It was an amazing, engaging and life changing series of days. Read on for some numbers, a personal story and some pictures. 

We had 24 women in the basics, 25 women in the Wowsci, 24 women who came to mentor other women on the water for basics and 25 guides who to take women on the water skills clinic along with 10 organizers, instructors and volunteers.

If you have questions about the clinics for 2019, please contact wisconsinwomenflyfishing@gmail.com.

Registration for 2019 will open in late October. Look for it on www.swtu.org under the “Learning” menu.

A beginner’s story, courtesy Jody Millar

Southern Wisconsin Trout Unlimited billed it as a “Women’s Fly-fishing Clinic for Beginners”, but I would call it a camp – a camp for women interested in fly-fishing given by women experienced in fly-fishing. The minute I rolled into the driveway of the West Fork Sportsmen’s Club near Westby, Wisconsin, and was greeted by friendly camp staff, I knew I was going to be able to relax and have fun. 

I was first directed to the camp lodge where lots of friendly female faces were there to tell me what I needed to do to finish registering, where to camp, and when I needed to return for a briefing on the weekend events.  I then proceeded to set up my tent, with the help of a neighborly camper. The camping area is large and park-like located on the banks of the West Fork of the Kickapoo River, a Wisconsin Class 1 trout stream. I found a nice spot close enough to enjoy the stream and not too far from other campers.   

The briefing included a meet and greet, and packages of helpful fishing items were handed out. There were also a few tables containing items for purchase including hand-made flies, head bands and a full line of fishing gear brought in by an Orvis representative. The briefing was followed by a farm-fresh dinner that involved no planning, shopping or preparing. It was all taken care of by the camp staff volunteers. After dinner there was a campfire to stop by and then rest! 

Saturday was the big fly-fishing day that involved learning the techniques of casting, some background on streams and trout habitat, and then going out to the streams nearby and trying it all out – with your own personal experienced guide, no less! If you did not own a fly rod, there were many available to use. Though I had my own, I enjoyed trying the different weighted rods and hearing about how different rods could be used for different fishing situations. The instructors were knowledgeable and engaging. They assumed everyone would be successful. They actually made the casting seem easy and as a result, everyone “got it”. I would have loved to see a drone video of 25 women simultaneously casting fly rods!

The afternoon fishing trip sealed the deal. By going out on the trout stream with the help of an experienced guide and hunting for trout using your fly rod and the new flies that camp staff gave you, and which apparently were tied by many fly tyers over the winter to contribute to our understanding of the sport, you felt as if you had arrived into the world of trout fishing.  I was hooked.