Gency Brown

Hello everyone, and welcome back to the cabin. We’ve had our first real snow of the year in New Mexico, and the ski lodges are announcing opening dates. Brrrr, not for me. I’m all about outdoor sports that don’t always require a hooded down jacket. Take fishing or golf. Yes, both can be done year-round but not by me. If there is frost on the green, my clubs stay in the bag. I’ve always loved fishing. There’s something about being out in the quiet of nature, and the sport of outsmarting a bass or sun fish in the farm pond my uncle used to take me to around Wanette, OK. I can’t tell you its exact location, or I’d have to shoot you. ????

Now, I’m getting into fly fishing. I spent hours, more like days, okay it was actually weeks watching instructional videos about fly fishing. I absorbed everything from the equipment I needed, to how to cast, to how to carefully handle and release the fish.

Here begins my rant. As I studied, I visited an area big box outdoor store to see and touch the things I learned about. Throughout my many visits, no clerk approached to assist me in my learning process. I finally spoke to a young man working behind the counter to ask about a rod and reel combo I was considering. He made it plain by his actions that he had no interest in helping me. I left dejected.

Maybe you see where this is going. I was entering what those employees consider a man’s world. They couldn’t be bothered to discover I wasn’t there to buy a gift for my husband or start a hobby I would never finish. Do they not know there are women on the water fly fishing daily? They fish, they compete, they teach. There are groups like Women On The Fly who travel and fish together.

The story gets better. I found another big box outdoor store here in Albuquerque and I was excited to see what they offered. By this time, I knew what I wanted to buy, I just needed someone to get the reels from stock behind a counter and set them up with line. I walked around the racks like a kid at the tree on Christmas morning. A voice behind me asked, “Where have you been fishing?” Oh my, he was talking to me as a fellow fisherman. He didn’t stop talking to me when I said I was a beginner. Robert obviously liked talking fishing. It didn’t matter who he shared his love of the sport with. I appreciated that he was not a high-pressure salesman, and felt comfortable surprising him with my knowledge of the equipment and being sure of what I would buy that day. So refreshing from what I experienced elsewhere.

As I sit to write this today, I wanted a picture of a woman fly fishing to accompany the words. Most I found on the free side of the internet were of pin up girls or an out of focus scene. None were like the action ones showing men with rods bent and line tight from the catch. Oh well, thank heavens for the Roberts of the world. Come spring I’ll have back yard practice behind me and be out on the water in earnest. I’m sure that as a writer, I’ll finish my peaceful day by sitting on the bank to record the words of creativity that came to mind while I chased my elusive prey upstream.

Thank you for following my adventures here and on social media.