Page 38 - Lady Bass Digital Magazine March 2023

MY JOURNEY TO THE LBAA

by Dianne Williams, Co-Angler

I am a member of the LBAA. I am starting my third year with the LBAA in 2023. I have fished for over 45 years and the
last two years have been the best. I fished with my parents on Santee Cooper Lake for catfish and Lake Hartwell for cat-
fish and striped bass growing up. My partner and I have a houseboat now on Lake Hartwell that provides a great fishing
location. It is tied up at the marina and I have a blast catching many kinds of fish there.

I had never just fished for bass early on. The LBAA had a tournament in Hartwell, Georgia in 2020, close to our house-
boat location, so I went to watch a takeoff. It was so exciting. All the ladies’ boats with their red, green, and white lights
were wild. Some of the boats were even outlined with lights. It was 5 a.m. and the lights were reflecting off the water. It
was a beautiful sight.

Everyone said hello or good morning as they went past me. I walked down to the dock to get closer to the boats and
participants. The ladies in their boats asked how I was doing. Nobody there knew me, but it was like they all knew me.
Then the voice came over the speaker and we had the announcements on time to be in and if anyone had trouble, whom
to call. Then there was a prayer and the national anthem before the numbers were called out and the boats took off. I
mean these ladies put the pedal to the metal and were gone. I made up my mind then to be back for the weigh-in.

I went back to the houseboat and looked through all my fishing tackle to find a plastic worm. I dropped it off the side of
the dock and shook it and low and behold, something started pulling on my line. I was shocked and set the hook. Wow,
that was the prettiest 2 lb largemouth bass I had ever caught. I ended up catching four more spotted bass and another
large mouth. I was stoked.

At 2 p.m. I went back to the ramp for the weigh-in. I thought I had been around this group of ladies and the men that
help with trailering boats and the weigh-in trailer forever. Everyone was so friendly and willing to share any informa-
tion I asked about. Then the speaker told the boaters to start bringing up the fish. These ladies were lined up with their
smiles and bags of fish. I mean the ones with one fish were just as happy as the ones with their 3 or 5 fish limits.

It was an awesome day. I couldn’t wait to get home and show the pictures I had taken that morning and the ones from
the weigh-in. I told my partner about the entire day and how everyone spoke to me and talked about their boats and the
day they had on the water. She asked me if I wanted to join, and I immediately said yes. We got all the information for
joining and future tournaments needed online at the LBAA website.

I started fishing tournaments in 2021 and just missed the Classic by one
place. I was still so proud of being an LBAA member. The ladies were
just as friendly after I joined as when I was a spectator. In 2022, I placed
sixth for the year and made the Classic on Logan Martin lake in Ala-
bama.

You can join as a professional, if you have a boat and the experience, but
you can also join as a co-angler, as I did, and have the chance to fish with
a different, great and helpful pro each day of the tournament.

This is an amazing organization There isn’t a ladies federation close to
South Carolina yet, so my partner and I travel a long way for the tourna-
ments, but we’ve been to Texas, Alabama, Louisiana, Arkansas and North
Carolina. If you enjoy fishing and didn’t know about the LBAA and want
to have an experience of a lifetime, check it out. Find a federation near
you or join the LBAA and fish all over.
38 Lady Bass Anglers Association My Journey to the LBAA