What's more gorgeous than Rogue Angel K8 with a wild steelhead doe?
Rogue Angel K8, a wild steelhead doe, and Leah.
On our epic ladies trip in northern BC last November. One of the best trips ever!
Showing posts with label K8. Show all posts
Showing posts with label K8. Show all posts
11.3.11
7.3.11
For the ladies....
It can be a little lonely being a woman in the fly fishing industry, when your fishing buddies, your co-workers, your fellow guides, your clients and your customers are all men. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not complaining, I love men, the no drama attitudes, bravado, exaggerations, humour (or lack thereof), tall tales… But spending so much time in testosterone rich environments can be a little rough on a girl.
I particularly noticed it the other night while having dinner and drinks with friends and their friends. The women were talking about their children, pregnancies, high school reunions, homes; the men were talking about sturgeon, boats, and last week’s fishing trips. There I was stuck in the middle, not sure which conversation I fit in to or which one I wanted to join. I drifted back and forth, always with one ear tuned to the other conversation. I find this happens to me quite regularly at social gatherings, where I need the girl talk but am unable to drag myself away from the boy talk. I hear conversations about fishing or boats or gear or archery and suddenly I can’t hear anything else. Getting time to spend with my girlfriends is rare, and when I finally do I always seem to get pulled away.
I do have some amazing female fishing buddies, but the few that live close to me have weekends off, which I rarely do. The others are in northern BC, Washington, Oregon, and Alaska, so our opportunities to fish together are few and far between. So that leaves me fishing with the boys the majority of the time. Which is great, but there is a completely different vibe happening, and sometimes that testosterone is just too much. And I can’t tell you how many times I’ve been told “sorry, my wife/girlfriend wouldn’t understand”. My co-workers here at the shop go fishing with some of our better long time customers, but so far that’s a line I haven’t crossed. Nothing would ever happen, it’s just that I’m female and they are male, and therefore it’s a no go.
I was even told I couldn’t stay at a certain slumber lodge on our favourite steelhead stream because “the boys won’t be comfortable”, despite the fact that the majority of the “boys” that stay there know me quite well and consider me to be just another angler.
I’ve been fortunate to be surrounded by supportive and helpful men since I started fishing, which is not always the case for a lot of women. But every so often somebody will phone the shop, and, hearing a woman’s voice, ask to “talk to one of the guys who can help me out with rods/reels/waders (whatever)…” “You can talk to me” I always sweetly reply. “Oh…………okay……….well…..” and then they tentatively start asking their question. It makes me feel great to help them out, but it annoys me to have to prove that I know what I’m doing, whereas it’s just assumed that the guys do. The most common question I get from customers actually in the shop, is “So, do you fish?” Fair enough question, I suppose, except once again, it’s assumed that the male element in the shop does, why is it not assumed that I would too?
I guess when it comes down to it, you’ve gotta follow your passions and deal with those little annoyances as they come up. It’s nice to see more and more women getting involved in the sport, with events, courses, trips and gear designed specifically for us. With roll models like Hannah Belford, Kate Taylor, April Vokey, Whitney Gould and Mia Sheppard (among many others) blazing a trail for young women everywhere, the world of fly fishing is no longer such an intimidating place. In the end, if you love to fish, gender shouldn’t matter.
24.2.09
Fishing with friends....
Thanks for a great trip guys!!!!
15.1.09
Angler of the Month
Ladies and gentlemen, she's back! Rogue Angels blog is up and running again (YAY!!), at a new address: www.rogueangels.net
So I decided that every month I'm going to feature an angler who inspires me. Although I'm not going to limit it to women only, I'm going to try to focus on the female side of things.
For my first feature, there is no one more worthy than the original Rogue Angel herself, the famous (or infamous) Kalamity K8. I've already mentioned her in previous posts, and I'm sure most of you are familiar with her, but how can you not love K8?
K8 should be an inspiration to anyone, regardless of gender, ability, experience or age. If you've read her blog, you'll know that K8 truly wants everyone to experience fishing the way it should be - with awe, joy, passion and love. Fishing with K8 makes you appreciate all the little details, including those hard lessons we all have to learn.
No matter what, I've never seen K8 beat down, whether she fell in the river five times, didn't catch any fish, got her truck stuck in the mud or had to push her drift boat up a side channel. She takes those bad times and moves on to the good. K8 is constantly pushing herself to learn more and to move beyond boundaries. K8's like having a happy little angel sitting on your shoulder, encouraging you to be the best you can be.
K8 took a leap of faith last spring, and wound up spending the summer on the incredible waters of Bristol Bay in Alaska, guiding for giant rainbows and chasing bears.
I imagine working 14+ hours a day, seven days a week, for months at a time would kill most of us but every time I talked to K8 throughout the season she sounded... well, tired, of course, but like she had come home. That she was in the place she was meant to be. How many of us can say we feel like that on a regular basis? Usually we're all bitching about not spending enough time doing what we love to do.
Since the day I met her, K8 has always been trying to find ways to encourage more women into the world of fishing.
Whether friend, client or total stranger, K8 is always there to share her love of the outdoors. I think a lot of women are intimidated by a sport that has traditionally been dominated by men, and have trouble finding the resources to feel capable of going out on their own. Knowing K8 makes me believe that there is no reason why I can't pave my own path in the fishing world. My gender doesn't diminish my ability or my passion, nor should it compromise my confidence. Whenever I'm in danger of forgetting that, I've got have the newest member of the Loop Army on my side, reminding me what fishing is all about - fun.
So I decided that every month I'm going to feature an angler who inspires me. Although I'm not going to limit it to women only, I'm going to try to focus on the female side of things.
For my first feature, there is no one more worthy than the original Rogue Angel herself, the famous (or infamous) Kalamity K8. I've already mentioned her in previous posts, and I'm sure most of you are familiar with her, but how can you not love K8?
K8 should be an inspiration to anyone, regardless of gender, ability, experience or age. If you've read her blog, you'll know that K8 truly wants everyone to experience fishing the way it should be - with awe, joy, passion and love. Fishing with K8 makes you appreciate all the little details, including those hard lessons we all have to learn.
No matter what, I've never seen K8 beat down, whether she fell in the river five times, didn't catch any fish, got her truck stuck in the mud or had to push her drift boat up a side channel. She takes those bad times and moves on to the good. K8 is constantly pushing herself to learn more and to move beyond boundaries. K8's like having a happy little angel sitting on your shoulder, encouraging you to be the best you can be.K8 took a leap of faith last spring, and wound up spending the summer on the incredible waters of Bristol Bay in Alaska, guiding for giant rainbows and chasing bears.
I imagine working 14+ hours a day, seven days a week, for months at a time would kill most of us but every time I talked to K8 throughout the season she sounded... well, tired, of course, but like she had come home. That she was in the place she was meant to be. How many of us can say we feel like that on a regular basis? Usually we're all bitching about not spending enough time doing what we love to do. Since the day I met her, K8 has always been trying to find ways to encourage more women into the world of fishing.
Whether friend, client or total stranger, K8 is always there to share her love of the outdoors. I think a lot of women are intimidated by a sport that has traditionally been dominated by men, and have trouble finding the resources to feel capable of going out on their own. Knowing K8 makes me believe that there is no reason why I can't pave my own path in the fishing world. My gender doesn't diminish my ability or my passion, nor should it compromise my confidence. Whenever I'm in danger of forgetting that, I've got have the newest member of the Loop Army on my side, reminding me what fishing is all about - fun. 
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