I've had a lot of experiences that I doubt would happen to somebody who looked different than me.

I never saw anybody like me.

I've never liked when someone said I couldn't do something.

I didn't mind being the only girl.

Walked across the mountains up to the Great Divide.

It crossed the creeks and rivers.

Searching far and wide.

Training for the color crystal.

Mountain streams.

He never found another one.

Or love to meet his dream.

My name is most Cicerone.

And I am a fly fishing guide and a mental health therapist in Colorado.

My favorite part about fly fishing?

I think that's hard because I. I just love every part of it.

The most exciting part of fly fishing for me is being able to be in such close contact with these beautiful fish.

The colors for me are really striking, and, that's what keeps me coming back.

My thing is, like, I'm a woman in this industry in a very visible space, and there's all these men posting big pictures of fish.

So it's not even necessarily I want to reflect myself well, but I want to show people that women are competen in continuing to challenge that.

I asked myself, well, how can we, instead of making competence, look like achieving big fish?

And in big fish days, maybe it looks like just appreciating nature because at the end of the day, that's what a lot of people are out there for.

My name is Stephanie Gordon and I'm with Colorado women Fly Fishers, and I'm on the board as the Trips director.

When I first moved to Colorado, I didn't know anyone here.

And I started fly fishing and kind of hanging out at my local fly shop.

And little by little, I met some other women, and they were all really welcoming.

And then I found Colorado women, Fly Fishers.

I walked away feeling like I was part of a group, and I had a sense of community at this point.

We have almost 400 members in this organization, and we stay true to that original mission.

It's building camaraderie and a culture of connection amongst this common passion of fly fishing.

There has been, lik so many little moments, I think, you know, helpin someone catch their first fish.

But for me personally, I just get the most reward out of seeing other women really succeeding and fly fishing.

Like, what are you.

Oh, here.

Getting a little fish over here for a little bit.

I think they're headed to the river.

My name is Erica Nelson.

My pronouns are she and her.

I currently reside in new territory currently known as Crested Butte, Colorado.

I am a fly fishing guide, a consultant, and I also host the Awkward Angler podcast.

Most of my client are from historically excluded communities, so I get a lot of women.

Transgendered folks, a lot of folks from the LGBTQ plus community to spirit.

I think that's a pretty awesome honor.

And I really like kind of setting them up on their own journey.

I learned how to fly fish in Wyoming around 2016.

I was looking for a new hobby and picked up a fly rod.

Got on to kind of like a puzzle.

You know the right not the right fly the right life cycle of the hatch.

I had to kind of figure it out on my own, and I had this thin in, like, don't know, notch tie, like fly fishing is taught me a lot of patience, a lot of gratitude, and sometimes not when I'm wanting those things to be taught to me.

My favorite part about fly fishing is the connection.

I think it takes a lot of things holistically to connect.

It's not just about catching the fish, but it's about connecting with all living things.

So the healthy air, the clean water, the bugs, the birds, and just watching the fish in a healthy habitat.

Last weekend, I pulle up to one of my favorite spots.

There's a man and a woman and he turns to me and he says, so would you tell my wife that even women can learn to fly fish?

And I looked at her and I said, anyone can learn to fly fish if it doesn't go well with your husband.

Here's my card.

It's not just women fishing with their boyfriend or their husbands or a partner.

They see women fishing by themselves.

I see Group A ladies fishing.

It's a tricky question on whether misogyny plays into the way that people approach me online or on the water.

My personal assumption is yes.

Let's just say I've never been harassed by a woman on the water.

It's interesting because when I'm fishing, I am the least aware of what I look like and the gender that I identify with.

All that to say, I've shared negative, interactions with men on the water online, and I cannot tell yo how many messages I've received from some men but a majority of women who have experienced the same type o you're not supposed to be here.

You're not allowed to take up space where we are.

When I was fishing in Wyoming, I would experience a lot of, like, racist and sexist, things and experiences, which were unfortunate.

And I started an Instagra account called Awkward Angler.

That name means two things.

One, it's awkward to fly fish and nobody would broadcast that.

It was always this picturesque.

Beautiful places, but also really big fish.

And it seemed like every time you went out you would catch a fish.

And that wasn't my experience.

And I kind of had these questions of like, is anyone else experiencing this and why?

And how can we cal in the industry to be empowered to change that?

I struggle significantly with anxiety, especially social anxiety.

You know, thing have helped me through my life, but the thing that helps me the most to manage those symptoms or to be present, that I've ever found is fishing.

And so I imagine a lot of other people might turn to fishing because of that reason.

It's just soothing.

I'm going to use a word called flow.

Flow is where you totally lose sense of time.

You're completely immersed in an activity, and then all of a sudden the sun is down.

So when I'm engaged in something, I' not thinking about past trauma experiences or anxiety that I'm experiencing.

To engage in a sport where so often you're feeling or I can imagine it has those same long term effects for you as well.

For a moment.

You might say, wow, I'm so small.

And it kind of puts into perspective.

We're only here for so long.

I say, well, I need to be more present.

I think it has a lot to do with just a quality of mental health and well-bein that I think we can easily lose in these really hectic times in which we live.

I think fly fishing and standing on a river, casting a rod, it just instills all the things, honestly, that make me happy.

And sometimes you forget them or things just seem a little off kilter.

And I can get a fly rod and g to the river for an hour or eat whatever it may be, and I' right back where I need to be.

One of the things that I've helped try to do is educate others by creating the angling for all pledge, which is looking at ways to be more inclusive.

And I think that's something that I'm trying to change and work on in the industry is being that representation and being that influence, that it is accessible, and you don't need the whole get up in the gear, like you can literally just go with what you have.

Everybody starts somewhere.

And the more challenging something is to start, I think the more rewarding it i when you start to figure it out.

I was working with a woman who is a survivor of abuse.

She just wasn't confident at all.

And then by the end of the day, she actually hooked into maybe one of the biggest fish that a client has ever hooked into.

By the end of the day, she's like, I did it like I caught fish today, and I hooked into that big fish.

And you could just tell not only in her words, but in her mannerisms.

She felt so empowered by the experience.

I think it just takes some bravery to get out there and do it.

This is a spor for all people of all abilities, from all backgrounds, to get out and try it.

The people who say you can't or shouldn't, don't pay any attention to them.

Just pick up your fly rod and keep going.

Myself and so many other women out there continuously share how impactful this sport is to them.

And so there must be something there, right?

A firearm in your hand that makes you an angler that we fish on.

Yeah.

For the summer times coming from the trees.

I sleep with women I know I'm home and I am winter.

I'm a purple heather warrior.

You could have an eagle.

And we all go together to pull I hope I'm dying all around.

The purple heather will you go?

Let me go.