One of the first lessons I received when learning to fly fish was confidence. "You've got to have confidence in that fly, in yourself," Jacob's words have remained with me all these years. It's why I fish certain patterns, choose long casts over short rolls and why I move through the water the way I do. It's all about where my confidence lies.
It's a funny thing when you lose your confidence. Perhaps you've spent some time off the water or had one too many bad trips. Maybe it was caused by a harsh word or unfounded judgment by a fellow angler. Then again it may have just disappeared and you have no idea how it happened.
For a while now my life has been filled with surgery, doctor's visits, high water, and more doctor's visits, with strict orders to stay out of the rivers and off the mountains. My body became fatigued during the process and my mind weak, resulting in a catastrophic lack of confidence.
Well-Read Wednesday {Becoming Abbzug & Public Lands}
I was fifteen years old when I decided I wanted to be Bonnie Abbzug when I grew up. This is also when I learned about feminism. When I started dreaming about living in an airstream, in the mountains, not tied down to anything. When I first learned of the American Southwest. And, when I decided, that one day I would blow up a dam. I was fifteen years old when I first read The Monkey Wrench Gang.
Read moreMy Story
When I was young, very young I had a unique soap set for bath time. The bars were in the shapes of different endangered species around the world. It was produced by the World Wildlife Federation to help get kids interested in animals, the environment, etc...
This is my first memory of conservation.
Read morePlastic Bottles and Public Lands
There are two things about me that everyone knows. One, I've ALWAYS got a water bottle with me; a big 40 oz HydroFlask, covered in stickers from notable fishing and outdoors brands. Also, I will turn my nose up at you if you're drinking out of a plastic, disposable bottle.
Two, I'm outspoken and fiercely passionate about public lands.
Read moreMessengers - A Film
I'm not an ultra runner, nor am I even a trail runner. I more or less do this weird combination of walking/running/ skipping/crawling when I'm on a trail. But, my trail time is important to me, maybe just as much so as fishing. It may be because it's my alone time in the woods or maybe it's because for the five or ten minutes that I do run, I kind of feel like superwoman.
What I am is very passionate about Public Lands.
Read moreOur Year - 2017
From tiny brook trout in the Blue Ridge to giant lake trout to more cutthroat than we could stand; adventures around the corner to road trips across the country; the ability to create custom rods and a whole rod bag business.
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