Susan Thrasher started fishing at a young age with her dad in East Tennessee and has been passionate about the outdoors all her life. In 2004, she started Southern Brookies Fly Fishing, a guide service and instructional school based in Nashville, Tennessee. She left a successful engineering career in 2015 to venture into the business full time. Her passion for fly fishing led her to serve as the cofounder of the Music City Fly Girls, a women's fly fishing club, and to serve as the Middle Tennessee retreat leader for Casting for Recovery, a nonprofit organization focused on breast cancer survivors and the healing nature of fly fishing. Susan credits most of her teaching success with experience gained as an instructor at the Joan Wulff School of Fly Fishing, where she has been on staff for the past 15 years. She currently lives in East Nashville, Tennessee, just a short drive from her beloved Caney Fork River.
This fly fishing guide is a brilliant escape from the stuffy tutorials often found in the fishing world. Told through real-life stories, the author's passion and love of bringing new anglers into the fold is overshadowed only by her true dedication to the sport itself. This is a literary gem bound to become a pillar in today's fly fishing landscape. -Jen Ripple, editor, Dun Magazine This book is enjoyable for the angler and adventurer alike. It is packed with information that is easy to learn and understand. Within the adventures, Susan conveys the camaraderie of fellow fisherman and the bond of women learning a male-dominated sport. She has the ability to make you feel that you were with her on the adventure. Her depth of knowledge and her concern for fellow fisherman is evident in each story. This is a great book that you will likely read over and over. -Sheila Hassan, director, Wulff School of Fly Fishing If fly fishing has had you curious but baffled, Susan's stories will unlock its mysteries. As an astute fly fishing guide she shares her on-land and rowing-water tales that compel you to read and learn! From the cast to the fish, you'll want this book as a keeper! -Lori-Ann Murphy, co-founder, Reel Women No matter where you are in your evolution as a fly fisher, Susan's passion for her daily life as a teacher and guide gives a sense of your having been there with her, even as she leads you to ever-more-enjoyable stages of this lifetime sport. -Joan Wulff, founder, Wulff School of Fly Fishing Once one takes a fly rod into their hands and casts into the moving streams, and makes that cast that lifts and presents a beautiful fly into the open mouth of a fish-boom! You are hooked forever. And Susan is the one to teach you. Not only is she talented, smart, and beautiful-oh! and magical-she can teach us to fish. My sister, Becky, and I have seen her river, had a cup of tea with her, and viewed the vintage trailers she used for guests. Now my only job left is to fish with her. -Maurrie Sussman, founder and president, Sisters on the Fly