Meet Cheeky Ambassador: Eeland Stribling

Q&A with Cheeky's newest Ambassador, Eeland Stribling. 

Cheeky: Where are you from?

Eeland: I was born and raised in Denver, Colorado - and am still here! 

Cheeky: What got you into fly fishing? 

Eeland: A woman I was dating in college said "let's try something new". She took me to a fly tying class. Not what I was expecting. Then people told me "black people don't fly fish or like nature". And I hate being told what I can and can't do. I fish out of spite and vengeance like Thanos or ironically black spiderman. That's a joke. Thanos can't cast as well as me. I fish because it's another way to be a conservationist and care and interact with our beautiful planet.

Cheeky: What's your favorite fish? 

Eeland: Tarpon. Then Carp then Bonefish, then Permit and Rio Grande Cutthroat Trout

Cheeky: Besides fishing, what else do you like to do?

Eeland: Besides fishing, I do stand up comedy. I'm huge a Formula One fan and grew up watching it. I also love to cook. That's about all I have time for. 

Cheeky: Where can folks find your upcoming comedy shows?

Eeland: I don't have a website yet, but you can find me on Facebook and Instagram with my upcoming comedy dates and location on Linktree. My next show is in Chicago, at Zanies March 2nd and March 3rd.  

Cheeky: You're also a wildlife educator & biologist - could you share more about this?

Eeland: In college, I started working with Brown Folks Fishing, which works with Black, Inidigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) to be involved in nature in a safe space. I'm not very good at regular fishing, just fly fishing, so I pretty much stick to teaching this. After I graduated with a degree in wildlife biology and conservation, I got a job with Nuisance as a Wildlife Tech, which basically means I helped relocate local Colorado wildlife. After a couple years of that I started working with students and kids at Lincoln Hill Cares, out of CO, as well as Cottonwood Institute. We take kids on field trips, day trips or evening trips and we teach them about fishing, camping, and other outdoor skills. I still work with all 3 organizations today, even though this is primarily volunteer work, I get a lot out of it. 

Cheeky: You mentioned you loved to cook - what's your favorite thing to make?

Eeland: I love to bake - different homemade cookie recipes, I have terrible sweet tooth so I love to make cookies and cakes. 

Cheeky: We're stoked to have you on the Cheeky Ambassador team, so we have to ask - why do you fish Cheeky Reels? 

Eeland: I fish Cheeky reels cause it's what all the cool kids are doing-aren't we all just trying to cling and relive our youth. Plus it's important that they are quality. I like the color combinations and how much I've beat up the reels with 40 pound snook, 10 pound bones and 25 pound carp, and the reels are still rocking. 

Want to meet the rest of the Cheeky Ambassadors? Head over to our Ambassador page.