Women and Fishing -- Not Just A Man's Sport
E. A. Edwards
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.
About the author: E. A. Edwards is a free-lance writer with a variety of professional and personal interests. You will find more information about fishing and fishing gear on www.fishing-rod-guide.info.
The latest information and news on Fishing Advice :
Somali pirates freed an Omani fishing vessel with its six crew members after more than seven months in captivity, officials in the country's semi-autonomous Puntland region said Thursday.
FBI raids Global Fishing (Seattle Times)
FBI and federal fisheries agents on Wednesday searched the Bellevue office of Global Fishing, whose founder Arkadi Gontmakher is currently detained in Moscow and charged by the Russian government with trafficking in black-market king crab.
Rivers fishing well this year (Vail Daily)
ROARING FORK VALLEY, Colorado ? Take your pick: The Roaring Fork, Fryingpan and Colorado rivers are all fishing well, according to area angling guides.
Inner-city kids enjoy summer fun fishing (winnipegsun.com)
A flapping surprise was discovered during last week's Fish Winnipeg Inner City Youth at Risk Fishing Program. "I caught a fish!" yelled 11-year-old Paige McIvor, re-directing the attention of people in attendance at The Forks to her rod in the water. "This is my fifth one."
Fishing report (The Myrtle Beach Sun News)
FISHING REPORT Estuary Look for | Flounder, spotted seatrout, red drum, black drum, sheepshead, bluefish, Spanish mackerel, weakfish, tarpon
Fishing report (Pittsburgh Tribune-Review)
Carol Dambach of Ellwood City was fishing the Shenango River with a minnow when she landed a 20-pound flathead catfish.
Fishing Tournament (The Augusta Chronicle)
Sponsoring a bass, crappie, catfish or other fishing tournament? Mail or fax your flyer or information to Fishing Editor, The Augusta Chronicle, P.O. Box 1928, Augusta, Ga. 30903-1928. Fax number is (706) 823-3408. Tournament reports must include first and last names of the participants, total numbers of fish, and total weight of the catch.
FISHING REPORT (The Patriot-News)
A weekly roundup of reports on fishing conditions throughout central Pennsylvania. Moon Phase: New moon, Aug. 30; first quarter, Sept. 7; full moon, Sept. 15; last quarter, Sept. 22.
Time to get new hunting and fishing licenses (Dayton News)
Well it?s that time of the year again when your current hunting and fishing license have only a few weeks before they expire, August 31, to be exact. The new hunting and fishing license will go on sale on August 15th. Now remember that just because you go out and buy a new license, that license will not be good until Sept 1st. Of course now, when you purchase a fishing license, that license is ...
Salmon fishing open at Westport, La Push and part of Neah Bay (The Daily News)
Though ocean fishing is closed off the southern Washington coast, waters to the north are now open for salmon fishing seven days a week.