Founders trying to build in the fly-fishing space often describe the same problem Cassie Abel identified in bikes: gear designed for men and shrunk down and colored-up.
This tracks with what we're seeing in the Northern Territory (Australia), one of the only places in the world with close to equal participation between men and women anglers already. It wasn't a product line that got us there, it was community, mentorship and access. Gear was never really the bottleneck.
Let’s be honest, women are no different than men in their approach to fishing apparel. Everyone has their uniform. There are those guys I see in cutoff Carhartts and a old t-shirt, and then the guys that look like they are off for a 4 day jaunt to the River Test - complete with a full compliment of Barbour clothing and jaunty cap. Other’s wading the Yampa like it is a salt flat in their turquoise FreeFly or Duck Camp gear. Hey - I’m all about it. To each their own - but let’s not pretend that style is not a thing in this sport.
Coming from the perspective of someone who owns a women’s fly fishing school and has worked professionally in the industry for a good while now, I very rarely get feedback from the women I teach, guide, and engage with that they need more options for shirts or waders.
There’s already a tremendous amount of women’s specific fly fishing apparel and gear available across the freshwater and saltwater segments, and it all performs perfectly well.
Free Fly, Duck Camp, and Patagonia all get their fair share of my cash. And when Skwala releases their women’s line in 2027, they’ll get even more of my business than they already do as well. I wouldn’t be surprised to see a quick women’s line follow from Sitka.
What women actually need in order to excel in fly fishing is education, community, and the opportunity to build sustainable careers as industry professionals. That’s the real foundation.
Want to know what every woman asks me? What rod to buy, what reel to buy, and what fly line to buy. And how to advance their skills.
This idea that women in fly fishing must be first and foremost deeply concerned with “outfits” actually kinda perpetuates the gender-biased construct that focuses way more on image versus skillset.
I’ve followed Cassie Abel and her work with Wild Rye since its inception, and it’s been a community-first brand from the beginning. In my opinion, that’s a large part of why they’ve been so successful. They actually understand their customer. They’ve always connected their product marketing to community marketing and experiential skill-shares.
Leary owns both Fishe and Women’s Fly Fishing and somehow hasn’t fully integrated the two. That’s the real miss.
Thanks for the feedback, and also for your own Substack which I read regularly. Your point on Cassie building community first is spot on - and is what got me thinking about the analogues in fly fishing to begin with. And your point about education, community, and the opportunity to build sustainable careers is essentially Courtney’s point as well. She is an angler first and foremost. That really resonates.
I’m looking forward to seeing how Courtney implements her deep history in education inside of her new gear brand. Any company that’s selling a product to a demo that experiences significant barriers kinda just has to address those barriers head on, IMO.
Nothing worth doing needs a brand. (Answer to your question.)
Many brands today are just capitalizing on your dream for yourself—charging you an arm and a leg to make the dream come true, while simultaneously putting you in a position where you need to work more to buy unneeded gear instead of actually pursuing your dream.
My wife has been perfectly happy with the gear she has. All of it (like mine) comes from finding good gear being sold at a discount, whether new or used.
Might she like a brand tailored for women? Maybe. But she has never once talked about it.
While my wife is not into many sports and will fly fish on occasion the one thing she always mentions if she wants to buy a T-shirt as a souvenir is why don't they have them in v-neck style for women. May not seem like a big thing, but again brands may be missing the mark.
The old pink it and shrink it approach to women’s apparel is done. Not sure a new brand is needed but existing brands need to design apparel that actually fits a woman’s body if they want that market. It’s not rocket science.
This tracks with what we're seeing in the Northern Territory (Australia), one of the only places in the world with close to equal participation between men and women anglers already. It wasn't a product line that got us there, it was community, mentorship and access. Gear was never really the bottleneck.
Thanks for this piece 🐟
Let’s be honest, women are no different than men in their approach to fishing apparel. Everyone has their uniform. There are those guys I see in cutoff Carhartts and a old t-shirt, and then the guys that look like they are off for a 4 day jaunt to the River Test - complete with a full compliment of Barbour clothing and jaunty cap. Other’s wading the Yampa like it is a salt flat in their turquoise FreeFly or Duck Camp gear. Hey - I’m all about it. To each their own - but let’s not pretend that style is not a thing in this sport.
Coming from the perspective of someone who owns a women’s fly fishing school and has worked professionally in the industry for a good while now, I very rarely get feedback from the women I teach, guide, and engage with that they need more options for shirts or waders.
There’s already a tremendous amount of women’s specific fly fishing apparel and gear available across the freshwater and saltwater segments, and it all performs perfectly well.
Free Fly, Duck Camp, and Patagonia all get their fair share of my cash. And when Skwala releases their women’s line in 2027, they’ll get even more of my business than they already do as well. I wouldn’t be surprised to see a quick women’s line follow from Sitka.
What women actually need in order to excel in fly fishing is education, community, and the opportunity to build sustainable careers as industry professionals. That’s the real foundation.
Want to know what every woman asks me? What rod to buy, what reel to buy, and what fly line to buy. And how to advance their skills.
This idea that women in fly fishing must be first and foremost deeply concerned with “outfits” actually kinda perpetuates the gender-biased construct that focuses way more on image versus skillset.
I’ve followed Cassie Abel and her work with Wild Rye since its inception, and it’s been a community-first brand from the beginning. In my opinion, that’s a large part of why they’ve been so successful. They actually understand their customer. They’ve always connected their product marketing to community marketing and experiential skill-shares.
Leary owns both Fishe and Women’s Fly Fishing and somehow hasn’t fully integrated the two. That’s the real miss.
Nice piece nonetheless, Andrew L.
Thanks for the feedback, and also for your own Substack which I read regularly. Your point on Cassie building community first is spot on - and is what got me thinking about the analogues in fly fishing to begin with. And your point about education, community, and the opportunity to build sustainable careers is essentially Courtney’s point as well. She is an angler first and foremost. That really resonates.
I’m looking forward to seeing how Courtney implements her deep history in education inside of her new gear brand. Any company that’s selling a product to a demo that experiences significant barriers kinda just has to address those barriers head on, IMO.
Nothing worth doing needs a brand. (Answer to your question.)
Many brands today are just capitalizing on your dream for yourself—charging you an arm and a leg to make the dream come true, while simultaneously putting you in a position where you need to work more to buy unneeded gear instead of actually pursuing your dream.
My wife has been perfectly happy with the gear she has. All of it (like mine) comes from finding good gear being sold at a discount, whether new or used.
Might she like a brand tailored for women? Maybe. But she has never once talked about it.
While my wife is not into many sports and will fly fish on occasion the one thing she always mentions if she wants to buy a T-shirt as a souvenir is why don't they have them in v-neck style for women. May not seem like a big thing, but again brands may be missing the mark.
The old pink it and shrink it approach to women’s apparel is done. Not sure a new brand is needed but existing brands need to design apparel that actually fits a woman’s body if they want that market. It’s not rocket science.
Pink it and shrink it... love it!
We agree. It doesn't seem overly complicated. ~Andrew