The Real McCoy...
Kelly McCoy runs Rivergirl Fishing Co in Todd, NC. She got thrown into the culinary world while volunteering at one of Renata's underground dinners. Since then, she has been honing her mixology and culinary skills. She is passionate about foraged wild foods and authentic traditional cuisine styles. When she's not fishing or researching recipes, you can find her in the garden doting over her heritage or exotic plant "babies".
All About Women says " Being around Kelly McCoy, is like getting a vitamin B12 shot. She’s full of energy no matter the topic of conversation, but when she talks about local rivers and the life beneath the surface, you’ve hit a gold mine of energy and information.
Following college, Kelly landed a job with the Florida Fish and Wildlife Commission as a marine biologist. Although she enjoyed the job, Kelly visited the High Country a few times, fell in love with the area, and wanted to live here. She opened Rivergirl Fishing above the bakery in Todd in, basically, a closet space with a desk to tie flies and build rods, a little area for fishing lures, and a 200-gallon fish tank. After Kelly moved the business into the old train depot building in the heart of the community, what began as a place to teach fly fishing and sell “fish stuff” organically grew to provide boats, river tubes, and bicycles to customers as well as to teach them about our rivers and the ecological treasures in them. “I don’t want to be an outfitter that just grabs people, shoves them on the river and says, ‘cha-ching,’” Kelly says. “What’s so special to me is that I have kids that come up after a trip down the river, tug on my shorts, and say, ‘Thank you, River Girl. This is the coolest thing we did with my parents all summer.’”
All About Women says " Being around Kelly McCoy, is like getting a vitamin B12 shot. She’s full of energy no matter the topic of conversation, but when she talks about local rivers and the life beneath the surface, you’ve hit a gold mine of energy and information.
Following college, Kelly landed a job with the Florida Fish and Wildlife Commission as a marine biologist. Although she enjoyed the job, Kelly visited the High Country a few times, fell in love with the area, and wanted to live here. She opened Rivergirl Fishing above the bakery in Todd in, basically, a closet space with a desk to tie flies and build rods, a little area for fishing lures, and a 200-gallon fish tank. After Kelly moved the business into the old train depot building in the heart of the community, what began as a place to teach fly fishing and sell “fish stuff” organically grew to provide boats, river tubes, and bicycles to customers as well as to teach them about our rivers and the ecological treasures in them. “I don’t want to be an outfitter that just grabs people, shoves them on the river and says, ‘cha-ching,’” Kelly says. “What’s so special to me is that I have kids that come up after a trip down the river, tug on my shorts, and say, ‘Thank you, River Girl. This is the coolest thing we did with my parents all summer.’”