Why Don’t Women Fish?

Standing at the edge of the lake, rod in one hand, net in the other slowly winning a battle of wills between me and the tench on my line - I make an unusual sight. This has nothing to do with the large amount of slime I have managed to wipe on my trousers or the fact that the increasingly cold wind has turned my nose pink. The reason for this is I am not the same as most other anglers – the difference is I’m a woman.

One of the fantastic things about fishing is that it gives you so much time to mull over the great mysteries of life. Sitting by the canal with all the time in the world, I started to puzzle over why I am usually the only female angler in sight. There is no real reason for women not to fish, if I can do it, then anyone of us can.

I haven’t always been interested in fishing and before trying it, wasn’t at all convinced it was for me. Walks by my local canal reinforced fishing as being a male sport, which always involved rain and more chance of catching a cold than a fish. It was only after my partner Paul took up fishing again after a long break that I got involved. Unfortunately if getting back to fishing was a ploy to have ‘quality time alone’, it never really worked out.

His first trip back to the canal was a solo event with me arriving with a flask of tea and some sandwiches at ‘half time’. It seemed sensible that while he tucked into his picnic I held the pole for him. Catching something was the last thing on my mind, but as we sat there I noticed the float bob down a couple of times and in a rush of excitement and panic I pulled a little rudd out of the canal. That rudd wasn’t the only thing that had got hooked.

June saw the delivery of my first piece of equipment – my very own pole. Since that first visit we have fished canals together as well as some stocked lakes. We recently had a fantastic holiday in some pine cabins near Salisbury Plain, which had three separate fishing lakes. This trip produced my biggest catch to date – a beautiful 5lb Common Carp. I’m sure many of you will consider this as a modest catch but on the day size just wasn’t important.

So why don’t I see many women by the lakes or canals? It’s definitely a combination of things. One of the main ones must be simply that women don’t have anyone to teach them the sport and encourage them to have a go. Most men start fishing because their father or friend has persuaded them to try when they are young. Women rarely get this sort of encouragement.

It’s unfortunately true that because it is unusual to see women angling, that a lot of men don’t really know how to talk to us. When the usual gang of young fisher ’boys’ on bikes have stopped by our swim and talked to Paul about what we’ve caught and what bait we are using, they have literally looked straight through me. I think they assume I’m just there to deliver sandwiches or act as an elaborate (and rather expensive) rod rest!
I’m afraid most grown men are no better and won’t chat with me as they would with their male counterparts. I’ve heard men mumble words like ‘fluke’ when I’ve had a particularly success day.

I have to say that it isn’t the most friendly and encouraging of environments to be in but there are definite exceptions. Also on the positive side, if you are a single women looking for a man, don’t bother with the laundrette or the supermarket. With a ratio of what seems 1000 men to 1 woman I just don’t think you can get better odds!

Another reason must be the bait. The first time I picked up and hooked a maggot Paul looked at me with tears in his eyes and told me he loved me. He didn’t realise that it was possible for a women to be able to do such a thing and although I can’t really see me warming the things in my mouth, it really isn’t an issue. I’m sure there are many women out there who have to handle much worse things in their roles as wives and mothers than the odd maggot! They even come in pretty colours (yellow, green, red, pink and white), which could quite easily be co-ordinated with your angling attire (I jest of course).

Before starting to fish, I never realised the amount of bait available to you, apart from worms and maggots and other wriggly things that even some men would refuse to touch. If you can’t manage to handle anything that moves, then both bread and sweetcorn are pretty good options. There’s also Spam and a wide range of imitation bait that looks like it should wriggle but doesn’t.

Maybe woman think they lack the physical strength to fish?
As the weaker sex our ability to land a 40lb catfish may be limited but even our male companions sometimes need help in landing bigger catches. For the average fish strength really isn’t an issue. However I do marvel at the huge amounts of kit that one man is able to carry to their swim – and they complain to us for packing more than one suitcase for a weeks holiday. You should see what they pack for a few hours by the local canal!

The basic kit I carry is a rod (my pole packs down to nothing longer and much lighter than a tennis racket). You need a decent sized net, some bait in a box and a few spares.

I would always suggest going fishing with a companion (male or female) – not only is it a great help landing catches (and carrying extra equipment) but it is also a case of personal safety. Where ever you fish there are potential dangers with things like soft riverbanks and tree stumps waiting to entice you into the water and a nearby hand to help you out is vital.

I have to admit that the language of the angler is not really ‘female friendly’ (I sometimes wonder if that is the intention). For example – the DISGORGER!
“Nurse, hand me the disgorger” would perhaps fill anyone sat in the dentists chair with fear. You wouldn’t think this is a little pencil-sized, usually brightly coloured plastic thing, designed to easily get your fish ‘off the hook’.

Just looking at the brand names of the fishing tackle on sale, it’s obviously marketed at men. I don’t expect Barbie pink rod rests or floral umbrellas but I have to laugh when I see some of the names of the equipment in my local tackle shop.

There are also arguments around ‘nature or nurture’ being responsible for making the female angler as rare as a friendly pike. Men are genetically the stronger sex and because of this have the role of hunter-gatherer. It seemed only sensible when fishing was about standing in water throwing pointed sticks that men were better built to hurl their stick than the women. Although most anglers don’t catch to eat, this male tradition has endured. But as fishing is now not about physical strength, why has this not changed? Perhaps it is just the way we are raised and the stereotypes around us?

When I come back from fishing I’m usually muddy, wind swept and slimy – ready for a hot bath. But we are raised to believe girls are ‘sugar and spice and all things nice’. Women must always look attractive (and not smell of groundbait), as they should be focused on catching a good mate, not a good fish.

We shouldn’t forget the issue of child rearing in this either. While the men are there alone on the riverbank is this maybe just a good excuse for some to get away from the house? Once again genetics or tradition mean that women take on the lion’s share of child care (with some exceptions) and it is far more acceptable for a man to leave the children to his wife for the day to enjoy himself than vice versa.

I have learnt everything I know about fishing from Paul. He has had a chance to teach me about something I never knew was so involved and took so much skill. Surely this is a good thing in any relationship? The lessons don’t always go to plan though. When demonstrating recently how to cast a ledger accurately long distance he ended up wrapping it around a tree on a small island in the middle of a lake. While trying to untangle it he managed to snap the reel completely off the rod. I was just glad it wasn’t me who’d done it. Maybe he just did it to make me feel better about my mistakes?

There is always the awkward situation of a woman ‘out catching’ a man, which in such a male orientated sport can be harder for men to accept. Perhaps this is one thing that stops men encouraging their partners to have a try – they just don’t want the competition. I have to say that Paul always takes this in good humour. I know that he knows far more about fishing than I may ever do, but even the most skilled of anglers must admit that sometimes you can just get lucky.

So why do you think women don’t fish?
Are you a man who would shudder at the thought of your other-half joining you on the riverbank and would actively deter her? All I can say is that Paul and I have really enjoyed our times together fishing. We don’t have to fish side by side. He is just near enough to lend a hand if need be and to share in the glory of a good catch, but not so far as to stop us sharing a flask and an umbrella together when the rain starts pouring down.

Charlie Watts