Hello, my name is Rene Coatta, and I am so excited and honoured to be a part of the Women’s Fishing Network!
I am 42 years old, and grew up in Winnipeg Manitoba. I moved out to BC when I was 19. I always had a love for the mountains and ocean.
I lived in the Lower Mainland for several years before moving to Australia for 4 years, while my husband attended Med School. We now currently live in Fort St. John; a town in Northern BC.
Today, I am going to share with you how my love for angling started.
If you asked me 10 years ago if I would love fishing as much as I do now, the answer would have been, “no, not in a million years.”
I grew up in Manitoba, and spent most summers at Falcon Lake. Not once did I ever pick up a fishing rod, but looking back now, I really wished I had.
I always loved the outdoors. I grew up playing outside till it was dark…. skinning my knees from falling on the cement, and my parents having to check my pockets for cats, anytime we left someone’s farm.
My fishing journey didn’t start until six years ago.
We live in a small town in Northern BC, and on Fathers’ Day weekend in June 2016, our local hunting and fishing store, ‘Backcountry’, put on a ‘Learn To Fish’’ program for kids aged 5-15.
The class was free to attend, and they provided all the fishing gear, which every kid got to keep at the end of the class. Pretty cool, right?!
That was the day my son fell in love with fishing!
I still don’t know to this day how they did it… having 25 kids lined up on the shore of Charlie Lake, not one ever having fished before, untangling lines etc. I can barely do it with my two kids and myself on the dock!
After the ‘Learn to Fish’ program, I got my first rod and reel, so I could continue to take him fishing, and enjoy the sport that he loved so much, as much as he did.
We didn’t know much about fishing back then. We didn’t have a boat, and did all our fishing from shore. We didn’t know the good spots to go, where the fish like to hang out, or what the fish liked, etc. We totally just winged it.
We would go to the store buying random lures, not really knowing what lures worked for what fish. Most of the lures we bought were because they caught our eye… we liked the colour, or they had a pretty pattern.
We did manage to catch a few fish here and there, but nothing like we catch now! Even if we didn’t catch anything, there is something very relaxing about casting and reeling, and just being outside. It was so nice to get to spend all this quality time together as a family.
In November of 2019, we went to Walt Disney World. I remember my son being more excited about seeing bass in a pond, than he was about the rides. That was when I knew exactly how much he loved fish and fishing, and when his passion for fishing became my passion as well.
When your kid is so into something, it is hard not to be into it as well!
I remember the first time that fish hit my hook, and I felt that tug of the fish. I knew I was hooked (pardon the pun)! There is something so exciting and thrilling, when you are reeling them in!
When covid hit, I started home-schooling my kids, which worked out great because as soon as they were done with their school work, we would head out to the lake to go fishing every afternoon.
We met a lot of older anglers that would be out fishing, and more than happy to share tips with us on what to use or where to try fishing! They were always happy to show us their treasures in their tackle boxes, and what lures work best for what. This was when my fishing knowledge got better. I have been able to learn all these tips and tricks and stories of fishing from their childhood, from complete strangers that share the same passion that we do.
In the last 6 years, I have gone from not knowing anything about fishing, and being skunked all the time, to becoming a Master Angler in Manitoba, catching a 36-inch channel catfish this last September. But that is a story for another time!
I look forward to learning and growing as an angler, as well as sharing my tips and tricks with you. I cannot thank you enough for taking the time to learn more about me….. Adventure awaits!
Rene
