I attended a competition the other day and was disgusted at the attitude of some of the guys about lady fishers(apologies for use of the name LF).I think that women happen to make brilliant fly fishers!I don’t get it!THese clowns were grumbling about this being a mans sport and that women should be at home barefoot and pregnant in the kitchen.
I actually had to clout one of them who turned his juvenile attention on my wife.
AAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRGGGGHHHHHHHH
IDIOTS
Someday the good old boys will be all gone. Unfortunately, that might be decades from now.
Could it be that they were jealous because they saw someone who was better than them?
Wyo-blizzard
I had coached youth sports for 11 years when I had my first female tackle football player. our first scrimmage with coaches on the field a coach from the other team yelled at a runningback for getting tackled by agirl. I told him his player got tackled by a football player. She played nose for me and by the end of the year led the team in sacks, hurries,tackles for losses, and received my nomination as D-lineman of the year. She taught me more about desire, putting up with bigots and prejudice than anybody else ever did. I’ve always said I’m more comfortable with the athletes than with the role cheerleaders and the dance teams play in sports. Since then I’ve had the privilege coaching a couple other young women and because they want to be there( not forced by their parents) they have been a pleasure. I’ll take desire and heart over talent and attitude any day.
I am extremely sorry to say this, and I know we sometimes sound like we are whining about it and I know it sounds like we are being sexist, but we are not, we are showing you our frustrations and hope that a small spark will ignite and grow so that you that you will be aware of of we go through.
For those of us who have partners or husbands or none for that matter who dont flyfish it is doubly hard, we get labelled by men and women alike. We do not go out fishing with anything sexual in mind, we do not go out to belittle anyone, angling has nothing to do with our sexual orientation whatever that may be.
WELCOME TO OUR WORLD.
I tease my wife & female coworkers about being “just women”, but they all know I’m joking! I have 2 daughters & a son & Molly & Maggie put Ben to shame as far as fishing goes! Those gals are good! Some guys need to “get over it” & realize that women in our sport are very welcome & true assets to flyfishings’ future.
Mike
Jo,
Personally, I don’t give a darn (keeping this clean) whether the person downstream or upstream is man, woman, or what is or is not his or her sexual orientation. When I’m on the water, my concerns, regarding other fly fishers are: distance from me, how much noise the person makes, how much that person disturbs the water, how likely that person is to interfere with my fishing, and the like.
It’s been said before and I’ll restate it: You create any catagory of people (like fly fishers) and you will have some as*****s within the group. If anyone, man or woman, is looking for fly fishing utopia, it’s not going to happen. So get over it. That’s just the way it is.
Allan
To be perfectly honest about it, lady flyfishers don’t bother me one bit. In fact, my wife is the best fishing buddy anyone could ever ask for and she’s darned good! To illustrate, this past summer we were fishing our local waters and one of the local guide (with clients) was having a bit of a bad day, especially seeing the Mrs. pulling them in like a pro. To make a long story short, the guide casually made his way close to her and in a quiet, low voice, making sure no one was watching, asked her what she had tied on. Anyhow, I can’t think of a better compliment to a lady fly fisher. Needless to say, she was happy to help.
Crackleback (Bob A)
I am not saying all male anglers are like this, only some and unfortunately like a smelly dog sitting on your favourite chair, they always seem to be where novice unconfident women anglers are.
I have had situations where I have been working a pool and some clot decides to walk right in front of me, yet this same clot would ask politely or go around the guy further down the pool. It happens, I live with it, doesnt mean to say I like it. What does concern me is the amount of people who get disillusioned by this and give up.
Jo Being only a woman and clearly unable to really control a fly line means that that sucker who walked in front of you would have no complaint if you hooked him through the septum. Be sure to give the line an ineffective feminine tug to try to get it out too.
all leaders tangle; mine are just better at it than most. Jim
I have ‘special’ ones for that same concept. Double lead wrap, with lead head on a 2x shank, the barb has been carefully lifted to 90deg
edit…dont need to tug just them getting it out is enough, usually go for the ears. Good to do while thinking of the “most accurate” trophy sitting in my china cabinet
[This message has been edited by Jo (edited 16 February 2005).]
Jo,
If you can ‘cast’ that fly, you deserve to be on the water. Just stay away from me.
Allan
Jo: You put your finger on the essential difference in men and women when you said “We don’t go fishing with anything sexual on our minds.” Things sexual are always on men’s minds, we just do other things when no sexual opportunity is in sight. Makes for a lot of misunderstanding between the sexes.
i would venture to guess that what any fly fisher wants the most is a bit of solitude–that goes for man or woman. when i fish alone i can count on only having to deal with one jack ass.
I have seen my mom put a lot of fish and game on the dinner table.
Eric “nighthawk”
jo you should enquire about the exploding flies someone on this board was designing for jet skiers.
I have one more point to make.Of all the flyfisherpeople I know Iswear that the ladies are almost always better casters.Why is that?Must be something in the genes:gentler,less macho or something.
Adam
Adam,
I’m sorry, I just cannot agree with your comment:
“I swear that the ladies are almost always better casters.”
Of course some of the ladies who have seriously taken up the sport are as good or often better then some men. However, you take beginners, male and female, and the majority of the time the male will learn quicker. I think it’s a matter of ‘muscle memory’. At some point in time the serious woman fly fisher may get there and may even overtake her male counterpart in distance and technique. However, that is not the norm.
Allan
we could agree and disagree on this for a very long time, I picked up basic casts pretty quickly, but then again I can also throw a ball properly. Kids have learnt not to throw a ball at me unexpectedly, comes back fast hard and with a mean curve.
Allan
In my experience women learn faster than men.
The guys always seem to want to cast a full line first time.Maybe we’re talking different casting here.I meant basic neat,pretty casting.The kind that requires minimal brute force(most casts in fact).
Maybe it’s just an african male thing
Most of us are idiots, at one time, or another! The secret is to do it, when nobody is there, to witness your stupidity.
Deanna is a Lady of the Old School, and I respect her as a person, more than being a female. She is more of a Fly Angler, then I will ever hope to be. It is a pleasure to call Deanna a friend and a mentor.
~Parnelli
PS: She cast one mean fly line!