A woman and the sea - The Taft School

ReelingThemIn
Today, Rudolph holds the women’s world record for
permit (24 pounds on 12-pound tippet), in addition to tarpon,
bonefish (10.5 pounds on a 6-pound tippet), and snook (6.5
pounds on a 4-pound tippet). Last year, she was the first woman
in history to win the prestigious Don Hawley Tarpon Fly
Tournament in Islamorada in the Keys, catching and releasing
15 tarpon over five days to best 17 other fly-fishing experts.
Though Rudolph won’t brag about herself, her colleagues
will.
Sandy Moret, her boss at Florida Keys Outfitters, called
her “dynamite.”
“The skill that she uses in understanding how to manipulate
the tackle is what makes her exceptional,” he said. Plus,
“she has a tremendous amount of desire to excel at this, and
she does. A lot of people talk about fishing, but she does it.”
Dale Perez, who guided Rudolph to her world record tarpon
catch, said Rudolph’s focus and quick reflexes help make
her so successful.
Rudolph’s tarpon catch marked Perez’s 20th world record
as a guide (he also guided for her permit record). “I’ve been
guiding for 35 years,” he said, “and she fishes as well as any
man I’ve ever fished.”
Her status as a top-notch angler—and a female—has
earned her some cachet within the industry. In a recent Q&A
with Mid-Current, an online magazine, Rudolph told editor
Marshall Cutchin, “If I were a guy, no one would give a rat’s
ass about me… But the guys really think of me as a fisherman.
And I hope as a woman, too.”
Oh, but they do. After the Mid-Current Q&A was posted,
online fly-fishing chats began buzzing about Rudolph.
Writes one chatter: “I’ve always liked women who cuss,
and speak of passion.” Another chimes in: “And here I was
just fallin’ in love with her simply because she fishes and
drinks beer.”
Good fishing, capped off with a cold beer, is exactly the
kind of lifestyle Rudolph enjoys. “Fly fishing isn’t like bass
fishing, where you can make a ton of money in the tournaments
or anything,” she said. “It’s more trying to win the respect
of your peers and the people that you look up to.”
Camaraderie is a big part of the appeal. “I’m certainly not
saving the world working in a fly shop, but I’ve met a lot of
really interesting people because of fly fishing.”
Moret, Perez, and other guides are her mentors, she said,
always imparting new wisdom. That’s what keeps her tethered
to the sport: discovering new tricks. “The day I stop learning
is the day I want to get out of it. There’s not a day that goes
by where I’m not surprised by something or intrigued or just
completely awestruck.”
In August, she left for Montana, where she owns a house
and where she planned to spend two months doing some freshwater
fly fishing before returning to the Keys in October. She’s
hoping to squeeze in some traveling, too, maybe to Australia.
For fun, yes, but also for records.
She may be humble, but she’s still competitive.
“It kind of keeps it interesting,” she said. “That’s not to
say I don’t go out and go fishing just to go fishing, but there’s
always a little bit of competition. I don’t think there’s anything
wrong with that.”
So if somebody broke her tarpon record?
“Oh, I’d go break it. I’d have to go out there and try to
break it.”
After all, every good story merits a sequel.
Julia Feldmeier ‘99 writes for the Washington Post. Although she
loves the water, she admits she hasn’t been fishing since she was five.
. Diana, who now holds five women’s world records, reels in a
Pacific sailfish in Guatemala.