Cast & Connect: The Fishe Files Podcast
Angelica Talan on Finding Her Way Back to the Water
Some people discover fishing. Others return to it.
For Angelica Talan, a Washington, D.C.-based content creator and Senior Executive Editor at DUN Outdoors, picking up a rod again did not feel like starting a new hobby. It felt like remembering who she had always been.
In this podcast episode of Cast & Connect: The Fishe Files, Angelica joins Fishe founder Linda Leary for a conversation about motherhood, fly fishing, confidence, representation, friendship, and the stories she hopes to tell next.
There is also a brand-new car, forgotten catfish, chicken gizzards, Washington heat, and one truly unforgettable smell.
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Watch Linda Leary’s complete conversation with Angelica Talan about returning to fishing, finding community on the water, and the stories she hopes to tell through DUN Outdoors.
In This Story
Why You Should Trust This Article
This story is based on the full recorded conversation between Angelica Talan and Fishe founder Linda Leary, supported by the episode notes and Angelica’s linked public work with DUN Outdoors.
A New Chapter at DUN Outdoors
Angelica opens the conversation with big news: she has accepted the role of Senior Executive Editor at DUN Outdoors.
The publication is expanding beyond its fly-fishing roots to cover a much wider outdoor world, including traditional fishing, hiking, cycling, surfing, snowboarding, skiing, hunting, travel, and other ways people build a life outside.
That broader direction fits Angelica naturally. Her interests have never stayed in one lane, and neither have the stories she wants to tell.
Her editorial focus remains especially welcoming to women and people who are newer to the outdoors. She wants readers to feel invited, whether they are holding a fly rod for the first time or returning to an activity they once loved.
“I want to represent in a way that people feel like they are welcome.”
That does not mean narrowing the audience. It means expanding the doorway and making room for more people to recognize themselves in outdoor media.
Readers can explore Angelica’s latest work on her DUN Outdoors author page.
Time outside can reconnect us with parts of ourselves we thought were gone.
Before Life Got Busy, There Was Fishing
Angelica grew up in northwest Ohio near Toledo and the Maumee River. Her uncle took her and her cousins fishing on weekends, and she began spin fishing when she was around seven or eight years old.
She remembers herself then as outdoorsy, fearless, and deeply creative. She and her friends went on hikes, invented adventures, and played a game they called “The Goonies,” trying to get lost and then find one another again.
Then life moved forward. Teenage interests took over, followed by marriage, motherhood, and entrepreneurship.
Fishing slipped quietly into the background until Angelica’s nine-year-old daughter found an old photograph of her fishing at the same age.
“You were fishing at my age?” she asked.
The question brought Angelica face-to-face with a younger version of herself she had almost forgotten. When her daughter said she wanted to try fishing too, the memory became an invitation.
That moment gave Angelica a reason to return to the water.
The Fishing Trip No One Could Forget
Mother and daughter headed out to fish the Potomac River near Washington, D.C. Angelica’s daughter had a fantastic day catching catfish with live bait.
The trip itself was a success. The trip home was where things went wrong.
Angelica had recently bought the first brand-new car she had ever owned. After fishing, the catfish, worms, chicken gizzards, newspaper, blankets, and other gear were left in the trunk during punishing summer heat.
Angelica thought her husband would unload it. Her husband thought the person who took everyone fishing would handle the cleanup.
And then came the problem: no one cleaned out the trunk.
A few days later, the family discovered the mistake. The smell was rancid, unforgettable, and strong enough to send Angelica looking for an entirely different way to fish.
Her question was practical: How could she take her children fishing without live bait and without feeling obligated to bring the fish home?
The answer led her to fly fishing.
The embarrassing story still makes her laugh, but it also marks the beginning of a much larger change. A forgotten catch in a hot car became the unlikely push that returned her to the water for good.
Fly Fishing Became a Return to Herself
Angelica did not simply enjoy fly fishing. She recognized something inside it.
“I really feel like this sport has returned me to my prior self,” she says. It brought her back to the person she had been before marriage, children, and entrepreneurship filled her days with other identities and responsibilities.
On the water, she could play again and be present. The rhythm of fishing became restorative, carrying her into a calm, almost meditative state she had not found anywhere else.
Fishing can create enough quiet for the roles we carry every day to loosen their grip. For a few hours, the cast, current, weather, and next drift are all that need our attention.
Angelica’s story reflects the same idea explored in Fishe’s story on fishing as self-care for women: sometimes time on the water is not an escape from life. It is how we return to it restored.
Every New Kind of Fishing Brings Another First
Ask Angelica to name her favorite way to fish and she struggles to choose. Every time she thinks she has an answer, someone introduces her to a new technique or species and she falls in love again.
In Alaska, Dallas Voss introduced her to jigging. Angelica has learned to double haul, enjoys Spey casting, and hopes to spend more time exploring tenkara.
Her first fly-caught fish was a brook trout. Then came steelhead, Alaska salmon, rainbow trout, and brown trout.
Brown trout hold a special place in her imagination. While some anglers describe landing a fish as a fight, Angelica sees something more expressive.
Her description is unforgettable: “We are literally doing the bachata out here.”
One of Linda and Angelica’s favorite shared memories came during an Alaska trip near Seward. They headed out early, surrounded by mountains and sea lions, for Angelica’s first true saltwater fly-fishing experience.
They targeted rockfish on the surface and also encountered salmon and lingcod. The landscape, the early morning, and a completely new style of fishing made the day unforgettable.
A Storyteller Whose Work Moves Across Worlds
Fishing is only one part of Angelica’s creative life.
As a lifestyle content creator in Washington, D.C., she has covered restaurants, fashion, beauty, travel, entertainment, and red-carpet events. She has also learned how to move between client storytelling, interviews, journalism, and content for her own channels.
Angelica serves on a USA TODAY 10Best expert panel, contributing nominations and perspective related to outdoor experiences and destinations. She often approaches travel through the lens of a mother and entrepreneur, considering what women may need from a trip, property, or retreat.
That range is not a distraction from her outdoor work. It is part of what makes her perspective distinct.
Style, food, family, travel, movement, music, and the outdoors can all belong to the same life.
Bold color and technical function can belong in the same outdoor life.
Why Fishe Felt Different
Linda and Angelica first met through the fishing industry at ICAST. Over the years, their connection grew from professional collaboration into a lasting friendship.
Angelica has worked alongside the Fishe team at events, helped bring energy to trade-show booths, and contributed strategic thinking about how the brand can connect with more women.
What first drew her to Fishe was the freedom to show up as herself.
Angelica loves color, makeup, fashion, and personal style. She also loves fly fishing. She never believed one identity should disqualify the other.
Fishe’s bold patterns and women-centered approach gave her clothing that felt expressive without giving up its purpose on the water. She did not feel required to hide inside someone else’s version of an outdoorswoman.
That idea is central to the way Fishe approaches women’s fishing clothing: technical function and personal style are not competing goals.
For Angelica, the community mattered just as much as the clothing. She describes Fishe as a brand with a family feeling—one that can follow women through fishing trips, friendships, motherhood, and future generations.
Making More Women Visible Outside
Angelica has seen the power of representation through brand partnerships and ambassador work, including her time with Take Me Fishing.
One campaign followed girls and women through different stages of life, showing that time on the water does not have to belong to one age, one skill level, or one kind of person.
The message was simple: If she can see it, she can be it.
Angelica thinks about that message as a mother. She wants her daughter and son to see a wider range of people fishing, boating, hiking, and building meaningful outdoor lives.
She also understands that representation must extend beyond polished images. People need honest stories about the first attempt, the difficult recovery, the late start, and the awkward moment before confidence arrives.
Those are the stories she hopes to elevate through DUN Outdoors.
The Stories Angelica Wants to Tell Next
Angelica is interested in human stories across the full spectrum of outdoor experience.
She wants to meet the beginner buying hiking shoes for the first time. She wants to talk with the person in their sixties who has recovered from a broken ankle and is finally trying cycling or paddling.
She also wants to hear from guides, travelers, anglers, makers, and everyday people whose experiences may help someone else feel less alone.
Her time with Fishe customers reinforced that calling. At events, women would tell her where they wore their first pair of Fishe leggings, how the clothing made them feel, or what happened when a bold print traveled with them across the world.
Small stories often carry enormous recognition. One person’s experience can give another person the courage to begin.
Angelica is also developing ideas for outdoor-focused travel guides across the United States, with possible Canadian destinations in the future. Wyoming and Idaho are high on her personal list, and an RV trip may eventually connect many of those journeys.
The friendships built around fishing can become part of what keeps us returning.
Fishing Shows Us What We Can Carry
One of Angelica’s most powerful fishing memories came on the Grand Ronde River, where she landed her first steelhead among a group of supportive women.
She remembers the physical challenge and the fear that she might break her rod or fall into the water. When the fish finally came in, the lesson was not about the catch.
The landing revealed something deeper: she was stronger than she thought.
“It’s not just about fishing. It’s really about finding yourself.”
The experience also revealed something about community. Fishing has introduced her to people who have become lifelong friends, including Linda and many others across the fly-fishing world.
There is room for technique, gear, and accomplishment in the sport. But the relationships may be what keep people returning year after year.
Coming Home to the Water
Angelica’s path back to fishing began with an old photograph and a daughter’s question. It continued through a disastrous trunk, a new kind of rod, Alaska mornings, steelhead, trade shows, friendships, and a growing platform for outdoor stories.
The details are uniquely hers, but the emotional center is universal.
Sometimes the thing that restores us is not new. Sometimes it is a piece of ourselves waiting to be remembered.
Watch or listen to the full podcast conversation to hear Angelica and Linda talk about fishing, motherhood, DUN Outdoors, storytelling, representation, travel, music, and the friendships that make the outdoor community feel like family.
Watch or Listen to Angelica Talan on Cast & Connect
Experience the complete conversation with Linda Leary, including Angelica’s stories about motherhood, DUN Outdoors, fishing, travel, music, and the people she has met along the way.
Watch on YouTube Listen on iHeartConnect with Angelica Talan
Read Angelica’s latest stories at DUN Outdoors. Follow @fishewear, explore bold and functional gear at fishewear.com, and join the conversation with #CastandConnect.
FAQ
Who is Angelica Talan?
Angelica Talan is a Washington, D.C.-based content creator, outdoor storyteller, and Senior Executive Editor at DUN Outdoors. Her work spans fishing, travel, lifestyle, entertainment, and outdoor community stories.
What is Angelica Talan’s role at DUN Outdoors?
Angelica is the Senior Executive Editor at DUN Outdoors. She plans to help tell welcoming human-interest stories across fishing, hiking, cycling, travel, and other outdoor pursuits.
How did Angelica Talan return to fishing?
Her daughter found a childhood photograph of Angelica fishing and asked to try it herself. Their first trip led to an unforgettable mishap involving catfish and live bait left in a hot car, which eventually pushed Angelica to discover fly fishing.
What does fly fishing mean to Angelica?
Angelica describes fly fishing as restorative and meditative. It reconnected her with the fearless, outdoorsy, creative person she remembered being as a child.
Where can I watch or listen to Angelica Talan on Cast & Connect?
The complete episode, “Angelica Talan | Editor of DUN Outdoors,” is embedded above on YouTube and is also available through the linked iHeart episode.
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