I’m going to miss a fishing extraordinaire

A couple of days ago, I got some sad news. A longtime local and fishing extraordinaire, Kit Wannamaker, passed away after a long fight with cancer.

Kit and her husband, Frank, were one of the only married couples I have ever known that spent most of their time together on the water fishing. For decades, I would almost always run into the two of them in their boat, the “Wanna Go,” and trade information on where the fish were biting or where the shrimp were stacked up.

I don’t give up my fishing spots often, but Kit and Frank were among a handful of exceptions. She could outcast most men and, no matter what the sea threw at her, she always took it with a smile. I am going to miss our encounters more than I can ever put into words.

Speaking of women and fishing, I lost more girlfriends growing up because of my passion for fishing than for any other reason. And the line “You like fishing more than you like me” was usually the last thing I heard in many relationships.

But when I found my wife, Karen, she was a dream come true. She actually encourages me to go fishing! If I was the suspicious type, I might wonder why she is always so fired up to get rid of me.

Knowing that I am always hooking or cutting myself, is she playing the percentages by taking out a large insurance policy on me? Is there, uh, another man?

But after all these years together, I think she is one of the few women I have ever met who realizes that I am a better person after a day on the water. I am more relaxed, easier to be around — plus, since I do all the cooking, she gets to sample some mighty fine vittles after a day of me foraging in and around our waters.

Karen is no stranger to water, having lived and worked on Daufuskie Island for many years. Back when she had her company, Daufuskie Seafaris, and later running Freeport Marina on Daufuskie Island, she commuted to work each and every day by herself on some of the lamest excuses for a boat imaginable. If it rained, she drove through it. If the wind howled and the seas were rough, it didn’t stop her from making the run all the way from Broad Creek Marina on Hilton Head to Freeport Marina on Daufuskie.

And on the nights when she would a host a large group function on Daufuskie, she would make the run back to Hilton Head by herself very late at night with no running lights simply because they never worked. Now that is my kind of gal.

It has been some time since she has done any type of fishing with me, so not long ago I decided to ask her to accompany me for an “easy day” of fishing. One thing I do know about most women and fishing is this: for some reason, they feel the need to spend at least an hour getting ready to simply hop on a boat. Clarifying that statement a bit, I don’t mean helping with the bait, rods, etc., but rather putting on make-up.

I will never figure out why women feel the need to put on make-up and meticulously style their hair when they are going fishing. Maybe I’m wrong, but I seriously doubt that fish look up and say, “Wow, what a knockout! I think I’ll bite on her hook.” I guess it’s just a girl thing.

Finally in the boat and on our way, it was a bit cramped with all the towels, bottles of lotions, bags of this and bags of that she felt the need to bring along. But it did have an upside. If by chance a nuclear war erupted while we were out, we could have survived for months on all the things she brought along. Heck, I would have never thought to bring along a Cuisinart. Women think of everything!

Arriving at one of my super-secret spots, we baited up and began fishing. Karen can throw a cast net as well as any man and is pretty darn good with a spinning rod, but it had been a while since we fished together — so she was a tad rusty. Because my back requires a backrest, I sat on the seat in the back of the boat while she fished from the front. Do you know where I am going with this?

Whoosh! I felt something fly right by the right side of my head and, if it was a horse fly, it was day-glo orange and had a sinker and hook hanging off its leg. I didn’t say anything, but I hugged the deck from that point on.

We had to move a couple of times before we found fish but, once we did, she and I had a blast. We caught and released a number of redfish, a few trout and a hodgepodge of the other species, and she really got into it. She even said she was ready to go offshore —something she has never done because of a fear of getting seasick.

I see the same couples fishing together time after time when I go down to the Ogeechee River in Georgia and it always makes me wish my wife would join me more often like Kit did with Frank. But then again, the saying “If wishes were horses beggars would ride” is probably more suitable for this pipedream of mine.

This story was originally published June 24, 2017 at 2:16 PM with the headline "I’m going to miss a fishing extraordinaire."