When fly fishing guide Abbie Schuster, 26, thinks back to her first fishing memories, two stand out. The first was around age four or five when she won a town trout competition in Connecticut. It was Father’s Day and the winning fish was a 19-inch rainbow trout.
“It was my dad’s proudest moment,” she said.
The second was on Martha’s Vineyard, fishing for stripers at night with her father. “Because it was too deep for me to fish he would hold me on his shoulders and I would fish from there,” she said. But one night they waded in too deep and fell into a giant hole in the water. But that didn’t stop her. Ms. Schuster comes from a family of fishermen and fisherwomen, including her mother, Amy Schuster, who noticed her daughter’s drive at a young age.
“I think some people are born with an innate need to do this and some aren’t,” said Amy Schuster. “But she was born with that, I gotta fish!”
Abbie Schuster grew up in Simsbury, Conn. and spent summers visiting her grandmother in Edgartown. Later, after attending University of Vermont for one year, she transferred to University of Montana in Missoula.
“I went fishing in Montana and was like this was a pretty amazing place,” she said. “Going to school in Montana influenced me so much. So many people are guides and I had this realization that I can actually make my passion into a paycheck.”
She attended guide school in Montana to make her more marketable to outfitters. Being a woman, she said, makes it difficult to get hired without solid guide experience.
After working as a guide in Montana for several years during and after college, Ms. Schuster moved back to the East Coast to be closer to her family. While she was on the Vineyard she continued to hone her skills, fishing with local anglers like Brice Contessa. Then she moved to Seattle, Wash. to run a women’s fly fishing program.
“It made me really motivated to get women involved in the industry,” she said.
She started hosting fishing workshops and wine nights for fly tying. She also became a certified yoga instructor so that she could offer combined yoga and fishing experiences.
“It was a non-intimidating atmosphere and that was always my goal. Most women were like, we needed something like this. It was such a good experience and why I thought I could start my own business.”
And so this past spring, Ms. Schuster returned to the Island to launch her new business Kismet Outfitters, which offers guided fly fishing trips and workshops to both men and women of all skill levels.
On Saturday, Ms. Schuster hosted her first event to kickoff the Martha’s Vineyard Derby: a Women’s Fly Fishing workshop on Lighthouse Beach in Edgartown. Sporting colorful trucker hats provided by sponsor Cheeky Fishing, a diverse group of about 15 women learned knot tying and casting with the help of local angler Wilson Kerr.
As the women selected their rods and spread out along the foggy shore, Ms. Schuster reminded them to focus on form.
“Hold your rod like you’re shaking its hand,” she said. “You always want to see your thumb. Remember, 10 to 2, no wrist. When you’re starting make sure you have about 7 to 10 feet of your line out in front of your rod.”
In between casts the women talked about fishing, family, travel.
“Women are funny aren’t they?” said Ms. Schuster. “If we were all men it would be like I want to get the fish! With other women it’s a different energy, it’s a beautiful energy, because it’s not like fish, fish, fish, fish. It’s like let’s talk about what we just ate and what we are going to make for dinner.”
Ms. Schuster plans to split her time between the Vineyard and Portland, Me. which gives her the opportunity to guide in two different environments. And to catch different kinds of fish.
But first, there’s the derby to fish.
To sign up for fly fishing lessons with Abbie Schuster contact here at 860-944-5225 or abbie@kismetoutfitters.com.
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