Hey all and thanks again for checking in at
The O’Grady Flyfishing Adventures. I was flipping through the Simms product
catalog the other day and came across their Women’s Guide Jacket. It seemed like a really nice item and it got
me thinking about women’s fly fishing gear.
With Cat being one of the few women flyfishing pro’s in Southern
Colorado, it has been interesting over the years to see how many male customers
come into the shop, and asked Cat to be friends with their wives. They make this request not because they think
their wives need someone to scorner the streets collecting them friends, but
because that have the hope that Cat could teach them to love fishing as much as
she does. Then there are the husbands
who have decided to teach their wives themselves.
When I have been in the
shop and have helped customers that want their wives to learn flyfishing, I
have watched the same mistake made by spouses over and over again. My whole
life I have been trained to read customers faces and try my best to make them
happy. What almost always seems to happen is that the wives/daughter/sisters
will quietly stand back as the spouse begins to ask what type of rod or flies
would be best for her. During the whole discussion looks of excitement and fear
bounce back and forth on the lady faces. Once the rod and reel conversation is
out of the way, I then normally ask about the waders she will be wearing, while
stressing how important it is for women to first be comfortable and second to
look good. At that point the husband almost always cuts in and says she will be
using his old waders until they know for sure that she likes it. WRONG ANSWER
MEN!!!!!! I only wish husbands could see the look on the faces when that is
said. I was thinking about that and how that would look if it were turned
around, if Cat wanted me to learn how to swing dance and while signing up for
lessons the instructor asks if I have the correct clothing and Cat butts in and
says I can use her old ones. Wow, how exciting would it be to lean to swing
dance looking like Mrs. Doubtfire. I shudder at the thought of me in a dress. I kid, but the reality is that is exactly what
you’re asking them to do.
On the other hand there is a point where
too much femininity can also be a bad thing. In this predominately male sport there
is a fine line between looking good and looking capable for women. For example,
Cat and I were at BassPro (don’t freak out Alex, we were out of town, didn’t
spend a dime, and were just curious) over the weekend and while strolling
through the fishing department my eyes landed on their women’s hot pink flyrod.
Teasingly I asked Cat if she wanted one. The look she shot me was pure disgust as she
shook her head no, and walked away. Cat
is a unique creature and far more hardcore than most the men we know so to her priority
is in function and durability, but over the years she has found joy in looking
sexy and female as she kicks tail. So
anyway this blog is about me giving Kudos to what the Simms Women’s department
has come up with over the last year.
Cat bought a
new pair of G3’s waders and now a new guide jacket from them, and I am blown
away by how well Simms mixed the looks with the ruggedness of the gear. The
jacket comes in the “storm cloud” color with light blue accents and fits her
curves. Cat looks as hot in this jacket as she does in her fancy evening wear.
The Women’s G3 waders come in “Greystone” with the light blue accents as well, they
offer five layers of Gore-Tex, plus feature a fit specific for women. Now I
know everyone can’t afford the guide products so I will also bring up the
Headwaters, a little less wader but still designed for women. The accents and
color coupled with the quality on all of the Simms women’s products should make
for a lifetime of fishing adventures. Thank you Simms for keeping our Fly
Fishing women both hard-core and sexy!
I would love to tell you that we carry all of
these incredible women’s products in the store, but unfortunately we don’t have
the space or ability to have them all in stock, but if anyone is interested
they can come into the shop and see the amazing gear Cat has purchased. If you
are one of those men that have tried over the years to get your spouse to love
flyfishing and keep scratching your head as to why they don’t love it the way
you do, then I think you might want to consider how they look and feel while on
the water, do they look like the Michelin man?
As always thanks for reading,
Sincerely Connell,
Cat, The Stay Puff Marshmallow Man, and Winston.
