Page 41 - Nov/Dec 2021 Outdoor Oklahoma

species on a fly in the 15 weeks between Memorial Day and Labor Day. The winner
is drawn from the relatively short list of anglers who actually complete the challenge.
She also started the Okie Fly Gal Facebook page and brand, under which she
creates designs and vinyl stickers that adorn truck windows, rod lockers, tum-
blers and coolers seen on waters from Tishomingo to Tenkiller.
She had become a regular at Scotty’s Blue River One Stop. When owner Jason
LaFevers said he needed a logo for the shop, she told him she would design one.
His first batch of stickers at the store sold out in a day. A new favorite sticker shows
a hand with bright-red fingernails grasping a fly rod with the words “Fish Like a Girl.”
Getting to this point was not without its challenges, however.
It all started at Blue River Public Fishing and Hunting Area on Valentines Day
2019 with her good friend Jason Bryant.
“I thought that catching a trout was like an impossible feat,” she said. “I caught
my first one that day on a white rooster tail right above the Highway 7 bridge. I
probably took 50 pictures of that trout, I was so excited.”
Bryant used a fly rod that day, and it was Kirk’s first exposure to the sport. He “ I caught my first
offered to let her use an extra rod and to teach her, but she only gave it a little
try later that day. one that day on a
“I just didn’t know anything about it,” she said. “It seemed like something that
was so beyond what I could learn.” white rooster tail
Still, she decided if her friends were going to do this kind of fishing that she right above the
would get her own gear.
“I got a $38 Martin combo with bright orange fly line, and it came with a selection Highway 7 bridge.
of flies. I thought, ‘Oh … this is so cool!’ ... The first thing I caught was a perch.”
Every sunfish was still “a perch” back then, she said. I probably took
“Now I’m the worst critic on calling out people who call a bluegill a perch,” she
said with chuckle. “I’m a fly-fishing snob.” 50 pictures of
YouTube videos provided “fly-fishing 101 for girls who
don’t know anything about fly-fishing,” she said. that trout, I was
With that first bluegill under her belt, she felt ready to
try the Blue for rainbow trout on a fly rod. so excited.”

KELLY BOStIan

Stickers designed by Bridget Norris Kirk on the window of an SUV.

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