Cascade, Colorado, flyfishing guide Kaitlin Boyer intoduces Lauren McKenzie of Colorado Springs to flyfishing at South Cascade Reservoir behind Pikes Peak on Thursday, July 18, 2019. McKenzie enrolled in a special scholarship that Boyer helped found.
Colorado is a kind of heaven for fly-fishing. Pristine mountain lakes and miles of rivers and streams are stocked with fish. It’s easy to picture fishermen in their waders, snapping a line to and fro.
If Kaitlin Boyer has her way, when you think about that scene, it’s not just men on the water.
On a recent morning, after a quick drive up the Pikes Peak highway, Boyer, a certified fly-fishing guide, led her client — also a woman — to the perfect fishing spot on a bank of the South Catamount Reservoir.
For Boyer, standing on this reservoir with the rugged west side of Pikes Peak in the background and the gentle sound of flies buzzing and fly rods swishing, it’s another day on the job. But she knows that being a woman sets her apart.
“Women are getting so into fly-fishing. It’s the fastest growing demographic in the sport, that there’s just not enough female guides to accommodate them,” Boyer said. “Just in this region, there’s only a handful of female guides.”
Boyer’s client that day on the river, Lauren McKenzie, is one of several women who’ve told Boyer they prefer to learn from other women. In fact, McKenzie says she wouldn’t have booked this tour with a male guide. READ MORE
