You do not have to understand fishing to buy someone a great fishing gift. Sourdough, mahjong, book club, wine night, gardening, running — whatever your thing is, you get it. Everybody has something. Something they research way too much, spend money on that other people do not completely understand, and look forward to after a long week.
Maybe you have gotten really into making sourdough. Maybe somebody convinced you to learn mahjong and suddenly there are six women around your kitchen table every Thursday night. Maybe you have a book club that is 40% books and 60% catching up. Maybe you love gardening, running, travel, cooking, wine, working out.
Maybe you are a new mom trying to figure out where you fit into this completely different version of life. Or maybe work, kids, appointments, practices, birthday parties, grocery lists and keeping an entire household pointed vaguely in the right direction have made you realize something: everybody needs a thing that is theirs.
And if the man in your life loves fishing, you already know what his is.
You Don't Have to Understand Fishing
This is where we want to make things considerably easier.
You do not have to know the difference between a jighead and a crankbait. You do not need to understand why he apparently needs 14 fishing rods when they all appear to be fishing rods. You do not need to know what forward-facing sonar is. You definitely do not need to understand why a grown man can spend 20 minutes explaining the difference between a 1/8-ounce and 3/32-ounce hook.
That is okay. Emily does not either.
She is my wife. She does not fish. And that is actually a pretty important part of this story.
I'm the Fisherman. Emily Isn't.
I am Dave, founder of Ebb N Flow Outdoors, and I have spent most of my life fishing. I studied fisheries biology. I have worked professionally in the fishing industry. I have designed fishing tackle, sold fishing products, and spent an absurd amount of time thinking about hooks, jigheads, soft plastics, fish behavior and how to make fishing products better.
Most importantly, I just really love to fish.
Emily does not. And she does not need to. She has her interests, I have mine, and that is kind of the point. But after watching me build Ebb N Flow Outdoors, she understands something that has very little to do with knowing how to fish: she knows how much fishing means to me.
And that gave us an idea.
What If Buying Fishing Gifts Didn't Require Knowing Anything About Fishing?
Imagine your husband casually mentions something about fishing three months before his birthday. You remember approximately four words: “Something…hook…bass…weedless…whatever.”
Fantastic. Now go search for a fishing gift.
You open a tackle website and find thousands of products. Different weights. Different hook sizes. Freshwater. Saltwater. Bass. Redfish. Hover hooks. Jigheads. Weedless hooks. Soft plastics. And somehow you are supposed to know what any of that means.
That is ridiculous. We sell fishing tackle and even we can admit that.
So instead of expecting you to become an expert in his hobby, what if we simply helped you make the right choice? That is the idea behind Emily’s Picks.
Curated by a Fisherman. Simplified by a Wife Who Doesn't Fish.
That is the partnership. I know the fishing side. Emily understands the other side of the purchase.
“Okay Dave, but what would I actually buy you?”
That is an incredibly valuable question, because most fishing companies are built by fishermen talking to other fishermen. And we are guilty of it too. We talk about hook strength, keeper design, weight placement, fall rate, TPE plastics, ElaZtech, forward-facing sonar. All important things — if you are the person fishing.
But the person buying the birthday gift might not care about any of that. She wants to know one thing: will he actually use this?
That is a completely different question.
Think About Your Own Hobbies
Imagine somebody shopping for your hobby without understanding it.
If you are serious about sourdough, you probably do not want some random bread-making kit somebody found beside the checkout aisle. If you play mahjong every week, there is probably a difference between something you would actually use and something that merely has mahjong tiles printed on it. If you read constantly, somebody who knows nothing about books could very easily buy you something you would never read.
Fishing is exactly the same. There is fishing stuff, and then there is fishing gear an angler will actually use. We want to help you buy the second one.
Because He's Probably Hard to Shop For
Let us address the obvious problem. The guy who loves fishing probably already owns fishing gear. A lot of fishing gear.
Ask him what he wants for his birthday and you will probably get: “I don’t know. I don’t really need anything.” Helpful. Then three days later a mysterious fishing-related package arrives at the house. Apparently he needed something.
Here is what experienced anglers almost always need: the things they actually use. Hooks get lost. Jigheads get snagged. Soft plastics get destroyed. Line gets replaced. Terminal tackle gets consumed. Fishing is not necessarily about buying another giant piece of equipment — sometimes the best gift is simply giving him really good versions of the things he will actually put in his tackle box.
That's Where We Come In
Ebb N Flow Outdoors was not created as a gift company. We are a fishing company. Our products are designed by people who actually fish, built to solve fishing problems, tested on the water, and used by anglers chasing everything from largemouth bass and crappie to redfish, trout, stripers and other species.
That is exactly why they can make good gifts. We are not trying to sell you a novelty fishing mug because it says World’s Okayest Fisherman. We are helping you buy something he will actually take fishing. There is a difference.
And No, You Don't Have to Become Interested in Fishing
This may be my favorite part of this whole idea. If your husband loves fishing and you could not care less about fishing, that is okay. Seriously. You do not need matching hobbies.
Maybe his Saturday morning is fishing. Maybe yours is mahjong. Maybe you are headed to brunch, reading a book without somebody asking you where their shoes are, going for a run, or sitting somewhere drinking coffee in complete silence. Excellent.
We are not trying to turn every woman shopping on our website into an angler. We are trying to make it ridiculously easy for her to buy something for one.
And If You Do Want to Fish? Come On.
There is another side to this. Maybe you have been thinking about trying it. Maybe your husband or boyfriend keeps asking you. Maybe your girlfriends fish. Maybe you are trying to find something new after starting a family and realizing you have not done many things lately simply because you wanted to do them.
Then come fishing. You do not need to know anything. No judgment, no stupid questions, no pink fishing rod required. Just start.
Emily's Picks
This is where everything comes together. Emily’s Picks is not “fishing gear for women.” It is the bridge between someone who understands fishing and someone who does not necessarily want to.
The fisherman helps choose what works. The non-fisherman asks: would I understand why I am buying this? That is the filter.
If we do this correctly, you should not need to call us and explain exactly where your husband fishes. You should not need to secretly photograph his tackle box. You should not need to learn hook terminology. You should be able to answer a few simple questions, look through a carefully curated selection and think: yep, he’ll like that.
Because Knowing Someone Doesn't Mean Knowing Their Hobby
You know his favorite restaurant. You know how he takes his coffee. You know what makes him laugh. You know when something is bothering him before he tells you. You probably know exactly what he will say when you tell him you are leaving in five minutes and he is nowhere close to ready.
You know him. You do not have to know every detail about fishing. That is our job. Your job is knowing that he loves it.
And sometimes the best gifts are not about sharing somebody’s hobby. They are simply about saying: I know this matters to you.
So Let Us Handle the Fishing Part
Keep making your sourdough. Go to mahjong. Read your book. Meet your girlfriends for wine. Work. Raise your family. Find the things that make you feel like yourself. And let him disappear onto the water every once in a while and come home telling you about the fish that was apparently this big.
When his birthday, Father’s Day, Christmas, anniversary or some random “I saw this and thought of you” moment rolls around, we will help with the fishing part.
Curated by a fisherman who loves to fish. Simplified with the help of a wife who does not — and knows exactly how much he loves it.
That is Emily’s Picks. And that might be the easiest fishing gift you have ever bought.
— Dave Erdly | Founder, Ebb N Flow Outdoors
You know him. We know fishing. Shop Emily’s Picks →