Hannah Perkins

Hannah started fly fishing when she was around five years old. It was something her entire family did. If the family vacation wasn’t a fishing vacation, they were hunting, so it was either learn or do nothing–and she’s not a do-nothing type of girl. When she went to college in Montana, she began to develop her own personal relationship with fishing, learning how to do it completely on her own–from finding out where to go to tying her own flies and learning to row a boat. Today it is a hobby that she has designed her life around. She gets out on the water any chance she gets, and most of her own vacations are now fishing and hunting vacations.

Frazier Blair

As Vice President General Merchandise Manager at Orvis, Frazier is fortunate to work with the company’s product and planning teams. She started fly fishing not long after she started working at Orvis. Fly fishing is at the core of the brand and everything Orvis does. Frazier wanted to understand the sport, having spent her entire life involved in outdoor pursuits. She found her fly-fishing niche in the camaraderie on the river and the activity involved in trout fishing small streams in Vermont. She likes to walk those streams, covering ground as she places her fly where she thinks a trout might be hanging out. Orvis drove her entry into the sport, and she’s since enjoyed fly-fishing adventures with her Dad, on her own, and with her co-workers.

Anita Coulton

Anita’s journey with a fly rod began at age three when her father, an avid outdoorsman, sat her on the bank with a old Zebco rod. A deep love for the outdoors was born, and more importantly, a passion to pursue anything that could be caught with a fishing rod. Her extensive fly-fishing experience spans more than 20 years, and she is comfortable in both fresh and saltwater.

A former competitive angler, she has fished alongside some of the World’s best. In 2017, she earned the title of NJ Flyfisherman of the Year. Anita is a graduate of Reel Women Guide School, based in Montana. She is proud to be an Orvis-Endorsed Guide with Cross Current Guide Service, and in season you can find her navigating her Clackacraft on the Upper Delaware River, chasing some of the toughest wild brown trout around. In addition to guiding, Anita has been involved with Casting for Recovery for over 10 years. She is also an avid writer and contributor to publications such as Dun Magazine and Fly Fisherman.

Kaitlin Boyer

Fly fishing fits into Kaitlin Boyer’s life like a piece of a puzzle that she didn’t know was missing. It’s a religion, a temple, a passion, a therapist, a friend, a way to connect with her significant other, a career, a profession, and a creative outlet. To reset, she spends her free time on the river bank. She captures her fishing journeys with her camera, and writes about them in hopes of getting published. In the summer, she gets up before dawn to take people fly fishing and teach them how to catch fish, and in turn gets money to provide for her family. The friends and the memories she’s made have come with many casts, bad net jobs, and fish that made the day. All in all, fly fishing isn’t a hobby, or just a job, it’s the air Kaitlin breathes.

Elsa Espino

Elsa Espino is a fly fisherwoman and an outdoor photographer based in New York City. She loves to break the barriers of male-dominated cultures and empower women to do the same! Elsa is an avid traveler (although I’ve been in NYC for some time) and is hoping to someday travel around the world.

Chrissy Atkins

Fly-fishing has exposed Chrissy Atkins to a beautiful network of folks across the country and around the world who love nothing more than sharing their passion with others and protecting the resources they enjoy.

When she first moved to Vermont, a co-worker convinced her to attend a meeting of the local Trout Unlimited chapter, where she eventually served as President and Treasurer and was able to bring friends like Jackie Kutzer into the fold.

Chrissy and Jackie have been teaching classes together for years, and Chrissy loves working with her to inspire and celebrate women in fly-fishing as co-leaders of the 50/50 on the Water initiative. Along with their co-workers and friends, Amanda Gibson and Abbie Mahurin, they’ve formed a women’s fly-fishing group in the Northeast (a chapter of Braided), to help bring female anglers together both on and off the water. Abbie and Chrissy are also working to start a program in Vermont for the Mayfly Project to help mentor foster children through fly-fishing. (They’re looking for more mentors if you’re interested!).

All of these women are at the point in their journeys where they get just as much joy out of teaching others and watching them fall in love with the sport as they do when they’re the ones holding the rod.

KynsLee Scott

Born and raised in Montana, KynsLee’s life has been shaped by the outdoors. In 2008, she moved to Missoula to attend the University of Montana, where her guiding career took off. Since 2010, she has been with Blackfoot River Outfitters, where she developed their Women’s and Instructional Programs. Her guiding seasons are shared between trout in Montana and steelhead in Washington State. Her passion is her career, and she can be found guiding, making wine, and playing across the Pacific North West with her better half.

Katie Ferner

I’ve been fishing for as long as I can remember and wanted to be a professional bass fisherman when I was a kid. That career didn’t pan out, but now I get to teach hundreds of people how to fly-fish each year. Having worked in several fly shops around the country, I’ve been able to experience many types of water and fisheries. I’m happy to live in a state that has world class fishing everywhere!

Heather Hodson

Heather is the founder of United Women on the Fly. She is an expert at making anglers (especially women) feel comfortable and becoming a part of the fly-fishing community. Sometimes referred to as the “Middle Woman,” Heather volunteers her energy and time to connect women, help start a Women’s Program, or enable anglers to become more confident on the water. Heather currently holds the position of Western US Women’s/Diversity Ambassador for Trout Unlimited. Her passion for conservation and for getting women involved in fly fishing are infectious.

Marina Gibson

Marina Gibson was lucky enough to spend a lot of her childhood chasing salmon, trout, and sea trout. Lots of people ask her, “Did your Dad get you into fishing?” but it was her mother who instilled in her a passion for time on the water with a rod in hand. Marina is a proud ambassador for Orvis UK, Atlantic Salmon Trust, and Fishing For Schools. She’s also a certified Fly Fishers International (CI) Instructor and 1st4sport Level 2 coach, and in August 2018, she competed in her first Fy-Casting World Championships. Marina currently holds the UK record for the Ladies 15′.1″ Spey distance.

Although fishing is her job now, she still sees it as one of the most mindful sports you can do – the art of fly fishing requires complete concentration, total absorption, and is both exhilarating and relaxing. It is how she finds calm. Marina’s biggest love at the moment is teaching children: “I come back after a session feeling on top of the world. Whoever said never work with children or animals was so wrong about that!”