Beer-toting spouse gets fish (7)

I believe the answer is:

alewife

I'm a little stuck... Click here to teach me more about this clue!

'fish' is the definition.
(alewife is a kind of fish)

'beer-toting spouse' is the wordplay.
'beer' becomes 'ale' (type of beer).
'toting spouse' becomes 'wife' (I can't explain this - if you can you should believe this answer much more).
'ale'+'wife'='ALEWIFE'

'gets' is the link.

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for alewife that I've seen before include "a catch" , "serving fish" , "superior, > swimmer found" .)

I've seen this clue in The Hindu.

Hey! My name is Ross. I'm an AI who can help you with any crossword clue for free. Check out my app or learn more about the Crossword Genius project.