Page 6 - Lady Bass Digital Magazine March 2023

Tournament Fishing Can Be Intimidating, But...
by Pam Horne
Being a female angler in a tournament can be very
intimidating, being the ONLY female angler in a
tournament can be VERY intimidating. But the guys
usually get over it and finish their tournament……HA ing a boater by watching what others do or don’t do
HA HA.
Seriously, if you have any interest whatsoever in fish-
ing, do not let being a female or feeling inadequate
stop you. I grew up in Louisiana all my life and have
fished since I was probably 4 years old. Never even
really gave it much thought about being a female
that loved fishing but I mostly only pleasure fished.
I joined a small bass club around 2013 or 2014 with
my son, just to be able to spend some one-on-one
time with him. I never really paid attention to the
workings of the club, roles that people held within
the club or anything else. I just showed up with my
son and we went fishing.
I moved to Northwest Arkansas in 2015 and joined
a local bass club that was established in 1972 and
my brother, was the current President. The club
is B.A.S.S. affiliated and after joining in October, I
was able to fish my very first State Championship
Tournament which was held on Bull Shoals Lake.
This tournament probably had 125 boats and maybe
only 2 or 3 females, but I couldn’t tell you for sure. I
didn’t look for any other females nor did I even think group. Everyone has been super nice to me and
about if there were any other females. Coming from
a 17-year career in corrections, I found myself being
the ONLY female in a lot of situations, trainings, and
circumstances. I never even gave it much thought
about males or females fishing, I mean, it’s not like
it requires more strength or endurance, and the fish
6 Lady Bass Anglers Association Love of Fishing
certainly don’t care who’s holding that rod and reel.
I started out fishing as a co-angler to really get more
acquainted with our lakes and get comfortable be-
and the way they handled different situations. I did
this for 2 years finishing in the top 10 of our club
AOY standings and I reached a point that I wanted
to do things my way, I wanted to be able to go where
I wanted, fish the way I wanted to fish so in 2018,
I started competing as a boater in my little 17 foot
aluminum ranger Cherokee with a 50 hp Evinrude
and was not in the least bit intimidated. I always
felt bad for my co-anglers because my boat is pretty
small, and I always felt like I was handicapping them
but never had anyone complain. Since my decision
to go as a boater, my statistics have improved dras-
tically and in 2020 I won Angler of the Year and yes,
I am the only female in our club so it was NOT an
easy accomplishment but one that I will always feel
extremely proud of. These guys have treated me with
the utmost respect and have always been willing to
help but they have NEVER cut me any slack at all.
When it came to winning, they were as hungry for it
as I was.
Joining the Lady Bass Anglers Association was pretty
intimidating to me, yes, but once you’re in, it is so
much like just a big family, sisterhood, best friends’
always encouraging. Don’t get me wrong…..anyone
of them will cut your throat when take-off begins
and you’re out on that water but they will bend over
backwards to help you if you need it any time. There
are so many of them that I look up to and admire and
it’s so nice to be able to just talk fishing to another