The February Room Podcast · Episode 10
Fishing, Alaska, and the Story Behind Fishe
Before Fishe became a bold fishing and outdoor brand, Linda Leary was a girl following her dad to the river in Maine. Fishing was how they spent time together, and those evenings shaped the life she later built in Alaska.
In this episode of The February Room, Linda talks about family, faraway fishing trips, close encounters with bears, giant rainbow trout, colorful Arctic char, and the practical problem that inspired Fishe.
Quick Take
Linda’s story is about recognizing what is missing and being willing to learn how to build it. Fishe began with women’s base layers, but the deeper idea was always comfort, function, art, confidence, and a stronger sense of belonging outdoors.
In This Story
Why You Should Trust This Article
This article follows Linda Leary’s first-person conversation with host Lauren Karnopp on The February Room. Her stories, memories, and business lessons come directly from the recorded episode.
Current product links and images were checked against Fishe’s active catalog. Historical travel, retail, and business details are presented as part of Linda’s story rather than as current offers or availability.
Fishing with her father gave Linda an early connection to rivers, family, and time outdoors.
Learning to Fish Meant Learning to Be With Her Dad
Linda grew up in northern Maine, where her father fished after work throughout the summer. To spend time with him, Linda, her sister, and friends followed him to the river or joined him on the lake after dinner.
She remembers sunsets, the smooth rhythm of a cast, and the calm of watching her dad and uncle fish where a stream entered the lake.
“It was just beautiful, so graceful, and very relaxing.”
Fishing was never only about catching fish. It was a way to be close to someone she loved, learn by watching, and feel at home beside the water.
A current warm-weather layer inspired by the bonefish that made one of Linda’s trips so memorable.
Bonefish, Golden Dorado, and the Pull of Somewhere New
Although much of Linda’s fishing life has unfolded in Alaska, several international trips stand out. She remembers bonefishing in Turks and Caicos and traveling to Argentina for golden dorado and trout.
The golden dorado trip was especially joyful. Linda loved the power of the fish, while Patagonia offered fast water and the physical satisfaction of casting hard from a raft.
Travel lets an angler meet a landscape through its fish. Warm flats, swift rivers, and northern lakes each ask for different gear, techniques, and attention.
The current Beauty and the Bonefish 1/4 Zip Sunshirt connects naturally to that part of Linda’s story, with a lightweight layer designed for bright days and movement near the water.
From Logistics Leadership to a Rented Office and a New Idea
Linda spent years in trucking and logistics. After she and her business partners sold their company, she began thinking seriously about what she wanted to do next.
She knew she wanted to have a meaningful impact on women in fishing. She also understood the frustration of pulling on uncomfortable base layers that had been designed around someone else.
Linda rented an office from a friend and started asking questions. She had no background in apparel manufacturing or clothing design, beyond sewing with her mother when she was younger.
“I just sat down and started figuring it out.”
That willingness to learn became the beginning of Fishe. The company did not start with every answer; it started with lived experience, curiosity, and a problem worth solving.
Charvana Pocket Leggings carry the original river-to-everywhere idea into a current Arctic char-inspired design.
The Original Problem: What Do Women Wear Under Waders?
Traditional long underwear often felt bulky, cotton-heavy, cold, or simply uncomfortable. Linda wanted a breathable layer that worked beneath waders without feeling like borrowed gear.
She also wanted women to be able to leave the river and continue with the day. The layer under the waders needed a life of its own, whether the next stop was dinner, the grocery store, camp, or home.
That thinking helped shape Fishe leggings: movement-friendly pieces built around fit, function, and artwork rather than plain utility alone.
The Charvana Pocket Leggings are a fitting current example. Their Arctic char-inspired panels connect the base-layer idea to one of Linda’s favorite fish and one of her most vivid Alaska stories.
Why Alaska Still Feels Like Possibility
Linda moved to Alaska shortly after college. She was drawn to the beauty, the energy of a young state, and the feeling that people could create their own path.
Alaska gave her room to build. Her logistics company began there before expanding into the Lower 48, and Fishe followed a similar path from an Anchorage idea to a wider community.
The landscape also keeps fishing central to everyday life. Linda names the Kenai, Naknek, and the wider waters of western Alaska among the places she returns to for trout, char, salmon, and the experience of traveling beyond the road system.
Arctic Char, Pumpkin Color, and a Client’s Unforgettable Smile
Arctic char are among Linda’s favorite fish. During the spawning season, adults can take on vivid gold, orange, rose, and red tones, making an already striking fish even more dramatic.
Linda remembers a women’s trip to the Ugashik Narrows, a beautiful passage between bodies of water with volcanoes, windswept beaches, and remote horizons.
One guest landed a large, intensely colored char. The sunlight was out, the wind had settled, and the angler’s smile became the image Linda remembered most.
Sometimes the best fishing memory belongs to someone beside you. Guiding, hosting, and sharing the moment can be every bit as rewarding as holding the fish yourself.
A Bear Above the Bank and a Trout Worth Jumping Over
Fishing in remote Alaska creates stories quickly. On one western Alaska trip, Linda and a client crossed a narrow stream to retrieve a fly from a tree.
Two grizzly bears suddenly appeared above them on the bank. Linda and her companion screamed, startling the bears badly enough that the animals turned and ran.
The moment was over fast, but the lesson remained: remote fishing requires attention, preparation, and humility.
Another memorable day unfolded on the Naknek River while Linda was spey casting in deep water. After nearly losing her footing with a friend, she connected with a huge rainbow trout.
The fish measured 30 inches. Linda was so overwhelmed that she could barely talk about it afterward—and then, remarkably, she landed another large trout the following day.
The Enchanted Grayling print shows how a fish can become expressive, wearable art.
How Fishe Turns a Fish Into Wearable Art
Fishe has worked with several artists. The process often begins with a photograph of a fish and an invitation for the artist to interpret its color, movement, markings, and personality.
Linda believes in giving artists space to express themselves. As the team learned what translated well to fabric, they developed clearer guidelines without removing the creative freedom that makes each print distinctive.
The artwork is not meant to look like a scientific illustration. It can be enlarged, abstracted, repeated, and rearranged until fins, scales, spots, and water become a pattern with its own energy.
The current Enchanted Grayling 1/4 Zip Sunshirt brings that approach into a seasonal layer made for sunny fishing trips, travel, hiking, and the rest of the day.
Remote Water Changes What Prepared Means
Linda’s stories are full of beauty, but they also reveal the practical side of Alaska fishing. Many destinations are reached by air, roads are limited, and a small mistake can become serious when there is no quick route home.
She remembers falling backward out of a raft while fishing with clients. Without a dry change of clothing, she finished the day wearing spare layers borrowed from the guide.
Preparation is part of respecting the place. Classes can cover casting and knots, but also hook removal, changing conditions, extra layers, dry storage, and the habits that keep an inconvenience from becoming an emergency.
Carrying Forward the Women’s Flyfishing Legacy
Linda also discusses Women’s Flyfishing, the Alaska company founded by Cecilia “Pudge” Kleinkauf. Pudge was an author, educator, guide, conservation advocate, and an important pioneer for women in the sport.
Linda purchased the company when Pudge retired, with the goal of protecting and extending what she had built. Women’s Flyfishing continues to help women and couples learn through instruction and guided experiences.
The connection between the two businesses is natural. Fishe helps women feel comfortable in their gear, while Women’s Flyfishing helps them build skills, confidence, friendships, and real time on the water.
Explore current Women’s Flyfishing classes and trips.
Listen to Linda Leary in The February Room
The full episode moves easily between laughter, fishing memories, business beginnings, Alaska travel, product design, wildlife encounters, and the practical details that shape a life outdoors.
Linda’s voice brings an honesty that is difficult to reproduce completely on the page. Listen for the stories behind the products and the curiosity that helped turn an unfamiliar industry into Fishe.
Final Note: Start With the Problem You Know
Linda did not enter apparel because she already knew how to manufacture clothing. She entered because she knew how uncomfortable it felt to fish in gear that did not fit the day or the woman wearing it.
Her logistics experience gave her business discipline. Her fishing life gave her the problem. Artists, customers, guides, friends, and the Fishe team helped shape the answer.
Fishe grew from paying attention. A cold base layer, a bright char, a sunset cast with her father, and another woman’s smile all became part of a brand rooted in life on the water.
Frequently Asked Questions
Which episode of The February Room features Linda Leary?
Linda Leary appears in Episode 10 of The February Room, a fly-fishing podcast hosted by Lauren Karnopp.
What inspired Linda Leary to start Fishe?
Linda wanted women to have comfortable, functional base layers that worked beneath waders and still felt good after leaving the river.
Where did Linda learn to fish?
Linda learned through childhood fishing trips with her father in northern Maine. She later expanded her experience across Alaska and on international trips.
Which fish does Linda discuss in the episode?
The conversation includes bonefish, golden dorado, rainbow trout, salmon, grayling, Dolly Varden, Arctic char, and sheefish.
What is Women’s Flyfishing?
Women’s Flyfishing is an Alaska-based company founded by Cecilia “Pudge” Kleinkauf and later purchased by Linda Leary. It offers instruction and guided fishing experiences.
Related Reading
Growing Up Fishing: Linda Leary’s Story
Follow Linda from childhood fishing trips in Maine to the rivers and opportunities of Alaska.
Linda Leary on Wet Fly Swing
Go deeper into the business experience, partnerships, art, and community behind Fishe.
Meet the Fishe Ambassadors
Meet the anglers and storytellers helping more women feel at home outside.
Gear Made for the Whole Day
Explore fishing apparel and gear shaped by fit, movement, original fish art, and the realities of being outside.
