Women in fly fishing

I rarely run into women when I'm out fishing. I do know a few wives of fly fishermen also fish with a fly rod, but generally fly fishing is a male dominated hobby.

April Vokey is one of the very few female fly fishing professionals. April runs a business which includes casting classes and guiding.

Here's a very nice video of April giving a casting demo at a fly show in Germany earlier this year. I think it's also a bit embarrassing to see how passive the public reacts to April's attempt to get them involved with her demonstration... People are probably baffled seeing this nice looking lady casting miles better than they do! :)

Go April!

Update July 2024:

Here's a podcast that gives a good overview of April's career.

Update Nov 2023:

I did a humpy tying demonstration for April Vokey's Anchored Outdoors.

 

Update 26 August 2013:
A message from the Fly Gal herself: "Thanks Jay, I appreciate the kind words.  :)"

Beef up your old wading boots with aluminum bars!

Patagonia rediscovered the traction power of aluminum. Their Rock grip wading boots has aluminum bars on the soles to provide the traction when fishing over slippery rock surfaces.

These boots are probably not for every situation. For instance on a drift boat, the guide will probably not allow you wearing one of these to prevent his boat from ripped up by the bars. Forking out $200 for wading boots that's for every once in a while?...

What if you have a pair of worn out wading boots, preferably with some kind of rubber sole like Vibram? By adding these aluminum bars you can turn them into wading boots to use with ultra slippery conditions. This way you give your old wading boots a second life!

Here's a great 'do-it-yourself' guide from Yellowstone Angler how to add Patagonia's replacement bars to your old wading boots. $40 for the replacement bars from Patagonia and some spare time and you get the real deal. Thanks George for the instructions!

Also check out the 2013 wader shootout at George's website.

Fly tying lamp

I have been looking around for the ultimate tying lamp for many years. One that's bright and easy to carry. Not that much to ask for, right?

Initially the ones that fit this description were halogen lamps. The bad thing with halogen is the heat. The halogen bulbs have a relative short life span and replacements are pricey. Then the lamps using LEDs started to appear. LED has low energy consumption, stays cool, have a long life span and give very clear white light.

So lets talk LED lamps for fly tiers. So, what are the options?

The best looking LED lamp for fly tiers at the moment is made by Marc Petitjean. This lamp is very well made, comes with an aluminum arm to attach the lamp to the vise. Unfortunately this lamp comes in at a hefty $280!

The next candidate is one made by Peak. This one doesn't look as sexy as the one by Petitjean, but it's still very nice. The one by Peak comes in at around $140. A lot less than the Petitjean but still no pocket money.

But tying lamps have one problem: the light coming from above the head of the vise cast a shadow on the side and bottom of the fly. No matter how bright the light is. A minor problem is the physical part: the lamp hanging above the head of the vise sometimes gets in the way with the tying.

So, what's the solution? A lamp with a longer neck? Even brighter lamp with dozens of LED bulbs? This would result in a heavy and not very portable lamp. Why not forget the idea of a lamp attached to the vise and look for something that doesn't come near the vise at all? Like a LED head lamp!

Mountaineers have been using LED head lamps because of the versatility, long stamina and you have your hands free. The best part I like is that the light goes where you look at. So no more shadows as you move your head around to inspect your fly.

I just looked up for an affordable LED head lamp and it's ridiculous but I ordered one that's just $3 including shipping!