More and more women are learning to enjoy fishing each and every
day. And, why not? Fishing is a sport that doesn’t require
exceptional strength, stamina or height – quite the contrary,
fishing is a sport of agility, finesse and patience, skills many
women already possess. So why don’t more women fish?
Successful fishing requires knowledge of various types of
fishing gear, tackle, and an understanding of the quarry. Fish
have a variety of feeding habits, behavioral patterns, etc. and
these characteristics influence how to go about fishing for
them.
Traditionally, men learned how to fish when they were boys from
fathers and grandfathers. Even if this training was lacking,
it’s no big deal for a guy to hang out with other guys who enjoy
fishing and learn the ropes from them.
For a woman, though, the process is apt to be somewhat more
difficult. In my family of all girls, we learned the thrill of
fishing as children from our father. Fortunately for us, our dad
was an “equal-opportunity” fisherman...and he was a very patient
man.
We learned to bait our own hooks, remove fish from the line, and
clean the fish as well. We were rewarded with many an enjoyable
Sunday on the lake competing for top family fishing honors of
who caught the most and the biggest fish.
For women who weren’t brought up fishing as I was, all is
certainly not lost. Although learning from a boyfriend or spouse
is not out of the question, a significant other may not be the
best place to get your first fishing pointers.
Your honey may not have the patience that you will need to learn
proper fishing technique and he may be a bit condescending as
well…not exactly conducive to an enjoyable learning experience.
Try instead local women’s fishing clubs. Check online for groups
in your area that are specifically organized by and for women.
Many groups are primarily centered on fly-fishing but not all
are.
Also see if your community college or local university offers
any fishing courses. Often fishing classes are offered in the
adult education, physical education or recreation departments.
Of course, you can also start at your local library, checking
out books on fishing and learning a few basic techniques that
way.
Your local fishing outfitter or marina may have more information
as well and would also be a good place for information and to
network with other fishing women.
Another option is to go online and search for websites catering
to women and the outdoors or, more specifically, women and
fishing. One such website is www.ladiesletsgofishing.com.
Founded by Betty Bauman of Ft. Lauderdale, FL in 1997, LLGF
“promotes networking among women anglers and emphasizes
mentorship between novice and experienced members.”
Other groups, both national and state, promote fishing for
women. There are seminars, fishing adventures and special
fishing events scheduled year-round in many areas of the country
which are organized especially for women anglers.
Yet another reason fishing is a great hobby for women is because
beginning your fishing experiences need not be prohibitively
expensive. Especially when compared to other hobbies, start-up
costs for spin or bait-casting fishing equipment are not
tremendously high. Generally speaking, $200 or less can buy more
than enough basic quality fishing gear for a beginner to get
started. To start up a fly-fishing hobby will cost a bit more as
the gear tends to be more expensive.
This, of course, doesn’t include a boat! But, many fishing
locations can be reached without a boat. Again, do your research
to find areas accessible by car.
More women should consider fishing for an enjoyable and
challenging hobby. Learning the basics of fishing is easy but
perfecting those angling skills can take many hours of sometimes
peaceful and sometimes extremely exciting time at the other end
of a line.
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