Fishbrain's Q and A with Jen Ripple.

Women are one of the fastest growing demographics in fishing and fly fishing is no exception. Jen Ripple is the editor in chief of DUN Magazine, which celebrates and features everything having to do with women and fly fishing. Ripple has caught tarpon, jack crevalle, snook and many other salt species from Florida to Cuba and elsewhere all on a fly rod. She is also an avid bass angler in her home state of Tennessee.

Fishbrain caught up with her this year at ICAST to talk about women's growing presence in fly fishing, how she began in fly fishing and what locations and species are still on her bucket list.

FB: Can you give us a quick rundown about DUN Magazine

JR: So DUN magazine is an international women's fly fishing magazine that tells the everyday angler story. Everybody has a story and we want to tell it and why I started a magazine because I wanted to write a really good article on fly fishing that was a legit call for a woman's magazine and I looked around for one and there wasn't one. So that was in June 2013 and by September we had our first magazine, everything has been going strong ever since.

FB: What kind of growth are you seeing in women taking up fly fishing?

JR: Oh women have been the biggest growing demographic in the fly world for, I would say, the last five years for sure and I would say that's because of social media. A lot of times people give social media a bad name, but for women in flyfishing, being able to see other women out there on the river doing it and being able to connect with them has been a key in the growth of the women.

FB: I’ve personally noticed and heard anecdotes about women taking to fly fishing very quickly and sometimes having success than their male counterparts. How would you weigh in on that?

JR: I would say that's true for three reasons:

#1 Women take instruction better than men. They just really want to learn and get better.

#2 Many women have a light touch. Men tend to try and overpower their cast at first and you cannot overpower a fly line.

#3 They are more patient.

These are generalities of course, but as a whole I find these to be true.

FB: So how long have you been fly fishing?

JR: I have been fishing for about 14 years. I started by joining a fly tying class one winter and I've been an addict ever since. I started because it was a really cold winter, I was living in Michigan and I just broke up with my boyfriend. I was looking for something to do and a local fly shop Had a craigslist ad that had a fly tying class. It was super cheap. It was like 65 bucks for a class and I thought well I don't really know what that is, but if I don't like it I'm not out a lot of money.

FB: What's one of your most memorable fishing moments? Did you have an aha moment while fly fishing like “OK this is awesome I'm gonna do this rest my life”?

JR: So it's not really like ‘this is what I was gonna do the rest of my life is fishing’ but when I walked into my first fly tying class and I saw that the shop dog and everyone was so fun that it was like family oriented, I just immediately felt at home so that's why I knew I was gonna do something in the fly world at some point.

FB: What's your favorite species, impressive catch, or memorable catch?

JR: It's not really a species a lot of people go after, but I think it should be. I got a huge giant jack in Cuba from a little board skiff. I was with all the creator of TFO Rods, Rick Pope, who guided me through everything. That man's knowledge of a fly rod, because I was definitely underweighted, helped me land that fish. When we caught it it was so big that they put it in the boat. I thought we were gonna let it go, but they put it in the boat and we ate that thing for three days. I don't even know you could eat jack.

FB: You also entered a tarpon tournament having never fished in saltwater for any species before. That was a brave move, how did it go?

JR: It was a ladies tarpon tournament and I had just recently started the magazine. I had heard of all these amazing women fly anglers and thought how cool would it be to fish with all these amazing women who are fishing and competing. I generally don't think of fly fishing as a competitive sport, but to see a bunch of women who were addicted to the sport it was fascinating to me.

I was invited down and I thought what a great way to meet women in fly fishing.

I was very open to my guide and admitted that I had never fished salt before, and admitted I was not the person to fish with if he wanted to win the tournament. He was ok with me and I ended up catching a 110 pound tarpon and that was it for me. I was hooked on the saltwater.

FB: Fishing the salt itself can be intimidating to any angler, let alone fishing for a species that can reach well over 100 pounds. What was your first time fishing on the salt like?

JR: No guts no glory. I was nervous as shit. I was so nervous and so afraid. I was mainly afraid of making myself look like an idiot and that's why I was honest with my guide. The thing that was the hardest, was it was four days, four full days and that's something I'm not used to. Casting into the wind is super difficult and being on the front of a flats boat is disconcerting, but my feet hurt, because I wasn't used to standing on the front of a flats boat that long. The front of a flats boat is hard and hot and being nervous and on your feet like that for four days straight is hard.

FB: What's on your bucket list?

JR: Oman, fishing with a Clare Carter for pompano and yellow permit would be at the top of my list.

FB: What species specifically?

JR: Yellow permit

FB: There are a lot of different types of fishing from hand lining to spin casting to bait casting, so why fly fishing for you?

JR: I think it's the direct connection you have with fighting a fish. It's a much more connected sport. You can feel every move of that fish. There's finesse to spin and baitcasting for sure, but fly casting is all so unique and it can be so challenging and all so simple. I think it's the complexity and challenge of fly fishing that draws me to it.

Up until about a month ago I had never caught a fish on a spinning rod. I never even picked up a spinning rod so I got my first fish on a spinning rod about a month ago and I will say that's why, because fly is where I feel comfortable. I love everything that there is about it. It's such a more, I think,beautiful sport and a much more beautiful way to catch fish. I love everything from the flies, the etymology of the insects and the beautiful places it takes me.

FB: When all else fails, what is your go-to fly?

JR: For trout, it would be a yellow fox streamer, for bass, which is what I love, it would be a Clouser minnow.

FB: Yeah there was really only one answer to the bass portion of that question.

FB: We know your go to fly is the clouser minnow, but what’s your got to rod?

JR: My go to rod is my H3 eight weight with a flats pro line. It just is the way it casts. It fits my cast perfectly. It's super responsive and there's no reverb in it. I can cast a really tight and accurate loop. It's just the rod that fits my casting style the best.

FB: You live in Tennessee, in the heart of bass fishing, but what is your all time favorite species?

JR: My favorite species is anything that lives in saltwater.

FB: So if Oman is your bucket list destination, what exotic locale has been your favorite thus far?

JR: Cuba. I really liked fishing Cuba and I think it was more of the experience overall. Going out for six days in a row on the flats to fish sight fishing, which is what my obsession is, then coming back to hang out with people you get to know so well, I think that is my absolute favorite.