Fishe in New York City
From Alaska Waters to the TODAY Plaza: Fishe’s New York City Moment
It started as one more stop on a fishing-show road trip. By sunrise, Linda Leary, Heather Hodson, and Valerie Walsh were standing in the New York cold, wearing Fishe leggings and waiting for a chance to greet America on the TODAY plaza.
Their appearance lasted only a few seconds, but the moment captured something much larger: a young Alaska brand bringing bold women’s fishing apparel into a place where millions of people could see it.
Quick Take
In early 2018, the Fishe team traveled from The Fly Fishing Show in New Jersey to New York City. They explored the city in Fishe leggings, braved an early and freezing morning, and appeared briefly on the TODAY Show plaza.
In This Story
Why You Should Trust This Article
This story is grounded in Valerie Walsh’s original February 2018 post about the trip. The people, route, cold morning, leggings, and brief TODAY plaza appearance come from that firsthand account.
The expanded brand and product details reflect Fishe’s founder story and current Shopify catalog.
The Road Trip Began With Fishing
Before New York City entered the plan, the Fishe team was in New Jersey for The Fly Fishing Show. Three days were spent meeting anglers, talking fishing, and introducing more people to a brand that was still young enough for every new conversation to matter.
Linda, Heather, and Val decided to make a New York City stop before heading home. For Linda, it was a first visit—a notable change from the trips she usually planned around rivers, fish, and time on the water.
The city became an unexpected extension of the fishing show. Instead of a booth, they had sidewalks, landmarks, and the unmistakable fish-inspired leggings they had carried across the country.
They photographed the leggings around the city, turning a quick layover into a small Fishe adventure. It was playful, informal, and true to the brand: take the gear somewhere new, enjoy the people around you, and make the most of the day.
A Freezing Morning and 15 Seconds on the TODAY Plaza
Getting onto a live morning-show plaza requires an angler’s relationship with early alarms. The team dressed for the cold, arrived before most of the city was fully awake, and waited outside with the same optimism that carries people through a slow morning on the river.
Then came the payoff: a brief flash of Fishe on national morning television. Friends watching from home recorded the moment and sent it back to the team.
This was a TODAY plaza appearance, not an editorial product review or formal brand profile. That distinction matters.
The excitement came from seeing an Alaska-grown women’s fishing brand—and the women building it—visible in a completely different national setting.
Freezing weather and an early wake-up call sounded a lot like getting ready for fishing. The Fishe team was ready.
Watch the Original Clips
The original article included two Facebook recordings shared by friends who caught the team’s morning appearance.
First TODAY Plaza Recording
Open the first recording shared with Fishe after the team appeared in the morning crowd.
Second New York Recording
Open the second clip preserved with the original 2018 Fishe article.
The Alaska Brand Behind Those Leggings
Fishe began in Anchorage in 2015 after founder Linda Leary became tired of fishing apparel that felt poorly fitted, visually forgettable, or disconnected from the women already showing up on the water.
The original idea was practical and expressive at the same time: create fishing clothing women could move in, layer, travel with, and feel like themselves wearing. Function did not need to come in beige.
Leggings were part of the brand from the beginning, alongside hats, neck tubes, and wading belts. Those first categories established a design language that is still easy to recognize: fish-inspired artwork, energetic color, and pieces intended to work beyond a single setting.
The goal was never to make costume-like fishing clothing. It was to design useful gear with personality—something that could move from river to road, from a cold launch to dinner, and, apparently, from a fly-fishing show to New York City.
Why the Leggings Were More Than a Bright Outfit
The leggings made the TODAY plaza photographs memorable, but they also represented the product problem Fishe was trying to solve.
Fishing bottoms need to move through repeated casting, hiking, bending, travel, and long periods under waders. Comfort and stretch matter, but so do quick drying, layering, sun coverage, and a waistband that does not become a distraction halfway through the day.
Fishe treated leggings as outdoor equipment with an artistic point of view. The fish patterns made them visible; the versatility made them useful.
That combination also helped the clothing travel outside traditional fishing spaces. Women could wear the same pieces hiking, paddling, training, running errands, or exploring a city after a trade show.
From the Original Leggings to Today’s Fishe Layers
The current line is much broader than it was during the 2018 trip. Leggings remain central, while sunshirts, thermals, midlayers, dry bags, fishing tools, and accessories now build out a more complete outdoor system.
These active products show how the original idea continues: technical comfort, fish-inspired art, and real versatility.
HaliBorealis Pocket Leggings
Four-way stretch, a high waist, two side pockets, and a hidden waistband pocket carry the original legging idea forward with more storage.
Enchanted Grayling 1/4 Zip Sunshirt
Lightweight fabric, UPF 50+ coverage, moisture management, and adjustable ventilation support bright days on the water.
Radiant Redfish Solstice Hooded Sunshirt
A lightweight recycled-polyester layer with UPF 50+ protection and quick-dry performance for long, exposed days outdoors.
What Makes Fishe Look Like Fishe
The products have changed, but three ideas continue to hold the brand together.
Fish Art With a Clear Point of View
Fishe patterns begin with species, water, and outdoor places. Artists bring their own style, while the finished layouts keep the visual energy recognizable across clothing, bags, and gear.
Performance That Supports the Day
Good outdoor apparel should reduce friction. It should move, layer, dry, protect, and help the wearer focus on the cast, the weather, and the people sharing the experience.
A Community Bigger Than a Product
The most important growth has always involved people. Customers, guides, ambassadors, artists, beginners, and longtime anglers have helped shape how Fishe looks, works, and shows up in the outdoor world.
That community is why the TODAY plaza memory still feels worth revisiting. It was not a polished campaign. It was three women having fun, wearing the young brand they were building, and celebrating a tiny moment together.
Why a Few Seconds of Visibility Mattered
In 2018, Fishe was only a few years into its story. A national plaza appearance did not transform the company overnight, but it offered a joyful signal that the brand was traveling farther than its Anchorage beginnings.
For women’s fishing apparel, visibility has its own value. People need to see women occupying outdoor spaces confidently before the image starts to feel ordinary rather than exceptional.
The Fishe team’s 15 seconds were playful, but they belonged to that larger shift. Bright fish-pattern leggings appeared in the middle of a mainstream morning broadcast, worn by women whose real lives and work were tied to fishing.
Sometimes a milestone is a major partnership or a national article. Sometimes it is an early alarm, a freezing sidewalk, a handmade sign, and friends texting to say, “We saw you.”
Conclusion: A Small Moment in a Much Bigger Story
The original Fishe on TODAY post was short because the moment itself was short. Its meaning became clearer with time.
Linda, Heather, and Val had traveled east to talk fishing, meet people, and represent a young Alaska company. They added New York to the trip, wore the leggings that helped introduce the brand, and brought home a few seconds of national-screen history.
That is how many growing brands move forward: one show, one conversation, one photograph, one customer, and one unexpectedly memorable morning at a time.
Frequently Asked Questions
Was Fishe formally featured in a TODAY Show segment?
The original 2018 account describes a brief appearance on the TODAY plaza rather than a formal editorial profile, interview, product review, or endorsement.
Who went to the TODAY plaza for Fishe?
The original story names Linda Leary, Heather Hodson, and Valerie Walsh as the Fishe trio who visited New York City after The Fly Fishing Show in New Jersey.
When did the Fishe TODAY plaza appearance happen?
Fishe published the original story on February 5, 2018, describing the team’s trip and brief national morning-television appearance.
Where did Fishe begin?
Fishe was founded in Anchorage, Alaska, in 2015 by Linda Leary. The brand began with a mission to create functional, expressive fishing apparel and gear for women.
What were some of Fishe’s earliest products?
Leggings, hats, neck tubes, and wading belts were among the early product categories. Fish-inspired artwork and practical outdoor use connected those first pieces.
Does Fishe still make women’s fishing leggings?
Yes. The current collection includes Signature, Pocket, Capri, High-Waisted, and Thermal Active leggings in multiple Fishe patterns. Availability varies by product and size.
Related Reading
FisheWear on KTUU
Revisit another 2018 media milestone and the Alaska story behind the brand.
How FisheWear Changed Women’s Fishing Apparel
Follow Linda Leary’s journey from a persistent gear problem to an Alaska-born outdoor brand.
Growing Up Fishing
Read how Linda’s earliest fishing memories in Maine followed her to Alaska’s rivers.
See Where the Story Went Next
Explore the current Fishe collection and discover the leggings, sun layers, fishing tools, bags, and fish-inspired artwork that grew from those early Alaska years.
