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KATHRYN MAROUN
Although a lot of people think that she is American, Kathryn Maroun was actually born in Montreal and spent her formative years on the East Coast, then moved to Toronto with her parents, where she lives now. Having grown up on the water, she has always been involved with water activities. Whether it be boating, fishing or participating in conservation efforts, being on the water is in her blood. H Her father used to take her older and younger brothers fishing and because she was a girl, she wasn’t invited to go. She dearly wanted to be with her dad, so in a way, she grew up to be the son he always wanted. She used to sneak out in the early mornings and fish with her retired neighbour, Mr. Cannon. He taught her how to fish, but in later years, she was invited to go fishing with her now husband and thought, ‘if he’s ever going to invite me to go fishing with him again, I had better take lessons.’ So she did. She trained with master casting instructors like Mel Krieger, Joan Wulff and Bruce Richards. That was the beginning of her immersion into the sport of fly fishing, which has become an obsession. Kathryn Maroun started out as a fishing guide, then turned to teaching casting lessons for corporate businesses and leading women-only trips across the Maritime provinces. She has competed on the world stage and is currently studying for her Masters with the FFF. She has acted as National Director of Trout Unlimited Canada – an organization that protects and restores Canada’s cold water resource. What a Catch is nothing more than Kathryn’s attempt to show people who don’t fish that this is something that they should do. The show invites the viewer to travel along from their living rooms without having to endure bugs, gators, bad food, heat, long flights, and malaria medication. Through the show, they travel with Kathryn and get a glimpse into how other people live in different parts of the world. It helps make the world feel a little smaller and we realize through spending a day fishing with someone that we all have the same dreams, hurts, and challenges in life. Part Fly Fisher, Part Entrepreneur: In addition to establishing a specialized production company (What A Catch! Productions), her own fishing show (What a Catch), a practical clothing line for outdoorsy women (Angler’s Line on Fashion), and a travel company that offers guided fishing trips to a variety of different locations (What A Catch Travel), Kathryn is also a master potter. She developed and ran one of the largest dinnerware manufacturing cottage industries at the time, Paragon Pottery [Paragon denotes ‘a measure of excellence’]. She ran the business for 10 years before selling it to a German businessman. Kathryn invested all the money she made from that deal, save for a few bucks she put aside for a jewellery box! Just because Kathryn Maroun is in a male-dominated field, doesn’t mean she wants to look like one of the guys! In other words, although she fishes for a living, she still wants to feel like a woman and embrace her femininity. Unfortunately, the only clothes on the market were boxy, down-sized menswear so she set out to make paper patterns of travel wear that would protect her against nature’s elements and keep her in the game: fur to keep me warm so she could stay on the water longer (there are real physiological reasons why women tend to get cold more easily than men), linen for saltwater fishing (natural fibers that would breathe in the heat), and cowhide, durable flight jackets with shearling collars to hold her favourite flies. And of course, every fly fisherman needs a great hat! Angler’s Line on Fashion was started 8 years ago. Kathryn Maroun has been co-founder and president of Casting for Recovery Canada (CFRC) since 2004. She had been working for its sister organization (Casting for Recovery, founded in 1996) in the U.S. prior to reinventing the charity and bringing it to her native Canada. This past summer alone, she taught over 70 gals how to fly fish.
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