Tammy King's Women’s Fishing Group Flourishing In Fourth Year

Tammy King has had a fishing rod in her hand since she was three years old. What began as a hobby growing up has evolved into her life’s work. As she continues to be a fishing visionary on the island among local anglers while operating her own businesses, she has spent the past several years trying to create opportunities for women on the island to break into what is generally considered to be a male-dominated field.

Four years ago, King started a small fishing event for female anglers tied to the August Blues fishing tournament. What began as a small group of women fishing together has grown rapidly, and this year 66 women signed up before the event reached capacity.

On Tuesday afternoon, dozens of female anglers gathered at 40th Pole along Nantucket's north shore to take part in King's event. 

"I had an expectation and this has far exceeded that expectation," King said. "It started off small. I think 12 women showed up. Then we had about 18 to 20 the second year, and then last year we had 35 women sign up, but we had the nor'easter come in. We all got on the beach, and we had about 15 minutes of like, 'Okay this is doable' and then probably five minutes of drizzle and then torrential downpours... but everybody stayed despite the wind and rain. We had women catching fish. A woman who never caught a fish in her life hooked up. Then this year it is just remarkable. We have 66 women who signed up. I think it has grown so fast because of word of mouth, how much fun people have had, and that it's a moment to empower each other to be a part of something really cool. A lot of women have always wanted to learn how to fish, so the opportunity is there as well.”

King said there have been many businesses that have supported the venture and assisted her with products to help market the event – which still does not have an official name – as well as provide supplies.

"Poets Corner and Nantucket Office Products donated a lot of stuff so I could do posters," King said. "I did a lot of Instagram and on my Instagram, one of the shark videos I did kind of went viral, so it kind of pushed the name out there for things. So I think that helped. I think it's a little bit of everything coming together.”

King said she would like to see the participation grow to 100 women but admitted she can only do so much on her own and would need more businesses/people to step forward to assist her in the operation and planning of the event.

“I think I would need much more support from the community," King said. "I have a handful of people who have stepped up and been unbelievable, but to do this kind of event you need more people partaking. The tackle shops have been great, Pete's Fish Prints. There's so many people who have donated and given, but I'm only one person. So to do this bigger, this is about the max I can go unless I have more people partaking, maybe sponsors.”