http://www.itinerantangler.com/podcasts/2012/01/podcast_april_vokey_will_survi.html


I love my sport but I am a little annoyed at some of the old boy culture. I am particularly disturbed after listening to April Vokey’s second appearance on Zach Mathews, Itinerant Angler Podcast. I love Zach’s articles and always listen to the podcast. So please do not misconstrue any of my comments as critical of what he is up to. I highly recommend that anyone interested in fly fishing listen to this and all of Zach’s podcasts. You can access them through the link I have included below.

 I have mad respect for April. She makes a living fishing every day.  Isn’t that that dream? I know that it is a hard life.  It seems that she has had a more difficult go of it based simply on her appearance. She is very upfront on her culpability in cultivating these issues.  By her own words she started a company call “Fly Gal” and could have called it “BC Steelhead Adventures”.

The thing I was most disturbed by was how she felt about the tabloid nature and misogynistic way in which the fly fishing press and folks discuss her online. She freely admits that she took part in promoting her image. She went out of her way to look nice in the pictures. I certainly have heard the discussion in the shop and even participated at times. It was quite a shift to see her with those incredible fish. Remember when everyone though that it couldn’t be real. How many times did you hear, ”I bet her BF caught that”.

 I think it is pretty cool that a young attractive woman can be the real deal. She cannot change the way she looks and simply put good for her for using her image to promote her business and conservation. What I am not OK with is the degrading way that some reduce her to a sexual object. This is not only disrespectful to her and women in general but disrespects our art and the fish we all love. Having witnessed powerful women in my life treated the same way it struck very close to home when I heard the pain in her voice.

 I like Zach and know he is producing a product that we all want to hear, but would he ask Lefty Kreh about his dating history. April seemed ok with that line of questioning. Maybe they discussed it ahead of time. Maybe she wanted to set the record straight. I have learned a few things though. I respect April way more than I did before over one simple action; she left a relationship over stocked and pellet fed fish. When she opened that door and saw the feed it was if she saw another woman hiding or was confronted with a drug problem that she had been lied to about. I also have been reminded that men will lie about anything to laid.  All I have to say is, that guy who ever he is a total and complete DB.

Listen below. I welcome your comments. You can find other links to what Zack and April are up to in my links section.

http://www.itinerantangler.com/podcasts/2012/01/podcast_april_vokey_will_survi.html

I have really been thinking about the tribal salmon from the Pacific Northwest. I think Abel put one on a reel at some point. I have been thinking about painting one to hang up in my fly tying area. Here are a few images and some links below.


http://alanbell.wordpress.com/2006/07/25/tatoo-or-not-tatoo/


http://thesandhill.blogspot.com/2011/02/2011-christmas-list.html