From across the pond:
Wales is playing a pioneering role in ensuring the gentle splash of hook and sinker is created by a new breed of angler - female, young and from ethnic minority backgrounds.
As part of a £1m scheme by the Environment Agency to "diversify" our river banks, Muslim women and children living in the centre of Swansea have been sent on free trout fishing trips.
The aim is to encourage them into the male-dominated world of angling.
Equipped with outsized goggles for health and safety reasons, and wearing traditional headgear, the hijab, the budding anglers were driven by coach to the Carmarthenshire countryside to find out how to fish.
They are the vanguard in what will be a countrywide series of free fishing trips for young people, women, and those from ethnic minority backgrounds.
Not all Welshmen are thrilled about this, but I think it's a good thing. No one is barred from fishing, if they like, but the sport does have the image of being a hobby for white guys with plenty of disposable income (or at least a little, as in my case!). That invisible socioeconomic fence is a bad thing in its own right, but worse when we hear so many complaints about the number of anglers--and likely advocates of waterway protection--declining. Organizations in the US like Fly Girls or Trout Unlimited have sponsored similar outings. The Michigan Department of Natural Resources has sponsored workshops for the Becoming an Outdoors Woman project. One of the least objectionable uses of public money these day, if you ask me
One other thing comes to mind. If the women in the Welsh article stick with it, sooner or later some will take up the fly rod. Considering the traditions of ornate needlework, calligraphy, and weaving in many Muslim countries, they might create some amazing fly patterns.
Tags: Fishing; Society
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