EP. 87 Stranded on Jewel Key: Everglades Fishing Adventure with Katie Puterbaugh from Alaska

Picture this. It's a sweltering hot, windy day in the Everglades. You're covered head to toe in UV protective clothing to avoid getting sunburned on top of the sunburn you already have from the fishing outing a couple of days earlier (lesson learned the hard way!). You're fishing the flats with a super experienced captain and guide and you're paired up with an airforce vet who traveled all the way down from Alaska to be a part of this amazing adventure. The fishing's been hard due to the windy conditions and the partly cloudy skies. It's finally time to break for lunch. Then...the unthinkable happens... You'll have to listen to this week's episode to get "the rest of the story!" This week you'll meet Katie Puterbaugh. She's a die-hard fly angler, a Florida native but a retired airforce veteran that's made her home in Alaska for the past 25 years with her husband, also a retired airforce vet. He works at a local fishing shop and is a scoutmaster for the local Boy Scout troop, which affords Katie a lot of free time. What else do you do with free time in Alaska? You fish of course!  And fish she does... I was interested to learn about Katie as we were traveling down from Nashville, TN to Homosassa, FL on Rip and Hopper's Redfish Roadie Roadtrip. A quick Google search in-between posting Instagram Stories covering the first day of our journey revealed some intriguing articles. I thought, wow, this is a seriously fishy lady! One was titled, "Super fly fisherwoman catches 1,000 pounds of salmon." Another article I came across was an article written on the Project Healing Waters website about fishing with Katie in the Florida Keys. I knew I was going to have an upstanding roommate and fishing partner on a good portion of this trip. I couldn't wait to meet and chat with her.  I definitely wasn't disappointed. To top it all off, Katie has a great sense of humor too. Jen, Heather and I enjoyed making good-hearted fun of the fact that she's very tall and skinny as a stick but as Katie herself jokes, she doesn't have just one sweet tooth but a whole mouth full of them! We caught her rummaging through the gas stations for powdered mini donuts on multiple occasions.  You too are really going to enjoy meeting Katie through our conversation on the podcast episode as we make the drive back to Marco Island from the Everglades...just happy to be alive!        Additional Resources: Shallow Sightings Fly Fishing in Homosassa (Kyle Staton) Captain John Hand Project Healing Waters Fish with a Hero Alaska Star Article on Katie Puterbaugh Project Healing Waters Article on Katie Puterbaugh Rip and Hopper's Adventure on Instagram Rip and Hopper's Adventure on Facebook DUN Magazine United Women on the Fly The Woman Angler & Adventurer Facebook Page The Woman Angler & Adventurer Facebook Group The Woman Angler & Adventurer on Instagram Listen on Apple Podcasts (subscribe and leave a review!) Listen on Google Podcasts Listen on iHeartRadio  Full show notes at thewomanangler.com/87

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