The American Museum of Fly Fishing and its “Exhibition Profiles” are the profiles of important women fly anglers, fly tyers, artists, conservationists and guides of yesterday, today and tomorrow
The American Museum of Fly Fishing and its “Exhibition Profiles” are the profiles of important women fly anglers, fly tyers, conservationists and guides of yesterday, today and tomorrow“ Exhibition Profiles” are from the book “A Graceful Rise” written by Catherine Comar, executive director of the museum. Promotional narrative for National Endowment for the Arts is provided by Fly Life Magazine.com. Copyright the American Museum of Fly Fishing (AMFF) – 2014. More images are viewable in the book.
Meet Annette Lilly Russ
[dropcap]A[/dropcap]nnette Lilly Russ was born in 1954 into the world of fly fishing. Her father, Bud Lilly, had founded Bud Lilly’s Trout Shop in West Yellowstone, Montana, just two years earlier. The shop was a year-round, full-service business that involved the entire Lilly household. Russ was just four years old when she held her first fly rod.
Russ continues to fly fish between her trips to Africa. Photo courtesy of Annette Lily Russ.
She helped in the shop doing a variety of jobs, and Russ was frequently featured in the pages of the product catalogs produced by Lilly. After spending much time on the local streams and rivers and becoming a fixture in the West Yellowstone fly-fishing community, Russ became the first licensed woman guide in the state of Montana in 1973.
After years of watching women act as bystanders in the shop, Bud Lilly decided it was time to market the sport directly to women. In 1974, Annette Lilly was hired by the shop to offer casting instruction and guiding services solely for women. Russ remembers that her father had great faith in her abilities and had a sink-or-swim philosophy about her learning how to effectively teach women to fly fish. She continued with the women-only instruction until the late 1970s, then turned her attention to her new family and to her college education at Montana State University.
Fly fishing again became an important part of Russ’s career in 1993 when she founded the Woman Angler in Chico, California. The hit movie A River Runs Through It had been released the previous year, and Russ saw that there were women interested in the sport who were looking for a fun, supportive, and woman-centered learning experience. She put out her sign, and the students signed up. The business closed in 1995 when Russ decided to devote her full attention to the development of her private practice as a certified public accountant.
Annette Lilly Russ lives with her husband in Chico. She retired in 2003 and devotes most of her time to her Kenyan-based organization, Just One Person, which raises funds to support long-term education for secondary school girls. She still fly fishes, though, and on occasion helps her brother Greg Lilly with his Healing Waters Fly Fishing Lodge in Twin Bridges, Montana.
[information]
Author Catherine E Comar’s book received great reviews. The women profiled are amazing, and that alone makes for an interesting read. The next printing is due out shortly.
American Museum of Fly Fishing . . .
4104 Main Street Manchester, VT 05254, 802-362-3300.
Open Tuesday-Sunday, 10am to 4pm –
Stay in touch with the Museum and its On Fly in the Salt initiative . . .
Regular updates on the exhibition and the Indiegogo campaign will also be posted on the Museum’s website.
Online exhibition of “A Graceful Rise” is now live, click here . . .
Read review of A Graceful Rise . . .
[/information]
