Introduction to Fishing
I started fishing at my grandfather’s lakehouse at a very young age. I would fish with nightcrawlers and a little fishing pole and catch bluegills all day long. I started bass fishing when my family moved from a neighborhood house to a farmhouse. I was about six years old and the farm has a pond on the property. Fishing in that pond was the earliest memory I have of bass fishing, and I still fish in that pond today. I really got into fishing when I joined my high school team in sixth grade. The coach was so helpful and I don’t think I would be here today if he did not help me out along the way.
Experiences and Challenges
One of the few challenges I have had is nobody in my family has ever fished at the level I wanted to. My grandfather fished with his grandfather but that was about it. I had no one who could give me information on how to get better. So I started watching all the fishing videos on YouTube. How to tie fishing knots, how to fish different kinds of lures, how to rig soft plastics, everything I needed to know to get started fishing I found on YouTube. Being a female in the fishing industry is very hard, but you also get a lot more attention than the boys. I have been to so many fishing events with other boys and people will pull me aside and talk one on one just about how good it is to be a woman in the industry and how much we are capable of.
Some of my personal achievements are placing runner up at my fishing regional tournament and fourth place at my state tournament as a freshman in high school. Other achievements include becoming a partner with Dominator reel tuning and Sun Tropic outdoor.
Support Systems
Support systems are very important to me because I would not be able to fish if it weren’t for my parents and grandparents. They have helped me so much. They have learned this sport with me and help me as much as possible. Just a couple months ago they bought me a boat. Now I can go fishing whenever and wherever I want. I can also go to tournaments and not have to worry if my partner will have a boat or not. Two other people who have been big supporters for me is the owner of Dominator Reels, Sam Currens, and owner of Sun Tropic Outdoors, Cory Holman. These two people have helped me so much between learning how to read graphs and live scope to owning a business and how to get noticed in the industry. I could not do this journey alone so I thank all of the people and family members who have helped me get to where I am today.
I am a sophomore in high school and it is hard to be on the fishing team. My school is a big football school, so some of the less popular sports get ignored and pushed to the side. The high school boys also push you to the side because they don’t want a girl in “their sport,” but I keep fighting every day for that to change. I don’t give up and I think that is a very important lesson for girls wanting to fish. There are also very important businesses in my community who are willing to help me every day.
Representation and Visibility
I don’t think women are adequately represented. I think a lot of times women get pushed to the side and are left out of a lot of things. I also think that women are a big part of the business role in fishing along with all of the scheduling for tournaments and the behind the scenes with shows and anything else that’s not actually fishing in the tournaments. I would love to see some more women on the boat fishing in these major tournaments that happen every year and see them succeed and maybe even win one of them.
When I started fishing in tournaments in 6th grade I never saw girls at tournaments I was always the only one but now that I’m a sophomore I see at least 4 or more girls teams at every tournament. KHSAA also started a Women’s fishing division, so at regionals and state, it is women competing against women. I think this will help girls in middle school and high school who want to fish but are maybe intimidated or scared get into the sport.
Advice for Aspiring Female Anglers
The best advice I can give for young women who want to fish is don’t be afraid to ask for help, put yourself out there as much as possible, and go to as many events as possible. Social media has helped me a lot to show people what I have achieved and what I am doing to fish at the next level.
Go check me out on social media @Allie Addison Fishing and I am on Instagram, Facebook, and Tik Tok.
