Katie Cahn is a natural. When she wants to do something, she just does it, in the most straightforward way possible, learning through trial and error. “My mom gets a lot of the credit here—she got me a kayak when I was 12. I’d just take it down to the river without a spray skirt and get totally beat up. When I was 13 she invited some of her river-rat friends for dinner, and I thought they were so cool; I wanted to be just like them.”

Growing up amidst mountains and rivers, Katie’s course has often followed theirs. After kayaking, she started guiding, running jet boats, taking photos. A natural progression, if you’re Katie Cahn. She was well on her way to being a river-rat, and the more time she spent on the water, the more she recognized how it changes you, how it has a strange ability to be coming and going simultaneously that inevitably brings about a shift.

After years of working on the river, Katie felt that shift. While her love of the water hadn’t changed, the way she wanted to experience it had.

“I moved away from kayaking because I was tired of being nervous every time I put my helmet on. I just kept thinking that there had to be something else out there that I could be good at, that made me feel good about myself.”

Her college campus in western North Carolina sat on the banks of the Tuckasegee River, and she picked up a fly rod and learned to fish much the same way she learned to kayak—by doing it. She asked friends for tips and advice, Googled “how to cast” and watched countless YouTube videos, but more than anything else, she went fishing. The river was 500 yards from her front door. So, before class, between classes, after class, she fished.

“I’d just be out there trying to get knots out for hours, and I’d catch one fish and it would all be worth it. But then I’d have to hike back to my truck.” She laughs at this. “I’d always go further than I meant to, than I wanted to sometimes, because I’m always wondering what’s behind that boulder. Half the time I was probably trespassing because I figured no one would get mad at me, just this girl trying to fly fish.”

Not one to play it safe, she hopped fences, accidentally discovered the timing of dam releases, and learned which property owners cared about a young woman with a fly rod traipsing across their property.

“Sometimes I’d get into these ridiculous situations. This one time a storm hit, and I was way up this gorge, and it flooded, and all these trees started washing down, and I was a mile and a half upriver with no one around. I had to cross a few times to get out and it was so sketchy. I’d taken my backpack off before the storm and then couldn’t find it. So, I got back to the truck and then had to go back out to find my backpack and saw a rattlesnake the size of a boa constrictor—like the size of one of those ones in the rainforest. That’s when I realized that fly fishing isn’t just this old man’s sport.”

In the fall of 2016, Katie had taken on a new adventure, marriage, when she found out she had cancer. Three weeks after her wedding, she was being prepped for a radical nephrectomy, and nine weeks after that she was on the operating table again, fearful that the cancer had returned. Though the second tumor was benign, she had her appendix and left ovary removed as a precaution. What was supposed to be one of the happiest times of her life was waylaid by fear and uncertainty. What if the cancer returned? What if it was incurable?

Battling depression, and even thinking about ways to end the pain quickly, she yearned for the old Katie, the carefree-just-married Katie that was planning fishing trips with her husband, not the one stuck in a hospital attached to an IV.

While she’d never be the Katie who never had cancer, she could be a Katie who’d beat it. She made her health her top priority, and, as with anything else she’d done, Katie took action. She gave up alcohol and meat. She refused to spend her days stuck in meetings about meetings, sitting under fluorescent lights and breathing stale air. This Katie would make a life that allowed her to move through the world in a way that helped her navigate fear and uncertainty with a firm grasp on her health and the future she would create.

And so, in February of 2017, when a call came from Headwaters Outfitters, just south of Brevard, NC, she was uniquely prepared to answer it.

The shop owner was looking for a female guide, just a day or two a week. Having completed her final surgery only weeks before, Katie’s schedule was wide open. “Not many people are able to quit their jobs to guide a couple days a week, but for me it was the perfect opportunity. When the shop reached out I was just like, “ME, I’LL DO IT!” I didn’t have anything going at that point, and it was perfect timing really. I was looking for a new kind of environment for myself.”

And she’s found it in the one that has always felt like home. “The best part for me personally is not being enclosed, not having four walls around me all the time. It feels good, especially in my recovery, to be outside, breathing fresh air, and I feel like I’m healing more and more every time I go to work. And getting to share that with clients, seeing them outside and able to decompress away from their jobs—I know that’s as memorable for them as it is for me.”

A life of reading water, first as a kayaker, then as a rafting guide, and now as an angler, has given her a unique perspective. “I look at life kind of like a river—sometimes you’ve got to eddy out, you know? Take a break. And then sometimes you’ve just got to go for it and not think too much. I’ve learned to take life as it comes—be patient, but also just roll with it. I’m still amazed, every time I go to the river, how it makes me feel and what it does to me. I feel at home in most rivers; it feels like I’m at my mom’s house.”

As spring turned into summer, Katie guided more and more, eventually transitioning to full time. When recalling her first day with Headwaters, she says that she went out with one of the guides and when they returned to the shop, all he had to say was “she’s a natural.”

She is most certainly that.

Photos by Becca Skinner. http://www.beccaskinnerphotography.com/

ORVIS: How long have you been fly fishing?

KS: Almost 10 years.

ORVIS: What’s your most memorable experience on a TwoFisted Heart shoot?

KS: I have a lot of them. That’s one of the best parts of this line of work – getting to have amazing experiences, and a lot of the time, getting to create those memories with my husband and other friends. One of my most recent memorable shoots came this past October. It was my birthday, and we were in Spain for a project. We took a helicopter to a remote area of the Pyrenees, and spent the day fishing and filming in a high alpine lake. The setting was incredible, surrounded by mountains rich with history and beauty. We got to sight-fish for wild browns until the sun dipped behind the peaks and the helicopter picked us back up. It’ll be tough to top that birthday.

ORVIS: What ignited the spark to start Braided?

KS: Recently, we were able to fulfill a lifelong dream and move to the mountains in Colorado. In part, we were driven by the desire to have more access to the outdoors that we loved, and to have closer friendships with people that loved the outdoors like we did.

Once in Durango, I recognized it was not hard for Nick (my husband) to find new fishing buddies. And it got me thinking, “Where are all the ladies?” And not just the industry luminaries like Joan, Meredith, and April, and Paula, Camille, and others. I mean locally, in my town, in your town, where are the female anglers?

Around the same time period, I had the opportunity to participate in a couple of corporate women’s fly fishing initiatives. The discussion was around how to reach more women and get them involved in the sport. The more I thought about these topics, the more I started to ask myself some questions.

What did fishing really mean to me? Was it something I was just doing because it was my husband’s passion, or was it really my own? What drew me to the sport initially? What do I remember most from the times I fished?

I thought back to my early years of fly fishing while living in DC. What I remembered and missed the most was not the fishing—it was the people and community we were part of while we lived there. I thought of the last few years, of some of the amazing fish I’ve had the opportunity to catch around the world. So many great memories, but each filled with as much or more thoughts about the experiences I shared with others—the laughs we had, and the memories and relationships I created. That’s why I started Braided—to build that community.

ORVIS: What part of Braided most excites you?

KS: I love seeing the response we have received in such a short amount of time. We have over 300 members in a little over six months. We have two chapters across the country—one in the southwest (Colorado) and one in the northeast (Vermont). We have women driving four hours in a day to attend events; we had one gal drive from Montana to Colorado to join us. It’s clear to me that we are meeting a need, and that we are onto something with this community.

ORVIS: Who has been your greatest inspiration?

KS: I had a professor that advised, “fake it ‘til you make it”. At some level, I bought into that philosophy and it carried me through my 20s. At this stage of my life, I am trying to live with greater intentionality. For me, that means having a clearer sense of what my strengths are, how I can contribute to the community and relationships around me, as well as what my true desires are. I am trying to live more from the heart, as vulnerable and risky as that can be. Pursuing fly fishing as my own sport, as my own passion, is part of that process. Starting and leading Braided is not only evidence of that process in me – its meant to be a safe place for other women to live from their hearts, too.

ORVIS: Give me a life lesson you have learned from fly fishing?

KS: People and relationships matter most.

ORVIS: What is the harshest criticism that you’ve endured (and conquered)?

KS: Back in the early 2000s I was accepted into a masters program for graphic design. Despite passing all of my classes with flying colors, I failed my midpoint review. The faculty chairs determined my projects were insufficient, and requested that I go back and essentially, start over. I was devastated.

Two key events took place after that. I dropped out of the masters program and got an internship. Learning on-the-job and the industry experiences allowed me to grow and develop. I have been a professional graphic designer for over a decade now. The second outcome of the masters failure was that I reevaluated my true desires. I recognized that I had avoided a passion for photography for twenty years. I signed up for an intensive certificate program and got trained in photography. That opened the doors for me to start TwoFisted Heart Productions with Nick.

ORVIS: What are some things that Braided currently is doing to help break through barriers?

KS: Braided is playing this role as a catalyst at the intersection of corporate and local. Through my production company and with the help of some of my girlfriends around the industry, we have been able to create some incredible partnerships at a corporate level rather quickly. That allows for everyone in our community to experience perks like product demo’s, giveaways, hosted trips, and access to expert speakers. At the same time, we have focused our Braided community efforts on getting local. We have a number of local fly shops, restaurants, breweries, artisans, and others that have played pivotal roles in each of our events. That has created value and vested relationships in a very short amount of time for all involved.

For our members specifically, we offer a place where women can come as they are— no matter if they are a novice or an experienced angler. We encourage and challenge one another without pretense and competition; where personal connections, grace, and joy ultimately matter more.

ORVIS: What does the Orvis 50/50 On the Water initiative mean to you?

KS: I had the opportunity to participate in the Orvis Women’s Lab in 2016, one of the precursors to the 50/50 initiative. It gave me a new clarity of purpose, a clear grasp on why I fly fish. With that knowledge in hand, I knew I had to do something. If this 50/50 initiative was more than Kool-Aid, if I truly believed in it, I had to take action. I had to do something. Braided is that something.

ORVIS: Why is Fly Fishing a great sport for women?

KS: To me, part of 50/50 means dropping the idea of “for women.” Fly fishing is a great sport. Period. For all genders. I love how there is always something new to learn. It continually challenges me and pushes me to be more, without judging where I am now. I love the opportunities to meet new people and experience new cultures or surroundings. I love how fly fishing encourages me to care more for the environment and conservation. And just like my husband, I love how I can grow old with fly fishing. It won’t ever leave me behind.

ORVIS: What are your thoughts on the industry’s response to the growth of women in fly fishing?

KS: There are many aspects of fly fishing that I think we as individuals or local communities have opportunities to contribute and do our part. If we as women want to fly fish, then let’s go fish. But there is one aspect that I think we are dependent on industry for, and that is the gear, namely the apparel. I am so very excited to see the new lineups of clothes, waders, and other gear that is designed with a woman’s taste and physique in mind. I’m a firm believer that fish respond to cute outfits, although I can’t empirically prove it yet.

ORVIS: What do you hope the future holds for you, and what are you excited about in 2018?

KS: I have a number of fishing-related goals for 2018. I want to understand my local waters at a deeper level. I want to get certified as a casting instructor. I want to get some formal training to become a better oarsman. Driving all of this new learning is really a desire to be able to teach and share new moments with friends in my life, including new ones that I hope to make this year.

ORVIS: Do you have advice for a female audience who wants to spend more time outdoors this year?

KS: Schedule it. I am trying to be disciplined about taking one day per month for just me, my thoughts, and being outside. So whether it’s that, or grabbing a couple of friends and hitting the water for an afternoon, my advice is to put it on your calendar. I have realized that if I am not intentional about carving out time to recharge or connect with the people around me, it will not happen. At the end of the day, there is no amount of accomplishments that make up for forgetting to take care of me and the relationships that matter most.

ORVIS: How long have you been fly fishing?

JR: About 10 years.

ORVIS: What ignited the spark in you to start DUN Magazine? How did the idea for your business come about?

JR: I was writing for a Midwestern fly fishing magazine, A Tight Loop, with 99.9% male authors, doing a women’s column. I wrote this great article, bigger than a column, and I wanted to put it in a women’s fly-fishing magazine but there wasn’t one. It made me think, if I was missing a women’s fly-fishing magazine, others out there were, too. That was June 2013. By September we had our first edition of DUN.

ORVIS: What motivates you?

JR: Women motivate me. I figured back in 2013; I couldn’t be the only woman on the water. I didn’t see them where I was fishing in Michigan but knew they were out there. It seemed like we didn’t have a history, that we were new to the sport and felt uncomfortable on the water. So, what motivated me the most was learning that history of women’s angling and being like, “No! Wait! We belong here.” From that point, my thinking changed—realizing that I belonged. I belonged on the river. I belonged in the fly shop and wasn’t going to take “no” for an answer.

That was back then. Now, what motivates me the most is seeing that our DUN authors are mostly everyday women. At DUN we feel empowering an everyday woman’s story is important. I can have the big names in the industry write for us, but I don’t think that’s as inspiring as hearing from someone who picks up a fly rod for the first time and falls in love with it. So, I think it’s the everyday story that motivates me the most.

ORVIS: Give me a life lesson you have learned from fly fishing?

JR: I think the biggest life lesson is, “There’s peace on the water for me.” To come from where I did to what I’m doing now was a reinvention of myself. I’ve re-invented myself through the water. You can start over at any time and do what you love.

ORVIS: What is the harshest criticism that you’ve endured and conquered?

JR: It’s been a positive ride so far, so this is hard for me. But, I’d have to say it’s the guides out there who say, “I don’t care if women fish, I just don’t want them on my water.” That said, I think that’s a really small, vocal minority. In regard to starting the magazine—there was a guy in the industry, and I was telling him that the first issue of DUN was about to drop. He said, “Oh that’s great. You’re going to have one magazine and it’s going to be fabulous, but you’ll never have another one because there aren’t enough women who fish.” I was taken aback for a split second and then thought, “He’s gotta be wrong.” So, I think that small percentage that gives you a bit of negativity is a constant you need to deal with. But honestly, the hardest thing to overcome was putting a mag together with no background in magazines or journalism. You just don’t know what you don’t know. But it’s a daily thing, and if you want to do something, you just go for it and figure out a way.

ORVIS: What are some things that DUN Magazine currently is doing to help break through barriers?

JR: I think the magazine broke through what I call the Gender Ceiling. Especially in fly fishing, I felt like there was one, even though we’ve been around in the sport since the 1400’s. We can now tell the everyday women’s story. I think hearing from the everyday women is empowering, giving a platform to tell their stories. The industry is waking up—they’re saying, “Oh wait, this is a demographic that actually loves to tell their story.”

ORVIS: What does the Orvis 50/50 On the Water initiative mean to you?

JR: I’m a big advocate of 50/50 because Orvis was the first company, in my opinion, to take what women anglers were saying and actually do something in response.

The initiative means simply that we belong, we’re here to stay, and we’re dedicated to getting other women on the water. And ultimately, for me, it means exactly what our motto at DUN is: Empowering women, not ignoring men. We just want to know that there’s a place on the river for us.

ORVIS: Why is Fly Fishing a great sport for women?

JR: Fly fishing is a great sport for women because they don’t have to be 20 and a rock star in the gym to enjoy it. You don’t have to be in a perfect state of health to go do it. I mean, I could never go running. But to fish, I don’t have to be in perfect physical condition, which is great because I’m 50 at this point. You don’t even have to be good at it to love it. You can pick up a fly rod for the first time and enjoy casting. Then once you take to the water, there’s just something about standing in the river and being near water that makes life better. We all have stressful lives, and as women we can get too caught up in what we’re doing for everybody else. In fishing you tend to slow down, take that moment, and be present. That’s what I think it’s all about.

ORVIS: What are your thoughts on the industry’s response to the growth of women in fly fishing?

JR: Over the last 5 years it’s been fun to watch the changes that have happened in the industry. When I first went to trade shows, the attitude was, “Yeah, this is EPIC everything!” No gear for women. And if there was some, it was ill-fitting, not techy, almost novelty. Now the industry gets it. Women’s waders are made for them—techy and well thought out. And there’s a lot more women’s gear out there. So, it’s been really fun to watch the industry response grow and see that they’re finally getting it.

ORVIS: Most memorable fly-fishing industry moment of 2017?

JR: That has to be the Women’s Showcase at the Fly Fishing Show in Denver of January, 2017. We were off to the side, and at first I was a little put off by it, but then we found out that there is such a positive feel and vibe in women’s fly fishing. At the show, a 70-year-old woman came up to me and said, “I’ve been fishing for 50 years. I brought my husband and son here, and I dropped them on the main floor, and I saw there was a women’s showcase and thought, well, I’ll go check it out. I saw that it was off the main floor and thought, Seriously? After all these years we’re still segregated? But I thought I’d walk through it anyway, and I walked up to your DUN booth, picked up your card and I saw your tag line, Empowering Women, not Ignoring Men. I realized this showcase was about more than me. I might feel comfortable on that main floor. It may not intimidate me, but I’m not the average woman.”

And the average women we’re trying to get into this sport is still intimidated by what’s going on out on the main floor, and they’re not going to ask questions, and they’re not going to try stuff on. But we created a safe haven there. People came and they stayed. Women came and they stayed. And that whole feeling about it was reiterated again in this past show in Denver. We set up the campfire again, and at one point I took a picture and it was all men. The guys hung out while women were trying stuff on and shopping and talking —just like they do at Nordstrom’s! I just thought, “This has been so cool for women—to come and actually have a place of their own and know that they belong.”

ORVIS: What do you hope the future holds for you and what are you excited about in 2018?

JR: We’ve had growth, and women have been the largest growing demographic in fly fishing in the last year or so, and it’s going to continue to grow. I know it will. As a magazine editor, I’m excited to tell their stories. There’s going to be new women, new girls, new people entering the sport and they’re going to know that they have a community out there.

ORVIS: Do you have any words of advice for a female audience who wants to spend more time outdoors this year?

JR: Be like Nike, and JUST DO IT. For me, there’s no happier place than outside. Studies have shown when people are outside in the trees their mood improves. This is one thing you can do to make yourself happier that costs no money! How many pills do you have to buy in order to make yourself happy? Throw them away! Just go outside! The dishes can wait, and deadlines will always be there. Get up a few minutes early. Have your coffee outside. Smell the fresh air. Look at the beautiful sun that keeps rising every morning and inspire yourself. Your future self will thank you.

ORVIS: How long have you been fly fishing?

HH: Since Junior High, around 13 years old.

ORVIS: What barriers did you break through to become a female fly-fishing guide?

HH: Honestly, I was lucky enough to have a boss who believed in hard work and character and ability over gender. I was the first female fishing guide hired at Glacier Anglers as a teenager. My sister followed shortly after. We were the first two, and it wasn’t a statement. My old boss never even pointed that out to us until maybe a few years ago. I don’t feel that I had to overcome any barriers because there were men who believed in hard work and character and talent above gender. I think that’s key. Your support is not just women as a wild feminist—it’s having men out there that believe in women, too.

ORVIS: What ignited the spark in you to start your own fly shop?

HH: When you’re looking at careers—the obvious thing is to follow your joy and talents. I’ve always loved guiding, ever since I was a teenager. I love working in the fly-fishing industry. I’ve just found that there were things I could do differently if I was the boss. And the biggest thing for me to do differently is in conservation. I felt like I couldn’t wait around for some conservation-action to happen. I felt like if I were to have my own shop I could make some of those changes. I think that needing to be more active in climate, public lands, and river access issues was a big spark that motivated me to have my own shop.

ORVIS: Who has been your greatest inspiration in your fly-fishing journey? What motivates you?

HH: My brother and sister are my greatest inspiration in anything that I do professionally. They’re my biggest cheerleaders. They’re always supporting me and encouraging me. And they’re the ones, when I have an idea, that will give me an honest answer— “you should totally do that” or “maybe that’s not a very good idea.” My brother and sister are the ones who are really good at tough love.

I’m also really motivated by some of the threats that I see to river access and public lands and climate. That’s really the driver for me, to be the boss of my own operation. So, it’s not just about clocking-in and clocking-out and getting people down the river, but about helping everybody be a part of the solution and running a business that puts the resource first.

This story kind of ties everything together. Being a fishing guide for so long I would complain to my brother and sister that I just felt guilty not being part of the solution but adding to the problem—driving trucks and pumping people down the river. I asked myself, “What am I doing?” And, “Is this really good for the resource?” I was complaining, and my brother and sister are the ones that said, “Well, then you can change it. You have the ability to change it. You have the ability to be a leader in that.” They were the ones who told me I needed to stop complaining about what we’re doing to our water and land and to be a part of the solution and that I COULD do it. It was a combination of “stop whining” and “you’re going to be great at this.”

ORVIS: Give me a life lesson you have learned from fly fishing?

HH: The life lesson I learn from fly fishing every single day is to have a good time. I feel like everything we’re trying to do with the sport in terms of trying to protect the resource and help everybody be aware of some of the negative things that we’re dealing with, I have to reel myself back in and say, we’re just out here to have a good time. If we just remember that, then we’re more likely to take care of the resource.

My mantra is: Let’s just have a good time. And if you look at it that way it’s like, “Ok, we don’t get to have a good time if we don’t take care of the resource first.” It’s no fun to fish in a polluted stream. It’s no fun to have to pay for access, or be bottlenecked into a river because there’s not access, or to have to get off the river by 2pm because it’s shut down for being too hot and dry and low because of climate change. I just think, “Man, that just really shuts down our party and we just all wanna party.” When I’m guiding, I just want people to have a good time, and I just love it when they leave the river and are like, “Man, that was the BEST time of my life!” If we can take care of this place, then we can all just have a good time.

ORVIS: What does the Orvis 50/50 On the Water initiative mean to you?

HH: It’s a statement—that all these non-profits, brands, individuals, friends, and competitors in fly fishing and the greater outdoor industry are getting behind the idea that, “We believe that there should be parity in angling.” It’s not just a box to check. It’s a pledge. It’s a chance to stand up and say, “Yeah, absolutely, there should be as many female anglers as men.” And saying it, is living it. To me, it’s also a pledge to women who are just now stepping out and angling, that there is a supportive community behind them. It’s a reminder to them as they venture out that all of these brands, all of these individuals, all of these non-profits believe in you. They believe that you can have a good time out there. They believe you can work in this industry. They believe that you can share your personal fishing experiences with others. They believe that you belong. And even for somebody like me, who has been doing it for a long time—I feel sometimes it’s encouraging to recognize you’ve got this community of people cheering you on. 50/50 broadens that feeling.

ORVIS: Why is Fly Fishing a great sport for women? What are your thoughts on the industry’s response to the growth of women in fly fishing?

HH: I think that the industry is excited to be able to make this 50/50 statement. They’re excited that there’s not some huge commercial hook to it, that no one is trying to make a ton of money and exploit women in fly fishing—that 50/50 is very honest, that it is here for the right reason. It is the most real and honest initiative in the fly-fishing industry right now, driven by people who are trying to share their love of angling and help others have a really great experience. And also acknowledge that, if my mantra is that everyone should have a good time, it’s that men and women should equally have a good time, and that they can do it together. It’s not all just women fishing together, getting out there for a sisterhood, but it’s that women can walk through this fly fishing experience at the same level as men and have a good time.

ORVIS: Do you have any words of advice for a female audience who wants to spend more time outdoors this year?

HH: First, commit to protecting the resource and look at the ways you can do that. I think that should be the first step before you even pass go. So that, essentially, is your path. That is your license. That is your ticket. If you can do that first, this outdoor world is your oyster. It’s not just getting in a casting class, it’s not just booking a guide, it’s not just getting your gear. Before you do any of those things, look around you, find your place, commit to protecting it, and be part of the solution. If we can do that, then we can have a good time.