Sad that I had to read this

MISSED THE BOAT QUOTE BY JEFF aka Avid Fisherman.
"If in fact your given name is kathryn. Ok, in a nut shell.I've been fishing for quite some time. I've used many techniques to catch fish. But one of the simplest ways of landing a fish in any water ia a worm and bobber. Watching you deliver some sissy ass bed wetting senerio on how to fly fish is a joke. Some one has to be throwing the line while your frail hands work the reel. Give it up. See where I'm going with this? No? You wear these outlandish bed wedding, snot nose outfits, only a 5 year old Trick- or- Treating on a festive Halloween night would come up with. Your fucking gay as Norseman hat that you donned? That hat, Spells Depends wearing, take it in the ass slamming the back door on reality check to the Nth degree.And the Canadian Muskie show with your original sheep skin bull shit poncho? I'll bet the guide wouldn't even thinking about taking you in on a cold night just to stay alive. Do the lunger for a work out. You need it......"
This is the sort of treatment I get in the sport. Made me sad this week when someone wrote that they don't think women are discriminated against in the sport. How many men have been bullied as badly as I have?
God help me.


The club is a symbol of gender discrimination in the sport.We need to fix this because men and woman should be recognize in our sport for greatness ; our male contemporaries are.( woman are noticeably omitted) - all people have contributed
significantly to the sport and continue to do so since the time when the sport began. Women should be recognized as such. -We want to recognize women in this way, as a symbol of gratitude, accomplishment and contribution to the sport . -We are more than good enough -Quite simply, it is time. If you have ever been bullied than you need to sign this document. The club has 600 members from around the world so we need 601 signatures from around the world asap.This will send a clear message that we demand this archaic practice of exclusion to end. We are all equal in the eyes of fish and children.
Thanking you in advance
Kathryn

I recently read this on FB and with good reason I became extremely angry. Now typically I try to stay out of  politics on my blog but this really irked me and I felt I needed to defend my friend Kathryn.

The first paragraph is from some idiot who apparently assumes that fly fishing of any kind is a sissy sport. I have no belief that fly fishing is a sissy sport, in fact I truly believe that fly fishing in any form is one of the most difficult forms of fishing out there. By that I mean you need to work to get to the waters that you are going to fish, mostly on foot, and also technique is of utmost importance when it comes to fly fishing, whether it be traditional western technique or Tenkara.

That being said, anyone who believes that using a spinning reel and lures to attract fish is any more effective than another method is hugely off base.  I started fishing with a spinning reel and lures with treble hooks. But I must admit that after reading the comments of the idiot who sent this message to Kathryn I am embarrassed to admit to starting out this way. ( Don't roll over in your grave when I say this Grandpa! It is just that people like this make things really bad for all fisher persons.)

Kathryn has been trying to become a member of the Angling Club. Apparently since, as she says, she is not "Clubable" because she has a uterus, vagina, and breasts. Now I don't know about all of you but seriously why exclude somebody from a fishing club because of something physical like breasts. I have always found women who fish to be very attractive. (Although my wife is the most attractive woman in the whole damn world even though she does not fish!!)

I truly believe that every person should be allowed to the to fish and be recognized for their ability as a fisher person. Look at Joan Wulff or Misako Ishimura. Heck for that matter my cousin Beth Michaels who would come to Colorado to visit her parents during the summer and go shore fishing with her dad. They had their spinning rods and a cooler full of PBR cans. Beth would go fishing with her dad because she enjoyed it so much while she hung with her father.

Now, if there are idiots like AvidFisherman aka AvidAsshole who spread comments like the above to women in outdoor sports we are going to be severely limited in the numbers of women who enter any of the "manly" sports like fishing, hunting, camping, boating, kayaking, climbing, heck you name it. I want to see as many women outdoors joining sportsmen and maybe even showing us how any of these sports are done.

That being said, I am including a link to Kathryn's new Facebook page and group and hope that we will get some more people to join and show their support for women in the outdoors.

https://www.facebook.com/groups/386783714722076/

It is too bad that I had to write this but since I have now done it I feel that maybe in some way I have done my good deed. Am I going to change politics in the outdoor realm as we know it? Probably not. I am potentially starting a firestorm of uglieness on all sides? Possibly but it is a risk that I must take. Do I want to see some major changes in the outdoor sports arena? HELL YES!!!!!

I would love to get dialog started here so please feel free to respond to this post if you wish. I will let you know that I might take some of what is said here and post it on my TenkaraGrasshopper FB page for those that are not familiar with my blog page yet.

I stand with Kathryn Maroun and will do my best to keep her in the sport that she loves and I love and not let some jackwagon from the dung heap of trash chase her off. I hope you will join me in fighting the good fight.