The Secret Angler

Over the many years I’ve been fishing on shore and riverbank, I have encountered very few women anglers. On trout streams I’ve met only two; I know or have known two or three female guides and fished with one; I once met two women at a fishing hotel, whose advice I sought as they had local knowledge; and I once knew two who went coarse fishing with their husbands. On the sea shore I’ve met none. A very small total considering the numbers of women who apparently go fishing now, author magazine articles, work as fishing guides. In fact this blog has more women followers than I’ve seen out with a fishing rod. If you go to small ponds and lakes classed as family-friendly venues, with a tackle shop, toilets and other facilities, you are likely to see more women fishing, but overall it is still rare to run into any when you’re out on the water.

Despite the increase in women who fish, they still form a small minority of anglers in Britain; environment agency data suggest a proportion of about four percent. (In America numbers are much higher — women make up 37% of all anglers over there.) Why so few women? Not simply the yuckiness of maggots and worms I suspect. The traditional man’s world thing about fishing must certainly be a factor. This can range from old biases towards women all the way to downright misogyny. Some while ago I highlighted the misogyny and bigotry of some anglers on forums where they feel they have carte blanche to vent their nastiest opinions. Pikers Pit and Flyfishing.co.uk were some of the worst offenders, though both seemed to have cleaned themselves up since then. Flyfishing forum allowed some nasty racism that prompted the victim to report the matter to the police. Nothing like the threat of legal action to bring about the ban of the perpetrators, although the victim was himself banned in a move typical of these sites. Pikers Pit was notorious for allowing abuse of women (and anyone else that upset the trolls of this forum), notably the television journalist Laura Kuenssberg, distorting her name to spell an obscenity. Why her? Well, you can count on a high profile, well educated, well paid and intelligent woman to raise the ire of ignorant males. Following this the Pit allowed posting of pornographic images of women. But as I say, the site seems to have cleaned itself up and banned at least one or two of the nastiest proto-fascist members referred to in an earlier post. Perhaps those decent members who took them on, also banned, sacrificed themselves in a good cause. Not all the Pitters are scumbags.

So quite possibly it’s the worms and maggots who also wield fishing rods rather than those in baitboxes that discourage women from taking up the sport. Much fishing is done in isolated places, on rivers far from roads, on beaches at night a long walk from the car. A woman on her own would obviously feel vulnerable. News reports in recent years illuminate the problems all women have to deal with daily. Serious attacks are infrequent but it’s the continuous lower level crap that must be tedious at best, sapping over the long term. A male angler could only have some understanding of this if he fished as a child in a dubious area such as an urban canal. Some years ago a young woman sea angler, a rare creature I think, described on a forum how she was crudely propositioned one night fishing on a pier. An uncomfortable experience to say the least, one no woman should have to tolerate. Unfortunately such experiences are not particularly rare, as an article by Jess L Gantos in US magazine, The Drake, suggests. She laments the sexism she encounters on the bank and in tackle shops. When in remote locations, safety is prominent in the minds of female anglers, a stress they could do without. To be clear, that is safety from certain male anglers, not bears and other dangerous wildlife. Aside from that, she has to put up with patronising attitudes, rudeness, as well as the sexual advances and probing questions to discover whether she has a male companion nearby. Not the kind of experiences for an enjoyable day on the water.

But women are standing up to male chauvinism on the waterside. Amie Battams makes droll videos, notable for their double entendres, that put down some of the prejudices she finds out there. She has also written to the exclusive London club for gentlemen fly anglers, The Flyfishers’ Club, asking them to admit women. Marina Gibson, guide and casting instructor, has done this too. Whether women will be allowed to join remains to be seen. The Garrick is perhaps the new paradigm. As a point of interest, I’ve been offered membership to the Flyfishers in the past, and tempting though dining at one’s club while contemplating Skues’s old fishing rod might be, I could not justify the subs. Besides, Tom Fort’s book Casting Shadows suggests reasons why membership is not such a privilege.

Men, some anyway, need to change their attitudes. I would like to see more women fishing. I’ve heard experienced female anglers say they have a different approach to men. I can believe it. Actually, I prefer to see women behind the counter in tackle shops from whom the advice you get always seems to be freer of the hubris and bullshit you tend to get from men. There seems less of the lofty expert attitude. Let women fish freely without having to look suspiciously over their shoulder. It doesn’t matter how many fish so long it’s as many as wants to.

So if you have, umm, a traditional attitude towards female anglers, perhaps reconsider your approach should you meet one on the bank. Treat her with courtesy and respect. Be civil. Don’t be a dick.

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