RiverGirl Owner Kelly McCoy Finds Her Spot on the River
Though Kelly McCoy was born in a small, landlocked town in Alabama, she always felt a special connection to the water. Her father was a bass tournament fisherman and would often take her fishing with him. “I loved fish growing up,” McCoy says, recalling that she had about a dozen fish tanks in her room, as well as a waterbed. “That was me growing up: raising fish in aquariums and going out on the lake with my dad.”
While McCoy originally attended community college to become an FBI agent, she decided it was too dangerous and enrolled in an aquaculture course instead. She excelled in it, but was disenchanted that the class was primarily focused on raising aquatic things for food, like catfish and tilapia. “I wanted to see the world, explore and do things,” McCoy professes. “I wanted to touch, count, measure, and identify fish.” McCoy soon landed an internship in Mississippi, where she learned how to protect fish, preserve aquatic wildlife, and manage fishermen. She got her degree in Fisheries Biology from Mississippi State University where she also acquired the nickname ‘River Girl’ since her hand was always the first in the air whenever volunteers were needed to go out to the water with the graduate students. After graduating, McCoy got a marine biology job with the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission. During her five years with the commission, her primary focus was fish population studies and monitoring mercury levels.
In 2005, she moved to Todd, North Carolina. While she loved mountain life, she found that the only fishery biology jobs in the state were closer to the coast. She sold her four-wheeler and used the money to start her own fishing shop, called RiverGirl Fishing Company. At her shop, McCoy built fishing rods, tied flies, and taught people about fishing and rivers. She quickly noticed that many of her customers were also in need of boat rentals for their fishing expeditions. So, McCoy added kayak and inner tube rentals to her business in 2006. She also moved the business into the former train depot.
RiverGirl now boasts 200 tubes, over 60 kayaks and canoes, bicycles, dogs, ducks, a tortoise named Peanut, and a pig named Pepper. “One of our best marketing tools is Pepper the pig,” McCoy says, explaining that people see her on the website and know they have arrived at the right place. Besides the appeal of the 175-pound mini pig, McCoy feels that her customers really respond to the hands-on training and personal connection they receive at RiverGirl. “We don’t just shove them down the river,” she laughs. “If we get a customer here, we usually keep them.”
RiverGirl’s location also includes a train engine, two cabooses, and four themed buses named Old Blue, Ladybug, Purple People Eater, and Yellow Brick Road. “I know the sound of every trailer and how they’re supposed to sound when they’re loaded up,” McCoy boasts. In addition to managing her staff and maintaining the equipment, McCoy gives ecotours of the river, educating her customers on the health and inhabitants of the river and the history of the area. “We stay very busy,” she says, adding that she prioritizes her days off to be with her wife and son, Finn. “I try not to overdo it,” she says, stating that she doesn’t want to work so much that she stops loving it. “So, it doesn’t become a job.”
McCoy’s favorite aspect of her job is getting to see the enjoyment kids get out of the river tours. Earlier this year, she recalls helping a boy into a boat, and when he found himself on the water, he turned to his parents and shouted, “This is the best day of my life!” For McCoy, giving her customers moments like these makes the hard work worth it. “I just think this river melts everyone’s stresses away,” McCoy says. “It’s like a meditation, almost.” McCoy explains that their section of water at the South Fork of the New River is ideal for families because it is slow-moving, and for the most part, shallow. “Todd is such a wonderful place to come and disconnect from the chaos of the world,” she says.
After fifteen years of running RiverGirl Fishing Company, McCoy says she walks into the shop and can hardly believe it. “It is amazing,” she gushes, “literally and truly.” This fall, McCoy and her team are planning a few major changes to their location. They are working to convert one of their cabooses into an escape room based on the history of Todd. They also plan to convert the other caboose and train car into an Airbnb. Finally, they will be turning the depot into a river educational museum. For the museum, McCoy already has two 200-fish aquarium tanks ready to go.
RiverGirl also offers the public ways to love the river back. “My way to give back to the river is by cleaning it,” she says, referring to RiverGirl’s Trashy Tuesdays, an event held on the first Tuesday morning of every month during which people can go down the river for free if they pick up at least one piece of trash. McCoy says she was warned that customers might take advantage of this event, but is gratified to report that they clean up enough to fill a 5x8 trailer every time they go out. There are also prizes for whoever brings back the most trash, and for whoever brings back the coolest piece of trash.
After fifteen years of business, McCoy hasn’t missed a step or a splash. With RiverGirl, she has created a thriving business that keeps her tired, but fulfilled. And in Todd, she has found a community and made a home. While she may have her feet planted on the ground professionally, this river girl is no fish out of water.
Written by Meg Hale Brunton
Visit www.rivergirlfishing.com for more information.