Beyond Words

Did you know that the first document on fishing is attributed to a woman, Dame Juliana Berners, a fifteenth-century English nun and noblewoman? The year 1996 marked the five hundredth anniversary of the publication of the Treatyse of Fysshynge wyth an Angle, which historian John McDonald has hailed as "the origin of modern angling."

Did you know that the first document on fishing is attributed to a woman, Dame Juliana Berners, a fifteenth-century English nun and noblewoman? The year 1996 marked the five hundredth anniversary of the publication of the Treatyse of Fysshynge wyth an Angle, which historian John McDonald has hailed as "the origin of modern angling."

Women today constitute more than one-third of all anglers. Dame Juliana was the first of a dynasty of great angling women whose lives are chronicled together for the first time, in Reel Women. Readersdiscover that women not only have a history of fishing but have also made history in a sport long perceived as the exclusive pastime of men.

Whether fly fishers, big-game saltwater anglers, or bass'n gals, they are kindred spirits in many ways: fishing is a driving passion in their lives, it has expanded their self-confidence, each one is ingenious and daring in her own way, and many have managed to carve out a career in some aspect of the sport. The book also includes the firs Women's Angling Resource Directory and a bibliography of books about fishing written by or for women.