Native American Erica Nelson is the host of the Awkward Angler podcast and ambassador for the advocacy organization Brown Folks Fishing. Known as the “First Lady of Fly Fishing”, 90-year-old Wulff still inspires women to tackle the male-dominated sport even today. Joan Wulff introduced women to the sport of fishing when, in 1948, she won the National Dry Fly Accuracy Championship at the age of 16. Today, her fly fishing expeditions sell out regularly.Īnd McCord isn’t the only female super star in the world of fishing.įly fishing pioneer Joan Wulff After building a significant Instagram presence, McCord started receiving requests to lead women-only trips. On one trip she met a photographer who encouraged her to host others on fly fishing trips. So, she aggressively pursued world records to boost her reputation in the world of fishing today, she holds 223 world records.Īnd that notoriety led to invitations to fish around the world. At a young age, McCord understood that she had to be perceived as an expert to be taken seriously. They remain fishing buddies to this day.īut her ascent to the top of her sport wasn’t all luck. It was a chance meeting that would never have happened in the regular world. One bit of luck involved a fishing trip that landed her in the Bahamas, where she met actor Liam Neeson to whom she gave casting lessons. McCord with Huey Lewis and Liam Neeson at the Bonefish Tarpon Trust NYC Dinner 2019 2019 Sergio Diaz Unsurprisingly, that path involved a lot of hard work and a little bit of luck. Yet she found a way to turn that passion into an enduring and lucrative career. Growing up in Texas, she always had a love of fishing. “You have to be in the moment and just wait.” Women also tend to have more patience than men.
And unlike men, who often just try to “muscle their way through it,” women take the time to really understand what makes fly fishing work.
This makes them better at following instructions.
Women excel at fly fishing because they tend to be good listeners, McCord says. She describes the women who have taken her trips as a sorority and sees true friendships form that last well beyond the trip. McCord has also seen women from vastly different worlds come together on her trips to form business relationships. “It ended up being an incredibly wise decision,” she says, “but I’m not sure the decision would have been the same if I’d been grinding it out in the office while I was negotiating.” Rachel Truair, the Chief Marketing Officer at, once negotiated a job offer while on a fly fishing trip. McCord led her first ladies-only trip to Mexico in 2019 Friendships and Networkingįinance consultant and angler Kimberly Williams describes the companionship on an expedition as “priceless”.