"I wasn't expecting that. Like do you actually know how to tie all the knots and stuff?"

I was sitting downstairs in my residence hall lobby and I had my fishing tackle out. I was working on my fishing poles, when this guy walked out of the elevator. He stopped as soon as he saw what I was doing. He looked at me and said he wasn't expecting to see me with a fishing pole, which makes sense. I was in the middle of our lobby, which is not the place you would expect to see someone working on fishing gear. Then he proceeded to question not the presence of those fishing poles in a residence hall, but how they got to be in my possession and my knowledge of sport fishing.

Truth be told, guy in the lobby, I also had a lot of expectations that did not hold up in that moment. I wasn't expecting to have my fishing credentials questioned by you. I don’t usually expect to have my fishing credentials questioned by anyone other than an Arkansas Game and Fish Wildlife Officer asking for my fishing license. Usually, when men come to a full stop as they see me with my fishing gear, I have always assumed it was because they wanted to have a conversation about it.

Turns out I may have been sorely mistaken. You were probably the only one brave enough to say what everyone else was really thinking. Do I actually know how to tie all the knots, indeed. Thank you for helping the scales fall from my eyes, sir. I would like to take a moment and address the questions you had. In that moment, I was too surprised to do anything more than a cursory overview.

Yes. I do know how to tie fishing knots. My daddy taught me how to tie them, the same way many fathers teach theirs sons. He taught me when he took me fishing when I was younger. He took me fishing because I wanted to go. My father did not ever make me feel that I should be ashamed of finding enjoyment in something simply because it wasn’t feminine. I liked fishing and that was a good enough reason for him to teach me.

Yes. I do take the fish off the hook by myself. I used to have my dad do it for me as you were expecting, but that was because I didn’t know how. I would venture to guess there was a time in your life where you probably had someone take your fish off the hook for you as well. Eventually, Daddy taught me how to do it myself. It's not hard or gross. It's easy and part of the joy of fishing.

Yes. I can bait a hook with natural or "gross" baits. Getting my hands dirty is nothing, if that means getting a fish on the line. Some women don’t when they go fishing and that is most certainly their choice. I do and that is my choice. If I wanted to use hard baits or plastics instead, I have it on very good authority my fishing would not suffer one bit because of my aversion to touching worms. I would be no less of a fisherman because of that choice.

I can tell you what the different kinds of fishing line are used for, what my preferred kind of reel is, and why watermelon is the best color for plastics on sunny days. I would bet my bottom dollar that you wouldn’t be quizzing your new found fishing buddy about any of this, if he were a man. Or if you did and he got the answers wrong, you would probably excuse it. But because I just so happen to be a woman, I have to not only prove I like fishing, I have to prove I know as much or more than you to be taken seriously. That is a damn shame.

I am a woman. I also happen to like fishing. My apologies, kind sir, if that takes you by surprise. I will remember to have my credentials ready the next they may need to be presented. I had momentarily forgotten how hard it is to be a man living in a world with women who have interests that may not be what you expected them to have. It must be hard.