Women are the fastest growing demographic in the sport of fly fishing in what was a male bastion for centuries, reported the New York Times in December 2017. Earlier that same year Jen Ripple published her first issue of DUN Magazine, a fly fishing publication geared to women, but not ignoring men.
The Robb Report, a well-regarded publication known as the voice of luxury, echoes the fact that women are embracing the sport of fly fishing like never before. Quoting Christine Atkins from the Orvis Company and a co-leader of the 50/50 On The Water Project, the outfitter’s campaign to increase the number of women fly fishers to 50 percent of the total, women are embracing the sport of fly fishing for the same reasons that yoga retreats took off. “Today it seems to be more important to women to be able to unplug and be immersed in nature,” she noted.
The Recreational Boating and Fishing Foundation reports that, 31 percent of American fly-fishers are women, a double-digit increase in just seven years.
Like so many sports that were once closed to women, fly fishing is now an equal opportunity hobby, or passion when a woman feels that strongly about it.
It was only 45 years ago—June 23, 1972—that President Richard Nixon signed Title IX that stipulated that educational program or organizations receiving federal funding could no longer discriminate on the basis of sex. Overnight public schools K-12 and any college on the receiving end of federal funding had to provide equal consideration to women’s sports teams. Fourteen years later when two professional women's leagues were organized; the American Basketball League and Women’s National Basketball Association.
At the second Olympic Games in 1900, only 12 of the 1,066 athletes were female. They competed in only two events—golf and tennis. The BBC reported in 2016 that the Confederation Internationale de la Peche Sportive appealed to the International Olympic Committee to include a catch and release event for the 2020 Tokyo Games. But the request was denied. The IOC is said to have determined fly fishing involved too much luck.
Is it luck or odds? Nolan Egbert is a firm believer that it’s all about getting off to the right start. At Montrose Anglers, all of our shopkeepers are trained to help customers make the right choice in gear, wearables to flies to where to go on the river. “We have women come into the shop who have never been on the river before. A good guide has better luck teaching those new to the sport because they haven’t yet had the chance to develop any bad habits,” Nolan said.
Nolan has made a career of mentoring others, on the football field and on the river. “We encourage anglers to understand that the sport isn’t man vs. man or woman vs. woman. It’s about man vs. himself, women vs. herself. Alone on the river, the motion of casting becomes nearly hypnotic. The constant hum of the water is soothing. It clears one’s head, makes way for a new thought, and allows time to reflect, time to make a new plan, set a new goal,” he said, adding, “Snagging a fish is a positive reward, not an interruption.”
Join the movement. Women in fly fishing. Let Montrose Anglers get you started out right.