The nature of Eastern Washington and North Idaho is one of the top reasons many live in the Inland Northwest. Countless recreation groups and clubs take advantage of that beauty to create like-minded communities, like Spokane Women on the Fly.
The women-focused fly-fishing group was founded a decade ago this spring by Heather Hodson, a nurse at Sacred Heart. While learning to fly-fish, Hodson (who's still somewhat involved with the group) "realized that she wanted to connect with other women in the area to go fly-fishing for that connection and camaraderie, and then for safety reasons," says current member Lindy Orozco.
"So she started a Facebook group, and slowly people began to find it," she adds.
Orozco also serves as chapter vice president of Spokane Falls Trout Unlimited, a conservation nonprofit working to preserve rivers where native trout and salmon swim. Spokane Women on the Fly has been the diversity initiative of the local Trout Unlimited chapter since 2015.
Women on the Fly continued to grow, and despite a stall during the pandemic, membership is again at an all-time high. Women turn to its Facebook group to meet up with fellow female anglers to organize outings all around the region.
Spokane Women on the Fly also hosts monthly education and fly-fishing events, plus community fishing trips. In April alone, the group hosted casting practice at a couple parks, a fly tying seminar at Lumberbeard Brewing, and Fly Fishing 101, a class for women who want to get into fly-fishing but don't know where to start.
All of the nearly 1,000 members of Women on the Fly's Facebook group have unique stories about how and why they found fly-fishing.
"My dad fly-fished for years and years and years, and then after he passed, I really wanted to get involved with fly-fishing as well," says member Jeannette Procunier. "So I found the group on Facebook. I went to [an event] and I just had a really basic intro, and I just fell in love with it from there."
Orozco, meanwhile, had been fly-fishing for five or six years when she found the group.
"I did not know that other women even fly-fish," she says, recalling the first Women on the Fly event she showed up to. "I was like, 'Well, I guess I want to go meet total strangers in the woods.' So I got up at 4 am and I drove to Spokane Valley, and I met the girls, and we've been friends ever since."
Women on the Fly educates all levels of fly-fishers, from beginners to well-seasoned anglers.
Because there's a long learning curve, "it's a lifelong pursuit," Orozco says. "Even if you've been fishing for 20 years, your new techniques are evolving, and you're always learning and improving."
Women who join the group may have different passions and careers, but fishing is what brings them together. And although they organize group fishing trips, Women on the Fly's main focus is education, whether it's how to cast or how to tie a fly, and anything in between.
"Our goal is really to empower them to do things on their own to become independent anglers," Orozco says. "In our Facebook group, we also post a lot of resources like, what gear do you need as a beginner, and where can you find good deals that don't cost an arm and a leg."
Women on the Fly has built a community that's helped women of all ages try something new, as well as teaching them that it doesn't always have to be scary to venture outside your comfort zone.
WEBSITE:spokanefallstu.org/swotf
FACEBOOK:Spokanewomenonthefly
INSTAGRAM:@spokanewomenonthefly
"The idea to be a beginner when you're in your 30s, 40s, 50s, 60s is very scary," says member Elizabeth Simpson, also Spokane Falls Trout Unlimited's diversity chair.
"We have had people say, 'Well, I never attended because I was afraid that I was going to hold everyone back, and then when I finally showed up, I realized you're really fun and it was not as bad as I thought.' We are trying to impress upon people to take that leap, and I can't do it for you. I'm here. I'm going to catch you, and we're all going to catch you."
In addition to its typical education-focused events, Women on the Fly also hosts an annual fishing event every June on the north fork of the Coeur d'Alene River called Summer Suds. Partners, kids, and dogs are all welcome. The weekend also includes mentoring opportunities for new fly-fishers to welcome them into the group.
Women on the Fly's members are passionate about empowering others to find their community, to learn how to fly-fish on their own, and teaching the next generation of fly-fishers. It's up to each member what they want to get out of it.
"It goes back to empowering women in a sport that is traditionally male, and it goes back to creating that independence, whether you're 25, or whether you're 65," Simpson says. "We have similarities, we have similar intensities, we have similar drives and visions of how we want our lives to be. We meet outside, we text each other, we hang on each other's shoulders when life is falling apart, we cheer each other up, and we celebrate each other's wins. They have become my family." ♦
