On the water with Kymmy: Just One Person

Want to know the most important thing about being a fishing influencer?

You don't need 100,000 followers.

You don't need sponsorships.

You don't need free tackle arriving at your door.

You don't even need to call yourself an influencer.

If something you've shared inspires just one person to pick up a rod, try something new, take their kids fishing or find the confidence to enter their first fishing competition, you've influenced someone.

Job done.

Everything beyond that is a bonus.

So, what actually is influence?

The word influencer has developed some interesting baggage over the years.

Mention a fishing influencer and it's easy to picture sponsorships, free gear, huge follower numbers and someone holding up a fish while conveniently making sure the lure logo is facing the camera.

And yes, those relationships exist.

But that's not what influence means to me.

Influence can be much quieter than that.

It can be someone watching a video and trying a lure technique they've never used before.

It can be a mum seeing another woman take her kids fishing and thinking, I could do that.

It can be someone who's always wanted to enter a fishing competition finally finding the courage to put her name down.

You might never even know you influenced them.

And I think that's worth remembering.

"She only fishes because she's paid to"

I've heard variations of this one targetted at me over the years.

Apparently, some women only fish because brands pay them to.

I wish. 😂

If someone could point me towards whoever is handing out wages for standing in the rain, losing expensive lures to snags, getting eaten alive by sandflies and spending hours casting at fish that have absolutely no intention of cooperating, I'd appreciate it.

The reality is that most people sharing their fishing online aren't being paid to go fishing.

They're doing it because they bloody love fishing.

The camera simply came along for the ride.

Of course, there are anglers who work professionally within the industry, and there are creators with paid partnerships and sponsorships. There's absolutely nothing wrong with that.

But assuming someone, particularly a woman, only participates in the sport because she's receiving something in return completely misses the passion that usually came first.

Why women sharing their stories matters

Women are joining recreational fishing in increasing numbers, and I absolutely love seeing it.

But fishing can still sometimes feel like a man's world.

That's exactly why I believe it's so important that those of us who fish share our stories.

Not because our stories are more important than anyone else's.

But because sometimes you need to see yourself in someone else before you can imagine yourself doing it too.

A woman might hear another woman talk about how nervous she was the first time she launched a boat.

She might read about someone who didn't discover fishing until later in life.

She might see a single mum who taught herself to fish so she could take her kids.

She might hear from someone who nervously entered her first fishing competition without knowing anybody there.

And suddenly something that once felt like:

That's not for people like me.

becomes:

Maybe I could do that.

Sometimes that's all influence needs to be.

It's one of the reasons I've become so passionate about sharing women's stories through Lady Anglers Downunder.

We don't all need extraordinary stories.

You don't need to have caught a metre barra.

You don't need to have won a tournament.

You don't need to be sponsored.

You don't need thousands of followers.

Sometimes the most influential story is simply:

"I was nervous too. I gave it a go. And I bloody loved it."

Being visible comes with a downside

Of course, there's another side to sharing yourself online.

The more visible you become, the more people have opinions about you.

Some won't like how you fish.

Some won't like what you say.

Some won't like how you look.

Some won't like the brands you use.

And occasionally, someone seems to dislike you simply because you had the audacity to exist on their screen that morning.

That's social media.

I've learnt that I don't need to attend every argument I'm invited to.

That's not always easy.

When somebody says something unfair, particularly when you know they're wrong, the natural instinct is to defend yourself.

I've done it.

I've reacted.

I've let things get under my skin.

But I've also learnt that how somebody chooses to speak about or treat another person often tells me far more about them than it does about the person they're talking about.

I can't control what somebody else chooses to put into the world.

I can control what I contribute in return.

Positive doesn't mean pretending

When I talk about maintaining a positive presence online, I don't mean pretending everything is wonderful.

Life isn't always wonderful.

Fishing certainly isn't always wonderful. 😂

Fish don't cooperate.

Plans go to shit.

Lures disappear into trees.

Boats break.

People disappoint you.

Sometimes life is bloody hard.

Being positive doesn't mean posting "EVERYTHING IS AMAZING!" while your world is falling apart behind the camera.

For me, it's much more about deciding what I'm going to add to the conversation.

Not every comment deserves a response.

Not every criticism requires a defence.

And not every person stirring the pot deserves the reaction they're hoping to get.

Sometimes the most powerful response is simply getting on with what you were doing in the first place.

Someone is watching

This is the part I try to remember.

Somewhere amongst the follower counts, views, likes, shares and comments might be one woman quietly watching.

She might never like a post.

She might never leave a comment.

She might never send a message.

You may never know she's there.

But maybe she sees another woman fishing and thinks:

I could do that.

Maybe she buys her first rod.

Maybe she takes her kids fishing.

Maybe she enters that competition she's been watching from the sidelines.

Maybe she learns to launch a boat.

Maybe she catches her first fish.

And maybe, years from now, she's the woman encouraging somebody else.

That's the ripple effect we don't see on an analytics screen.

Just one person

I don't think we need more people aspiring to become influencers.

I think we need more people willing to share what they know, what they've learnt, where they've struggled and why they love this pastime so much.

And I especially want more women to tell those stories.

Because you never know who needs to hear yours.

If something I share inspires one person to pick up a rod, learn something new, take their kids fishing or find the confidence to step into a part of the fishing world they previously thought wasn't for them...

I've influenced someone.

That's enough.

Everything else is just numbers.