coordinating schedules to go fishing can be a challenge (although Larry 3215's suggestion has merit *lol*). I've been posting for months now on various links to find locals that my neighbor and I can fish with ie, MA 8-2 Port Susan, local lakes and as of late, the Stilly. Of the responses I received, only one person actually followed through. It was the respondents that were no-shows. I have a life-long affinity for all-things-fishing. Any responsible locals want to fish the Stilly with someone who's reliable? Retired or able to fish early morning weekdays preferred. Per Bass Buster's suggestion: make time! (((((Fish On)))))

Female Fishermen Disclaimer: I am trying to land a fish, not a husband *lol*

I have always fished a lot, and my method has never been a secret. Forty one years ago I married a gal that loved to fish and hunt as much as I did. I have always been very lucky to work very steady in heavy construction and for the most part my wife could stay home and take care of the house and raise our three kids. We lived in Central Washington so it was always easy to the family to fish a river or lake several nights a week after work. Our kids grew up thinking this was a normal way of life and now they love fishing and the outdoors and spending time teaching their kids how to fish and hunt. Now that I am retired we spent almost all our time fishing. Last winter we went to Arizona Strip Bass fishing for six months then came back to Washington and fished walleye April thru mid July. We headed to Sekiu for a couple weeks then hit Lake Wenatchee for the sockeye run and just for kicks stopped by Banks Lake for another week of walleye fishing on the way home. I recently finished smoking all but the walleye and the first of Oct. we take off for Arizona to share our summer catch with friends we meet there last year and fish for more strippers. So my answer to you would be to fish as a family unit and save for retirement because it will happen and it's a blast. Good Luck

I find in my household, that you get out of it.... what you put into it.
My example is that if I give my wife 2-3 days of letting her do her own thing, and I handle kid duties during that time, then the return on the investment is that I will take a couple days to fish.

I wish we could all fish together, but honestly, either they don't care to fish, or there idea of fishing is sitting and staring at a bobber, which doesn't suit me. That is all fine though.
I'm willing to bet that your wife would happily give you a day off, for her own chance to be out of the house an equal amount of time.

Quadfather hit it on the head for me. I fished a lot before kids, then had a lull when they were little, then a serious lull when they were in grade school to high school. For us, the kids were priority - school, various activities, baseball, etc. Now that they are grown I'm back to fishing a lot more. My wife will do trips and fish, it has to be the right situation as she isn't hardcore like I am. So I find those opportunities. It's worked out pretty good the past few years.
Guess I'm saying, there are different stages of life we pass through that offer their own unique benefits. In retrospect, being there for my kids helped them grow up to be good adults, well worth the sacrifice of less fishing.

Yep, have to agree. I think the first thing that needs to happen is your wife needs to find some sort of outside the family interest to grow personally. Some gals have trouble finding things they enjoy outside the family, if they don't, they stagnate get unhappy and everyone pays the price. Once everyone finds their thing, its much easier to budget time. You get to do your thing, she gets to do her thing and of course you have to have those mutual things and something besides the kids helps. When you reach the balance everyone grows. I've worked the yours mine and ours for the last 30 years, it's been great!

First thing do not start your own business and have it become successful. I have had very little time this year, year three of my lab, and things have gotten so busy I have not even had a chance to get out for pink fishing. The only times I got out were trips that were planned way in advance so I felt obligated to go and have paid with long days before and after. The wife is not into fishing, only helping eat it, but she does love camping and hiking so we try and combine though.
Hopefully things normalize soon so I can at least have little time, but then Seahawks season starts and I have tickets so there goes any other free time.
It is a bad idea to tear apart an exterior wall in late August (then it starts raining) as well, but 70 years ago they did not think insulation was needed and it is time for the kitchen to not be cold in the winter and hot in the summer.
So W4y I feel your pain, although I did not tell you what to do a few things not to do!
At least I can keep gathering tips from everyone here that is kind enough to report and leave advice so when I do have some time there will be less skunks and more fish.