On a Friday afternoon, a West Virginia cabin is filled with the sound of strangers sowing lifelong friendships. Tires crunch across gravel as more women arrive to join those already inside, settling their luggage and making introductions. It’s a mirror of slumber parties and summer camps of youth, and Pamela Dunlap will never tire of that serene yet anticipatory feeling as she abandons everyday stresses for the magic of fly fishing with the like-minded women of Women Wine & Waders.
Born to and raised by a pair of West Virginia natives in Cleveland, Ohio, Dunlap grew up playing—not in creeks and forests but urban alleys and sand dunes by steel mills. She was in middle school when her family returned to West Virginia, and although it took a bit more time to discover her love of the wilderness, she can’t think of a better place for that revelation than the Mountain State.
“I’m a Buckeye by birth, but by God, I’m a Mountaineer at heart, and nothing will ever change that,” she says. “I’m so glad that my parents moved us back here. Otherwise, I would never be in this position and loving life like I do now. I can’t imagine anything from the big city doing for me what fly fishing in West Virginia has.”
Her introduction to fly fishing came just before she turned 50. At the beginning, she wasn’t catching many fish—but it wasn’t about success or failure. Rather, it was the things she took from the experience: confidence, patience, and peace, to name a few.
“When I stepped in the water for the first time, it just clicked,” she reflects. “It wasn’t about the fish I caught, it was about the feeling I got from being outdoors. It did so much for my state of mind that I started inviting other ladies to go have fun with me—and that’s how Women Wine & Waders started.”
Pamela Dunlap started Wine Women & Waders 10 years ago, and it‘s been a wild ride. For her and fellow members, fly fishing is just the beginning—the lifelong friendships they‘ve formed are more valuable than any fish.
Photographed by Trevor Coffman at Forced 2 Focus Studios
The group has taken off in ways she couldn’t have predicted. For the past 10 years, Dunlap has invited women from all walks of life to join her in the Mountain State’s most scenic places for weekend-long escapes filled with freedom, newfound friendships, and lots of fly fishing.
Every adventure is different, but the groundwork is universal. Women from across the region arrive at an Appalachian cabin nestled along a cool, clear waterway. Everyone is eager to get to the riverbank. That’s where they’ll spend the next few days fishing and learning from seasoned anglers.
“Ladies will say to me, ‘I don’t know if I’ll fit in.’ I say, ‘Honey, you’re going to fit in. That’s the least of your worries. Your biggest worry is whether you can count past all your fingers and toes to keep track of all the fish you catch,’ ” says Dunlap. “I think women need a space like this to direct their energy and reconnect with their life after experiences like loss, health adversity, or becoming an empty nester.”
Seven years ago, this enthusiasm led Dunlap to partner with Irish fly angler Maddy Kelly to found International Women’s Fly Fishing Day. On the second Saturday of September, thousands of women from 25 countries annually celebrate the camaraderie created by anglers like Dunlap and Kelly by tying flies, teaching friends, and spending the day on the water. It’s the same energy as Dunlap’s weekend getaways but felt around the world, and when Sunday rolls around and it’s time for Dunlap’s small group to pack up gear and say goodbyes, she’s the last to leave. Standing in that empty cabin, still echoing with laughter and words of encouragement, she can’t help but feel bittersweet. But she knows Women Wine & Waders and International Women’s Fly Fishing Day will keep them all connected—through social media, life lessons shared, and adventures to come.
Want to get hooked on fly fishing?
Join Women Wine & Waders for a weekend getaway. Email Pamela Dunlap at castlikeagirl@gmail.com for more information and to register.
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Women. Water. Wild WV. Special Float Adventure
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Cowgirls, Cabins & Campfires
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