Briget Shields has been an angler for most of her life. But she never thought much about fly fishing until about 12 years ago, when she was out on the water and happened to see a guy casting with one of the sport's long, flexible rods.

"I thought, I want to learn how to do that," she recalls. "It was the technique and the grace and the movement."

Knowing she'd never get her non-fishing husband, Pittsburgh City Council President Doug Shields, to join her in learning this ancient angling method, she signed up for a class at International Angler in Aspinwall. And like the trout she soon learned to coax to the water's surface with exactly the right fly and drift, she was instantly hooked.

"It's just so beautiful," says Shields, 56, a jewelry maker and artist. "I call it the tai chi of fishing."

She's become such a fan, in fact, the Squirrel Hill resident not only gets out on the water ever chance she can get -- Loyalhanna Creek near Ligonier, Pine Creek in Hampton and the Youghiogheny River are favorite spots -- but also preaches the gospel of fly fishing as an instructor.

"It's you and nature," she says.

Women account for just one-quarter of the 30 million anglers in the U.S., according to a 2006 survey by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. And females who fish with flies instead of bait or artificial lures are scarcer still. But those who try their hand at it often follow in Shield's hip-booted footsteps and become quite avid about fly fishing, says Eric Stroup, who owns Spruce Creek Fly Co. in Spruce Creek, Huntingdon County, about 20 miles southwest of State College. The problem, he says, is getting them started.

Unlike most men, who have any number of friends to fish with at a moment's notice, women typically lack for angling mentors, and it can be intimidating to try something new without a few friends going along for the ride. In addition, women often have added responsibilities, such as caring for children or maintaining a home, that cut into their spare time.

To make it a little less daunting, Stroup will hold his first-ever women's fly-fishing seminar Oct. 3-5 to introduce novices to the sport. The $550 class, which is limited to eight women, includes two nights in the Spruce Creek fishing lodge and eight organic-based meals or snacks. Students also get all necessary tackle, a fly-fishing demonstration and guided trips to Huntingdon County streams. Gear is available for an additional fee.

"Someone who is just getting into fly fishing might not have a lot of contacts," says Stroup, 41, who also leads guided fishing trips in Montana in late summer, when many streams in western and central Pennsylvania are too low and too warm to be fished. "The weekend is set up to introduce women anglers to each other, with hopes they'll make some lifelong friends and fishing partners."

To help students step even further out of the proverbial box, Stroup's wife, Tracey Luckett, a life coach and fitness professional, will over the course of the weekend host a wellness seminar that touches on naturopathic health and holistic nutrition. Other non-fishing activities will include demonstrations of the Revenir and Charme anti-aging skin care program and a wellness life assessment by strYve Empowerment Tools, an empowerment and wellness coaching firm based in Hollidaysburg, Blair County.

"The idea is to empower women and expose them to something they might not have the courage to do," says Luckett.

Some women may hesitate to try their hand at fly fishing because it takes some practice. And along with figuring out what the fish are eating at any given time of day, you also have to learn to "read" the water so when you cast, the fly drifts at exactly the same speed as the water. But not to worry. Females, Stroup notes, are actually pretty good fly-fishing students because they tend to be detail oriented and are better listeners than their husbands and boyfriends.

"There's no testosterone," he says.

Chuck Thompson, owner of International Angler, which also has a store in Robinson, agrees that women tend to pick up fly fishing fairly quickly after the initial how-do-I-get-this-rod-to-work period. Women, he says, generally are very observant -- essential characteristics in mastering the delicate dance of precision and rhythm fly fishing requires.

"They're anxious to learn," he says.

One needs to have patience, of course -- lots of patience -- because fish are a lot smarter than you might think. It's also necessary to have some sense of balance, says Stroup, because the sport often involves standing on slippery rocks while water is flowing past you. But fly fishing is a good way for even those with limited physical abilities to get out and enjoy nature, provided they have a sense of adventure.

Sharon Isenberg of Huntingdon took up fly fishing four years ago as a way to ward off the muscle atrophy of Parkinson's disease. She'll attend Stroup's seminar, she says, because so much of fishing is continually learning and growing and passing knowledge along.

Admittedly, the retiree doesn't move very fast when she's on a stream. And she often has to use a staff when she wades through the water, in addition to studded wading boots for better traction. But the experience of watching a fish rise to the surface and take a fly she's carefully hand tied, she says, is nothing short of miraculous.

"Something happens in that instant," says Isenberg, 63. "My whole being and soul are transferred to a plateau where I'm free from Parkinson's. The stress level goes down and you're at one with nature."

Valorie Taylor of Chartiers knows exactly what she means. A lifelong hunter, Taylor took up fly fishing about eight years ago when her husband started to get interested in the sport.

It was love at first cast.

Since then, hardly a weekend has passed that Taylor hasn't found herself on a stream, river or ocean with a fly rod. (In winter, she fly fishes with her husband for bone fish and tarpon in the Bahamas.)

"It so relaxing and it takes you to the most beautiful places," says Taylor, 46, a sales rep for Oil Service Inc. Just last month, the couple took a 10-day fly-fishing trip to Alaska to angle for silver salmon in the Bristol Bay area and rainbow trout in Lake Iliamna.

But mostly, she enjoys the dynamic nature of fly fishing.

"You're always moving and seeing something different," she says.