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New Mexico Trout Conclave celebrates the sport of fishing with demonstrations, guest speakers and more
Many fishing love affairs have strikingly similar origin stories. It’s how they evolve that makes them unique.
Take Kaitlin Boyer, for example. She learned how to fly fish with her father, and what began as a bonding activity eventually became an ideal release as she dealt with the stress of nursing school. Shortly thereafter, it became a career.
“I kind of found myself skipping class to go fish,” said Boyer, who is based in Colorado. “At that time, there weren’t very many women anglers in my area. And some of the fly shops were offering me a job as a guide, and I didn’t really have formal guide training. I dropped out of nursing and went to guide school at Colorado Mountain College, and I started guiding in 2017. I’ve been guiding ever since.”
Meanwhile, Steve Ramirez found his passion through similar means, discovering his love for fishing — and nature in general — through outings with his father. Over time, it became integral to his overall wellness.
“As I got older and served in the Marines, and then on through a total of 35 years of being armed and dealing with the worst of humanity, I found that my connection to nature became even more important,” said Ramirez, who hails from Texas. “And that’s when I took up fly-fishing probably quite late in life.”
Ramirez is a self-taught fly-fisherman, and has published four books (including one that was incorporated into a movie) that use “fly-fishing stories to take the reader through a particular habitat, while hopefully teaching along the way about the environmental issues (society) is facing in both the human and natural world and our potential role in making things better or worse.”
Both Boyer and Ramirez will be guest speakers at the upcoming New Mexico Trout Conclave, which takes place on Saturday, March 1, at the University of New Mexico Continuing Education Building. The conclave is an event for veteran and novice anglers alike, and it also includes a raffle, silent auction and garage sale — where great values can often be found on gently-used fishing gear. One day prior, a fly-tying course will be led by master fly-tyers Eli and Dillon Gonzalez. Proceeds from both events go to benefit New Mexico Trout, a nonprofit organization “dedicated to the preservation and enhancement of trout fishing in New Mexico’s waters through restoration of riparian habitats and through the education of the public about trout fishing and the value of trout habitats.”
The weekend represents an opportunity where like-minded people can share their passion for fishing and conservation while expanding their overall knowledge. That, of course, includes appearances from the aforementioned guest speakers.
Boyer currently teaches in the guide program at Colorado Mountain College, which is the only school in the country that offers such a fishing-based curriculum. One of her areas of focus is making fly-fishing more accessible to women.
“I remember being a woman starting out, and it’s intimidating going to the river and being the only female,” Boyer said. “And I think that’s why I really enjoy guiding women. There weren’t very many women guides, and there still aren’t. So I just noticed I get a lot of requests from women.”
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Boyer’s presentation at the conclave will focus on fishing in southern Colorado and fly-fishing photography.
“It’s been a really magical experience and I just wanted to share some of my favorite places with everyone that’s gonna come to the event,” she said. “(Then), I’m summing up different types of cameras that are available, what kind of skill set is involved with each of them and then how to take a good picture of a fish ethically without harming it. And a little bit of landscape photography and portrait photography and things like that.”
Ramirez, who is admittedly a big fan of the Land of Enchantment, will share his knowledge of fishing and nature in the Texas Hill Country, which is located in the central and southern region of the state.
“There’s going to be many, many levels of discussion — not just about fishing, but about the entire area, the culture, the countryside, the history of it, the geology, and why it’s a beautiful place (attendees) may want to experience themselves,” he said.
Ramirez will also discuss the therapeutic elements of fishing and nature, which are covered at length in his “Casting” book series.
“This is something I’ve researched a lot, experienced, and I’ll be doing a strong presentation on how we can use fly-fishing in nature to really change and improve our lives, including how we can use it to change and improve the lives of people around us,” he said. “Because when we’re healthier, the other people get the best of us, too.”
