Women and fly fishing

Fly fishing has for centuries been seen as a true gentleman's pastime. Yet these days more and more women are venturing out into the trout streams, sometimes accompanying their husband or boyfriends, but more and more on their own.

Nowhere was the trend more in evidence than at the Metolius River Fly Fishing & Bamboo Rod Fair, held in Camp Sherman earlier this month.

Judith O'Keefe, whose husband, Brian, publishes Catch Magazine, was already fishing when she met Brian, but he put her on the accelerated program.

O'Keefe, who likes fishing with her husband, says they often go out with groups. She fished with her dad as a kid, so fly fishing is one of the things that takes her back.

O'Keefe, like many women, defined her favorite part of fly fishing as the entomology - understanding the bugs the fish feed upon.

"When fishing, you also connect with a wild thing, in this case a fish," she said. "It's a dance you go through with the fish as you catch, revive it, and let it go.

A lot of women think men have a different motivation than they do when they go fishing. Which might be why there are an ever-increasing number of women's fly fishing groups.

Robin Healy, member of Portland's Stonefly Maidens, and volunteer for Casting for Recovery, explained it this way:

"Women approach fly fishing differently, they're less competitive. They have a more overall approach. They're interested in water, birds, the whole landscape."

Leeann Ross, one of the Wild Women of the Water, likes big-game fishing, and has made multiple trips to Alaska. She, too, likes to learn about the larval stages of bugs, which bugs are in which rivers, where the fish hang out and why. There's a lot of science to fishing.

Wild Women are part of Central Oregon Fly Fishers in Bend. Local guide and fishing instructor John Judy does classes for them.

Co-founder Delores Marsh said while the group doesn't fish with men, they do learn from them. They started about six years ago, because the men wanted their significant others to fish.

"Fly fishing is one of the things you can do and lose total track of time. It's the best therapy I have ever known," Marsh said. "Women do not make sports number one, whereas men do. So when we get to go, it's a real pleasure. Women also have to plan ahead. Men will drop everything and go. Women may have to find someone to take care of the kids."

Local shops are helpful to women, which wasn't always true just a few years ago. Judith O'Keefe works at Fly and Field in Bend. Sherry Steele, flytyer, works at The Fly Fisher's Place in Sisters. Camp Sherman fisherwoman Laurie Adams works the fly fishing counter at the Camp Sherman Store.

Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife has started a fly fishing group just for women. Their group, Becoming an Outdoor Woman (BOW), teaches hunting and other wilderness skills in addition to fishing. For more information on the program visit http://www.dfw.state.or.us/outdoor_skills/bow/index.asp.

Adams teaches for BOW as well as Central Oregon Community College. She says a lot of women just like to learn away from the men.

Her programs teach about the watershed, food cycles, ecology, and habitat improvement, all aspects of fly fishing, not just casting.

This year's fair sported a number of women fly fishers. Bamboo rod maker Dave Dozer's wife, Mary Ann, is a fly fishing guide and a certified fly-casting instructor. She teaches through her Back Country Fly Shop in Corvallis. Husband and wife Rocky and Deanna Maley were at the fly-tying table with their children, one boy and one girl, all working side by side.

Casting for Recovery, a fly fishing group for breast cancer survivors, were there encouraging women to fish. They operate on the motto "To Fish is to Hope." Women get to learn a new skill that is not physically taxing.