Lucy Bowden is casting a line into cyberspace in an effort to overthrow the traditional male dominance of her sport.

A-level student Lucy has been a devotee of fly fishing for almost seven years, but she has never met another teenage female enthusiast.

In fact, despite her exploits earning the 16-year-old a place in the England Ladies Fly Fishing team, she has yet to encounter another female angler under the age of 25.

Now Lucy is planning to launch her own website in an attempt to reel in other teenage girls in the UK who she is convinced must share her passion.

She is seeking sponsorship for the website which will detail how she got involved with fly fishing and why she enjoys it so much.

Lucy, who lives with her parents, Chris and Margaret Bowden, and sister April, 13, in Alnwick, Northumberland, has been interested in fishing since she was a little girl.

She really became hooked at the age of nine when her dad took her to a newly-opened fishery near Berwick and she caught a whopping 9lb fish.

She is now a member of the Oddfellows Angling Club in Alnwick, another fishing club in the village of Chatton and the England team, which she is due to join up with again in August for a competition in Kent.

She goes out fishing in Northumberland and the Scottish Borders almost every week during the fly fishing season with her dad, a housing foreman with Alnwick Council, and his angling friends.

She has her own rod and other equipment from the House of Hardy firm in Alnwick and spent two weeks with the company on work experience from the town's Duchess's High School two years ago.

Lucy has been unable to get April to share her enthusiasm as her sister's interests have tended towards horse riding, running and other sports.

Yesterday Lucy said: "I have made many friends through fishing but never a female angler my own age.

"Some of my friends say fishing is too boring, but they have never tried it so how do they know? I am certain other girls of my age would like it if they gave it a shot and that is what I will try to achieve through the website.

"I got into fly fishing through my dad. I really love it and I can't wait for the season to start next month.

"It is just so relaxing and enjoyable because you are always fishing with other people. When you go on the Net or read fishing magazines it is all aimed at men and I think to myself, why should it be like that?"

Mum Margaret, who runs a bed-and- breakfast business from the family home during the summer, said: "Lucy feels there must be girls out there who are interested. She says that any fishing magazine you pick up is all about male anglers or sexy models posing."

Kate Royce, membership secretary of the England Ladies Fly Fishing Association, said: "It is rather exceptional for a teenage girl like Lucy to be involved and if her website helps to get more young females interested, that would be absolutely fantastic.

"Wives sometimes follow their husbands into fly fishing but it is very difficult to get young girls involved. This is a pity because it is one of the few sports where women can compete on equal terms with men."

Anyone who wants to sponsor Lucy's website or contact her about her interest in fishing can e-mail fisherwoman46@hotmail.com