'Femboy Fishing' Reveals The Highs And Lows Of Fishing The Creeks Of Missouri In A Short Skirt And Knee High Socks

ne of the greatest parts of the internet is the way it allows any and every possible niche to be filled. If you can find and fill a hole in any online market, no matter how outlandish and niche it may seem, you'll likely find a dedicated following you never imagined could be possible. Few content creators are as great an example of this as Femboy Fishing, aka Erin, a Missouri femboy who’s gained a significant following over the last year by putting on knee-high socks and a schoolgirl skirt and fishing her local creeks.

With over 50,000 followers on YouTube and nearly the same on Twitter, Femboy Fishing has garnered a dedicated following of memers, femboys and fishers for her genuinely relaxing and entertaining content that offers a much-needed break from what the average fishing channel offers. We spoke with Erin over Zoom to catch the full scoop on Femboy Fishing.

Q: It’s great to talk to you, Erin. Can you introduce yourself and tell us what Femboy Fishing is and how you got started doing it?

A: My name is Erin. Basically, Femboy Fishing is a YouTube series I do, where I go out and I fish in a skirt or in femboy clothes. I live out in the Missouri Ozarks; out in the middle of nowhere. My whole life I've been fishing, but since we moved out here, we have a lotta creeks and lakes and stuff around us, so I got really into fishing. It was really peaceful and something I enjoyed and I also like being a femboy, wearing skirts and stuff and I think one day, I just put two and two together and said, you know, "Hey, this is interesting. I've never seen anybody do something like that before," So, I made a YouTube channel last July and I didn't think much of it, but I basically just went out in femboy clothes and went fishing.

Q: When did you first get into fishing?

A: I've been around fishing my whole life. I used to live up in the Pacific Northwest when I was younger, like up in Washington, and my brother used to do a lotta salmon fishing and stuff up there. And my grandpa, he had a pond in Arkansas; we would travel to his house and stuff sometimes and we’d catch catfish and stuff out of it, so I've always been around it, but I didn't really get as heavy into it up until about maybe two or three years ago or so.

Q: Were you a fisherman or a femboy first?

A: I would say I was a fisherman before a femboy. I didn't really start getting into the femboy thing until maybe three years ago when I slowly started finding that part of me. I think it just took this long to put two and two together and just be like, "Oh! That's kinda interesting."

Q: What does it mean to be a femboy?

A: I would say being a femboy is almost like an expression. Its basic definition would be a boy that prefers to be feminine, so that could mean a wide variety of things. It's a very general term to describe a lotta different things; it could be a boy who crossdresses, or it could be even a style. There's a kind of a culture that goes along with it and there's a certain kinda fashion that goes with that culture sometimes, so it can really be a lotta different things, but I would generally just say that it's whatever you want it to be.

Q: Do you dress in the femboy outfits in your everyday life?

A: Normally, I dress kinda like a boy. The femboy stuff is mostly just for YouTube, and also privately. But yeah, my family, they've gotten quite a bit into my channel recently. My brother's been in my videos and my parents watch my videos, and it's kinda weird. They just all sort of slowly start to watch it and get used to it and it's pretty funny, but they all seem to like it.

Q: Were your family and friends accepting of it from the get-go?

A: Not initially. The only person who was really accepting from the beginning would be my brother. In fact, I remember, back when I was first coming up with the channel idea, I was making jokes with him about it, 'cause I was telling him, "Hey, wouldn't it be such a weird idea if a femboy, you know, went fishing in a skirt? That would be kinda weird, wouldn't it?" He was just kinda like, "Okay, I mean … Whatever." [So I was] like, “I kinda wanna actually do this,” and he was like, "Sure, if you want to." So I guess you could say he supported it from early on, but he didn't really start getting into it until this year and that was also when the rest of my family started getting interested in it.

Q: What was it like filming the first episode of Femboy Fishing?

A: Well, I had just gotten off work early, and it was really, really hot, like it was in the dead middle of the summertime. And I raced home, because I told myself, "Okay, this is gonna be the first day of making episodes. I have an opportunity for it today." So, I got in our little side-by-side we have; it's a John Deere Gator. And I was scrambling to put eyeliner on and makeup and stuff and then I remember I drove down to this one spot I like to go fishing at close to my house, where there's a dock and stuff but there was a bunch of people down there.

I was like, "Oh crap, I can't go down here." So I drove way over down the highway on a side-by-side to this other spot I like to go to, which is normally flooded by the lake, 'cause I live close to a lake that has fluctuating levels. And I showed up and I walked the way out into the woods so nobody would see me and I was super paranoid, 'cause I didn't want anybody to see me like that, being where I live and stuff.

I was fishing the area right where this little creek arm meets the lake, where it was flooding and farther back closer, farther out on the lake, there were these people that were on jet skis that were going around and it seemed like they were pretty close to me, so I was super paranoid, like, "Oh crap, they're gonna see me like this." Which since then, I haven't been as paranoid being around people; in newer episodes, I've kinda gotten used to it, but back then, I used to be extremely paranoid to be around other people. But yeah, it was crazy. I don't even remember filming half of it. I think I was blinded by the heat or something.

Q: Have you ever had any negative or strange encounters with anyone since?

A: Oh boy. Well, I have had a couple of things happen. During episode three … I like to say episode three was probably the worst episode of Femboy Fishing because I only caught one fish. It was like almost 100 degrees outside with humidity, and I was wearing a long-sleeved shirt, so I was pretty hot.

I remember this episode, I was fishing the same lake I just mentioned. The place I was fishing was like this big, long, flat section and a lot of these flat, flooded parts of the lakes, a lotta garfish like to attract themselves there. So people will come in and bowfish for gar. And there were these real hippie-looking guys on a big longboat that came out, that were bowfishing for gar.

And I saw them; I was like, "Oh crap!," so I ran out into the woods and I was hiding. And they were out there for a long time and I was sweating really, really bad and I was like, "Can you guys please leave? Like, no offense, I kinda wanna finish filming here," and I debated giving up and eventually, just before I gave up, they left and I was like, "Oh, okay." It was really weird too; they were blasting “Africa” by Toto, so it was just rippling across the whole bay, so you're just sitting there sweating your butt off while they're playing “Africa.”

I've had a couple of other encounters. I've been lucky not to run into too many people while filming. Most of the issues I've had running into people have actually been me fishing normally. Like, I've almost gotten my truck towed on multiple occasions, 'cause I parked in the wrong spot. There was an infamous situation that happened where I got chased down by a farmer. Right after episode five when Femboy Fishing first kind of hit a big wave of popularity. And after that, I was really trying to push myself to put out an episode, since all these new people were watching now.

I remember I went to this one creek, a little away from my house, and I went to this one spot and it looked like a good spot to fish; I'd been there before and not had any issues, so I pulled up and I remember I showed up and there was this white truck that pulled up and they stopped like they were watching me. I was like, "Oh crap, oh crap, oh crap!" So I ran off into the bushes; they stayed there.

I drove my truck up to this one parking spot, they were in the way; they were in the road parked where I would need to run back to get. Eventually, they drove off. So I went to run off to the truck. And on the way, the white truck came back around and… I wouldn't say they were really driving aggressively towards me, but they started following me. And I was being paranoid even more and I was in fishnets and girl shorts and I had painted my nails; I was particularly femboyish that day, so I was flipping out and I was running to the truck while they were kinda chasing me in a way, 'cause they were following me all the way back up to where I parked. Then I got in the car and just floored it, 'cause I just did not wanna have that kinda situation.

Other than that though, there was one situation earlier this year; in January. I tried to film an episode, which that one didn't end up getting released, 'cause I didn't catch anything and it was kinda boring, but I parked under a bridge and there was this guy that came out and he's like, "Hey, bud, you're parked on private property. You need to get outta here," and I was in a skirt and I was flipping out over that too. I really haven't had too many instances with locals and with people seeing me.

Q: How do you avoid those situations?

A: I'm pretty strategic about where I film episodes. There's a lotta places that are good places to fish, but I won't film there because there's a good chance of people seeing me and stuff, so I'm always constantly planning and looking at Google Earth and satellite images to try to find, "Okay, what would be the best spot to fish where absolutely nobody is gonna run into me?" And fortunately, it's worked out pretty well so far and since recently, I've been fishing more and more around people. It's been getting a lot easier than it used to be.

Q: Are there a lot of femboys in Missouri?

A: Oh, no. I would say there's hardly anyone even close, out here, to being a femboy. I make jokes to myself but I'm probably the only femboy within a 200-mile radius, 'cause there's nobody out here, and the people that are out here are very backwoods-countryish. A lot of the guys are very hypermasculine and stuff, it's like the polar opposite of the kinda thing that I do.

Q: When did Femboy Fishing start to take off?

A: It was right around episode five. I call the first five episodes of season one kind of like the pre-popularity episodes because those were before it really blew up. And then episode five, everything after that was when it kinda blew up, 'cause it was some time during episode five that Twitter discovered it. Most of the femboy community is centralized around Twitter, so once they found it they went crazy with it. And that was when it really blew up and that's when videos went from having hundreds of views to thousands and even hundreds of thousands of views. And since then, it's just been growing at a steady rate. I think the initial popularity's dropped down a bit, but it's still growing a bit and I'm thankful to have the following that I have and the community that I have, 'cause they're all really nice and supportive.

Q: What is it that people enjoy so much about Femboy Fishing?

A: There's a peacefulness to it. I like to think [Femboy Fishing is] like Bob Ross in a way, in the sense that it's something that's kind of calming. It’s easy to binge. They're very calm videos and I get a lotta comments of people saying things like, "Oh, your videos put me to sleep," 'cause I have a softer voice and you've got the sounds of nature and stuff in the background.

I think it's also nice because it introduces more people into fishing and fishing culture. I notice a lot of the mainstream fishing YouTube channels are very hypermasculine. They're very hypebeasty, I guess. Louder, sometimes a little bit more obnoxious, a little more clickbaity. And I think, not that anybody couldn't necessarily get into fishing from those channels, but I think maybe it just introduces more people to it by people seeing somebody that isn't the same kind of person fishing. It shows people, "Hey, maybe I can get into this." Fishing isn't just a bunch of Southern, big old tough guys out on their big old bass boats or something. I mean, anybody can do it and I think it just helps reinforce that sort of thing, that anybody can get into it and enjoy it.

Q: What’s your proudest Femboy Fishing catch?

A: It's a little bit hard to say, but during episode eight, that was where I caught the biggest bass that I've ever caught in any Femboy Fishing episode. And I've caught bass that size before; that's nothing too significant to me. I think the reason why it's so significant is that not only did I catch it in Femboy Fishing, but I caught it on really crappy gear. The first 10 episodes or so of Femboy Fishing I used these little ZEBCO 33 reels, which are really small fishing reels. A lotta kids use 'em, 'cause they're basically just a push button that you use to cast. And they don't typically have a very strong line. The line that's on them is a three-pound test, which basically means it can handle up to three pounds of weight before it snaps. And the bass that I caught that episode was four pounds and fighting aggressively.

So, catching the biggest bass that I've caught in Femboy Fishing, and catching it on a really, really light line and somehow not breaking it off. I don't know how that line did not break off. Maybe it was just coincidence or something but I think that's probably my proudest catch, if I had to say.

Or if there's any other catch I could list, in the saltwater episode, which was the first episode of season two, I caught a Spanish mackerel. And the only reason that's significant to me is because I had been fishing previously at that spot for the past few days and not getting hardly anything and I was like, "Wow, I'm never gonna catch anything significant," and then I caught this big Spanish mackerel that fought super hard on the line. It was like, "Whoa, this kind of threw me off guard."

Q: Do you have more femboy fans or fisherman fans?

A: Right now there are definitely more femboy fans. Although, I have noticed that I have been getting more fishing fans watching my videos recently, although I think the bulk of my audience is mostly there to watch the femboy more so than the fishing, or at least they come there for the femboy and stay for the fishing. It's kinda weird, 'cause I have a lot more people that follow me on Instagram that are more fishing-oriented, 'cause there's a really big fishing community on Instagram. So, I noticed when I post on Instagram, I'll get a huge wave of fishermen that'll like the post and interact with it, and when I post on YouTube, for the most part, and especially Twitter, it's mostly other femboys or people in the LGBTQ community, or just a lotta people that are there for the funny meme of it.

Q: What’s next for Femboy Fishing?

A: Most of the fishing that I do in my videos is creek fishing in the summertime because that's what I'm kind of the best at and I wanna stray away a little bit from that, especially now that my family is becoming more accepting of it. I'm able to go more places and do more things with it. So, I would love to catch new species of fish. Maybe fish in different types of water, like fish big lakes, or go ice fishing.

The other thing too is, I wanna do funny cosplays. I have a couple of things planned, but I think it'd be kinda funny to have an anime femboy character out fishing. It adds to the ridiculousness of it, in my opinion. I also wanna put out merch. There's a bunch of stuff that I've been working on with that, which I'll leave to a surprise. I'm gonna be doing a mini-series. I have a creek that runs through my backyard and it mostly dries up half of the year, but I'm gonna build dams and pump in water and add fish and just make it a big series of pools where I can go fishing. It's something I'm pretty passionate about doing and I think it might be interesting to see the whole creation of it.

Q: What’s been your favorite part of Femboy Fishing and the community it’s fostered?

A: Seeing people who are interested in what you're doing and having a supportive community that you can educate about fishing [and] introduce them into it. It's been a big blessing to have them there, a supportive community and just seeing people interested in something that you're very passionate about.

Q: What’s your favorite thing about fishing and your favorite thing about being a femboy?

A: My favorite thing about fishing is connecting with nature. Every time I go out fishing, it does a lotta things for me. It's really good at relieving anxiety and there's just a love for it I have. I don't really know where it comes from, but just being around nature and being in that kind of environment puts you at peace. It makes your life a whole lot better; at least it does for me.

About femboys, I would say, both the memes and the fashion that goes with it. It's a whole lotta fun to wear cute skirts and dress yourself up in cute ways and do cosplays. And being around other people that are also interested in that same kinda thing. We're all kinda similar; it's a nice thing to be around. The fans are pretty cool and nd I'm happy to have you guys along the way. You guys are awesome.

Q: What’s your advice to people that want to get into fishing?

A: Just do a little bit of research; find out what water's around you. A lotta people would be really surprised just how many fishing opportunities are around you. It can be a city pond, maybe you live near a river. Even people that live in the desert; sometimes, there are places in the desert that have things. Just do a little bit of research, find out what fish species are around you. Sometimes, it could be something as simple as just throwing in a little hook with a piece of bait on it or something, with a piece of food, or maybe a worm and sometimes that catches fish. Fishing can sometimes be a very difficult thing for new people, especially since they don't know what they're doing. It can be kind of a trial and error type of thing. But eventually, it doesn't take long before you start catching fish.

You can subscribe to Erin on YouTube at Femboy Fishing and follow her on Instagram @femboy_fishing and Twitter @femboyYT