The Coven   

(posted anonyomously to the list April 6, 1999)

The Coven formed by spontaneous combustion as a result of the Halloween Prank of 1997 during which the women of FF@ staged a walk-out.

The prelude to the Coven was playing long before then, however. Even though the FF@ list is predominantly male (like the sport itself), there have always been female subscribers. While the majority of male listers accepted and welcomed the women, a few saw them as a target for jibes and jokes.

Because of this, several of the FF@ women started exchanging private e-mail, drawn together by their common experiences as women, flyfishers and FF@ listers.

Sometime in early November 1997, a small number of FF@ women started e-mailing each other as a group. Because of the friendship and generosity of the originators, the group has grown over the intervening months as we chat about life and friendship--and fishing, of course! We've held swaps and also had many micro 'Claves (Oregon, Florida, Ottawa), a mini 'Clave (Idaho Falls) and one bona fide Coven Clave (NECV) to date.

Our membership currently spans North America from Ottawa to Florida and from the East to the West Coast. The name "Coven" was not chosen to suggest a sinister purpose (with apologies to you lefties!) but came about because of the timing. It is a mere coincidence that, as we write this, there are 13 members, and nothing at all to do with secret rites or human sacrifices.

Well, not much, anyway :^)

Signed,

The Coven