| Have you thought about entering a tournament as a non-boater or joining a local club, but felt too intimidated?
I can’t tell you how many times I’ve had a female friend or co-worker tell me a story about how she used to fish or about the time she went out with her father/husband/friends and caught more and or bigger fish than any of the guys. Women have a natural knack for fishing. I’m still trying to convince my high-maintenance younger sister to go fishing with me one time. I know she would be good at it. Maybe one of these days (if I can find a Hilton hotel where she can cast a line from the balcony… that’s probably about my only hope). I have had a few friends really excited about the concept of fishing competitively though. I hear things like “that sounds really cool” or “If I had a boat” or “I wish I could do something like that”.
I’ve read a few articles in the past year and a half, where some women said they felt that men in the small, weekend bass clubs don’t readily accept them. Maybe it has to do with the perception some women have. Maybe they go into it with a preconceived notion. If you believe men won’t accept you, you will likely leave with the feeling they didn’t. Personally, I’ve joined 5 clubs with anywhere from 10 to 80 members (99.9% male) over the years. I’ve gotten nothing but a positive feeling from the guys in those clubs. Sure there are some that look a little confused when I back the boat into the water or when they see me running the trolling motor… or when I carry a huge bag of fish to the scales, but seeing that confusion on their faces makes me feel good. Just like any other situation, if you go into it with a positive attitude, you will likely have a positive experience.
I’ve fished against over 100 different men. Only two of them have given me a negative vibe (I remember them well). The overwhelming majority just go about their business- it’s no big deal to them. Some say things like “I wish I could get my wife out here!” or “Do you have any single sisters?”. Both of the negative guys tried to make me feel uncomfortable. When I was first learning to run a foot-controlled trolling motor, this one guy was literally heckling me from the bank- in front of everyone. Turns out this guy is just a jerk in general. I just did my best to ignore him (although part of me wanted to cuss him out). I had more than one guy come up to me afterwards and tell me to just ignore him and not worry about it. One guy said I did a better job than he did the first time. That probably wasn’t true, but it did make me feel better. One guy even offered me tips on running the foot control. I’ve always found that guys are encouraging and more than willing to help. They want to see me do well.
If you have even the slightest desire to fish in a tournament, find a small club that fishes tournaments on a reservoir where they rent jon boats. Rent yourself a boat and practice. When the tournament comes around, enter it and just fish. Don’t worry about anyone around you or something going wrong (like not catching any fish or having problems with the trolling motor). Don’t worry about embarrassing yourself. I’ve got news for you- the guys are just as worried about embarrassing themselves as you are. I’ve seen MANY embarrassing things happen to guys on the water (about as many as my own embarrassments). It just comes with the territory. If you want to be concerned with something, be concerned with keeping your fish alive and staying safe.
The bottom line is that these guys like having more competition. It doesn’t matter to them whether you are a man or a woman. Of course, they are going to be intrigued at first. Imagine how you would feel if a guy came into the nail salon and got a French pedicure beside you… okay, that’s not a good comparison and it goes into a whole different territory, but you get the point!
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