Gotta Love 'Em!

Long live the fly fishing girl. Chicks Rule! There really is nothing better than a gal holding a nice trout. They make the trout look waaay better. On the right is Molly from Belgrade fishing with SOL a couple years ago. The bottom line is that girls get it.

The gals that do fish are just like the gals that ski or snowboard. When they are good, they are much better than most men. I know this may be hard to swallow from a male standpoint, but what I speak is TRUTH. Many women qualify as level 6 fishermen, they truly enjoy the entire day, catching fish along the way.

I know I speak for the majority of guides when I say that I would rather have two gals in the boat than the alternative. Guiding men allows me to make my Suburban payment every month, and I appreciate that. The industry number for the percentage of female fly rodders is 4%. Boy, I'd like to see that number increase. And it is. The new generation of fly fishers includes 90% of that 4% figure. We see more and more women and it is refreshing. They don't seem to get mired in the dry fly funk and pretentiousness that some men do. They also have an incredible ability to learn. What a positive attribute. We, as men, can certainly learn from this.

A short story: This is the stereotypical day with a husband and wife. Disclaimer: This is not an absolute, many husband wife teams do not exhibit this behavior...but it does happen. The man pulls you aside in the morning and mentions that this trip is for his wife, that he already knows how to fish, and he will sit in the back of the boat. "You just pay attention to my wife and get her some fish. I'll keep my mouth closed and catch fish in the back." Here's what follows. The gal listens intently to every word I have to say, learns rapidly and starts hooking a few fish. About the 4th or 5th fish landed the husband says, "Honey, great fish, maybe I should sit in the front and get a couple." She says OK and the switch is made. The male, who generally can cast a country mile, whacks casts out 40+ feet and consequently cannot get a drift. The fish don't care if you can cast, they just care if you can drift! The wife has her bobber just off the oar and is attaining perfect drifts. She continues to hook trout and the smoke begins to waft out of the husbands ears. "Do I have the same flies on as my wife?" Yes, you have identical rigs sir. "Are you sure, let me see her flies." OK sir, as you see, same rig. "Why is she catching fish and I'm not?" Well sir, she is getting great drifts. The tension continues to build and the wife, to dissolve any long term rifts between the two, stops fishing. Smart lady.

The upshot is...women fly fishers kick ass! For a cool female blog perspective, check out Christine Johnson's Blog...Flyfishchick.com You will enjoy it.

Quirky fishermen behavior of the day: Saw a guy doing push-ups at the boat ramp, pre-fishing ritual. That's odd.

Capt. Carp's Favorite Grateful Dead of the Day: Uncle John's Band

Fly of the Week: Hickman's Skiddish Smolt