Outing With the Girls Is This Fly-Fishing Guide’s Hook

She once disguised herself as a boy to get on an all-day fishing boat with her father--in the days when the sport was totally dominated by males.

Her father introduced her around as Louie, and the big tuna Louie caught that day, one she initially thought was going to pull her overboard, remains one of her fondest memories.

Thirty years later, Lori-Ann Murphy is one of the most respected anglers in the country, male or female. And as founder of Reel Women Fly Fishing Adventures and Reel Women Outfitters in Victor, Ida., she has introduced hundreds of women to a sport that has become her passion.

Murphy, 43, a former Venice resident who was the first woman to become an Orvis-endorsed fly-fishing guide, is among many experts scheduled to give demonstrations at the 55th Fred Hall Fishing Tackle and Boat Show March 7-11 at the Long Beach Convention Center.

When she’s not at her booth, she can probably be found at the casting pond throwing out flies with a mastery she perfected while a guide first in Colorado, then Wyoming.

Indeed, her lifestyle is quite a contrast to the one she enjoyed--in a much different way--after becoming a registered nurse in 1981.

“I was working long hours and I needed an escape to find a little peace,” she recalls. “I realized that when I fished, I found that peace. When I was on the river, I thought of nothing except fish--where they lived, what they were eating, and if I could outsmart them.”

A licensed guide since 1989, she started Reel Women Fly Fishing Adventures in 1994, offering trips exclusively for women to such places as Alaska, Belize and the Bahamas.

Reel Women Outfitters opened the next year, featuring weeklong guide schools for women, but also one- and two-day trips on the Green and Snake rivers, for men and children as well as women.

The women-only trips, Murphy says, present a “sorority type of set-up” that everyone seems to enjoy, one free of the intimidation factor men might interject.

“More and more women are doing this kind of stuff now,” she says. “Our average client is a 40- to 50-year-old woman who is very successful in business and searching for some excitement or fun--and perhaps to stretch the limits a bit.

“Our next profile is a woman in her mid-50s who has raised a family and sent the kids off to school, and now it’s her turn to go have some fun. . . . Whoever it is, it takes a bold, adventurous woman to sign up for one of these trips and not know anyone--to just show up and go fly-fishing. That’s another common denominator.”

Yet another is that none have to call themselves Louie.

*

Among others sharing their expertise at the show’s Fly Fishing Expo will be Frank Selby of His & Her Fly Fishing Shop in Costa Mesa, giving a seminar on surf fishing; Steve Abel of Abel Quality Products in Camarillo (blue-water fly-fishing); Gary Gunsolley of Brock’s Fly Fishing Specialists in Bishop (Lower Owens River); Don Dale (Clark River, Mont.), and Thomas Pena (San Juan River, N.M.).

Conventional fishing experts are mostly old standbys. To name a few: bass pros Dean Rojas, Rich Tauber and Greg Hines, and long-range saltwater skipper Frank LoPreste.

*

Nearly 2,000 product and destination booths will be visited by 250,000 people throughout the course of the show. A warning for employers with fishaholics for employees: More than 50,000 are expected on opening day--a Wednesday.

*

Being fishermen, show-goers are usually as hungry as they are thirsty, and one of the biggest gripes will be the high price of lousy food at concession stands.

Thus, cooking displays will draw crowds seeking samples. You might be better off at the concession stands, however. Bob Hirsch, an outdoor writer who fancies himself a cook, lists carp meatballs and smoked carp dip as specialties.

*

The show has been a regular topic on message boards of fishing-related Internet sites, notably Allcoast Sportfishing at https://www.sport-fish-info.com. A sampling:

* “There seems to be a large difference of opinion here as to whether or not true ‘deals’ may be had at the show. One thing is for sure, expect to see a large number of products you never knew existed coupled with a high temptation to buy on the spot.

“Treat it like Las Vegas. Go sober. Leave your plastic and checkbook at home. Don’t sign anything. Set a budget and bring cash. Trust me on this.”

* “Know your prices ahead. Spend a little time at your tackle shops or catalogs with items you know you want and need. Then if you see it for 20% less than you can get it at home, buy it. There are some good deals, but you must know [comparable] prices to be able to compare. I have found at least one exceptional deal each of the last five or six years and then I tell my wife I won it in a raffle.”

CASTING CALL

Just as the Long Beach show signals the onset of another fishing season, the “Early Opener” on the eastern slopes of the Sierra Nevada is a sign that the real trout opener is just around the corner.

On March 3, streams west of U.S. 395 from Lone Pine to Independence will be well stocked with trout and open for angling. As usual, the Lone Pine Chamber of Commerce will kick things off with its free fishing derby, offering prizes in three age groups for biggest fish and heaviest stringer.

And in a show of small-town hospitality, the Inyo County Deputy Sheriff’s Assn. will provide breakfast and lunch at Diaz Lake. Details: (877) 253-8981.

The Eastern Sierra general trout season opens April 28.

FLYING HIGH

Once again, San Diego’s Shaun White, 14, came just a whisker short of toppling one of the snowboarding’s giants.

Two months ago, during the first leg of the Vans Triple Crown of Snowboarding at Breckenridge, Colo., the rising young star (he’s closing in on 5 feet) led the Superpipe division after two runs, only to be edged by established pro Todd Richards of Encinitas.

Last Sunday at Snow Summit in Big Bear Lake, White fell on his first run but pulled off an incredible second run to register a score of 57.2. However, Ross Powers of Stratton, Vt., put the youngster in his place by posting a final-run score of 58.

(Xavier DeLeRue of France and Line Oestvold of Norway won the men’s and women’s Snowboard Cross divisions, respectively; and Jim Rippey of Truckee, Calif., and Tara Dakides of Mammoth Lakes, Calif., won the Big Air competitions.)

White wasn’t discouraged by his second-place finish and seems aware that his time will come, if not during the third leg of the Triple Crown, March 29-April 1 at Sierra-at-Tahoe, then perhaps during the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City.

If he qualifies he’ll certainly be a threat. The international field at Snow Summit included Switzerland’s Gian Simmen, who won the gold medal in the halfpipe at the 1998 Nagano Games, and finished third at Snow Summit. Powers won the bronze at Nagano.

Said Cathy White, Shaun’s mother: “You can’t rule him out as one of the top guys to go. Some snowboarders [shun] the Olympics but Shaun is old enough, but hasn’t been corrupted enough yet to know that he is proud to be an American.”

WINDING UP

While the auto racing community has spent the week mourning the death of NASCAR legend Dale Earnhardt, so has the hunting community.

“Personally, for Buckmasters, and for all the hunters out there, this is a loss that just can’t be replaced,” Jackie Bushman, founder of the deer-hunting network “Buckmasters,” said in an interview posted on the company Web site.

“Everybody has a day when God is going to take you. Obviously, [last Sunday] God must have needed a pretty good race car driver up there. I’m sure Dale’s up there with his best friends Neil Bonnett and Davey Allison, and they’re probably out fishing and hunting right now.”

Earnhardt was an avid hunter who befriended Bushman years ago after accepting an invitation to participate in the annual Buckmaster Classic. The interview can be seen at https://www.buckmasters.com.