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LADY FISHING POWER
Ladies enjoy fishing, and when invited, often prove that these girls can fish
by Terry Lacoss

“Our family never fished much when I was growing up,” Pam Lafosse said. “However, my husband’s family was really into fishing and the outdoors, that’s when I really began to enjoy hunting, fishing and just being in the good old outdoors.”
Pam Lafosse lives in Lake Charles, Louisiana and fishes almost every weekend with her husband, Pat Lafosse. Their fishing boat is a 24-foot Champion bay boat that not only gets them into nearby backwaters for sea trout and redfish, but takes them up to 40 miles offshore where they fish the oil rigs for a variety of saltwater game fish.
“My favorite fishing is for red snapper, which we normally catch by fishing close to the oil rigs and fishing right on the bottom with cut baits,” Pam said. “But when the fishing is real good, we deep jig for red snapper with four-ounce bucktail, lead head jigs.”
“My biggest catch so far is a 40-pound ling”!
I don’t know why fishing is sometimes referred to as a man’s sport, and in many fishing situations you will see a party fishing boat with a whole boatload of men and no ladies!
I really don’t think that most women do not like the sport of fishing, I just don’t think they have been encouraged to participate! In many cases, men will actually go fishing without even thinking about asking the girls to join in on the outdoor fun.
However, there are a lot of girls that simply will not allow their male fishing friends to leave for the lake, ocean or river without tagging along. Obviously Pam Lafosse is one of those ladies and I bet that she is more fun to fish with than most men are!
With some 30 seasons of charter fishing under my belt, I can tell you from personal experiences that many of the ladies that I have taken fishing will listen more intently to my fishing advice to increase their fishing success. They will try their best to do exactly what the Captain, or mate, recommends to hook and catch a fish of a lifetime. Men will often shrug off any free instructions and revert to how they have taught themselves through the years to catch fish.
I also get the feeling that many lady fishermen feel like it is a privilege to be on the boat! They simply enjoy every moment of their fishing experience, possibly thinking that by chance they were invited to do a guy thing because someone didn’t show up, or there just happened to be an extra spot on the boat!
However, the proper way to introduce girls to fishing is at a young age. Fathers will find out right away if their daughters do not enjoy fishing. I know because my father-in-law, Earl Titcomb, struck out with introducing my wife Mary into fishing. I have tried through the years of our marriage to enjoy fishing with Mary, but soon found that she would much rather read a book!
Port Charlotte, Florida’s Don Gasgarth was a winner when he introduced his daughter Kim into fishing when she was only three years old!
“Kim really enjoyed fishing from our dock when she was only three,” Don Gasgarth said. “You could tell right away that she was into fishing, so from that point forward we have enjoyed many years of fishing together.”
Kim Gasgarth is also a competitor in the “Flat Masters” tournament trail, which is held from Port Charlotte, Florida.
“Kim does well in these tournaments”, Don Gasgarth said. “She really enjoys the backwater fishing for snook, tarpon, redfish and sea trout. I’ve got to say that backwater is Kim’s favorite style of fishing.”
Being an avid fishermen like Don Gasgarth also helps when it comes to introducing fishing to young children.
I have also seen an increase in Lady Anglers on the Southern Kingfish Association tournament trail during the past few tournament seasons, to the point where we now have all-female kingfish teams! One all-lady team is headed up by Georgia’s Donna Gowen, who fishes the SKA tournament trail with outstanding success.
There is also a Lady’s Bass Master tournament fishing trail. Here, an all-woman field competes for big bucks while fishing from their own bass boats. These Lady Anglers stand up all day, while fishing for up to 10 hours straight without taking a break or eating!
Port Charlotte, Florida’s Fred Winters regularly competes on the Oh Boy O’Berto Redfish Cup tournament trail with his wife Diane. Fred poles their shallow water Ranger boat, while Diane stands on the casting platform up front and casts lures to redfish.
However, ladies have to love the outdoors to really enjoy the fishing part. In many cases, it goes back to how young children are introduced to fishing, particularly little girls.
I believe it is very important to include ladies into the planning of any fishing trip. Get them excited about your upcoming fishing trip!
My five-year-old niece, Lucy Badoire, seemed really interested in catching fish and would often say to me, “Take me fishing Uncle Terry”!
It seemed it was months before we actually went fishing, while in the meantime we made a lot of plans for our future fishing trip. Ironically, Lucy has a older brother that really wasn’t as interested in fishing as Lucy was, although he was also included in our fishing plans.
Finally the day arrived and I soon was baiting Billy’s and Lucy’s hooks with small pieces of shrimp. Their parents, Bill and Denise Badore, were also on hand and watched with great interest. Both soon joined in and began helping with baiting hooks and actually helping little Billy and Lucy reel in their fish.
It was great fun!
A few days later I saw little Billy and Lucy. Both were very appreciative of their recent fishing trip, particularly Lucy who stood on the back porch of the beach house casting her zebco rod and reel. A small toy was tied to the end of her fishing line and she was pretending to fish!
Mary and I were also blessed with two daughters, Mary Lee Forehand and Lisa Mills, who also enjoy fishing. I guess they have to be because both of their husbands are charter fishing Captains! I still can’t figure out why Mary doesn’t enjoy fishing though, because her father, Earl Titcomb, was a very avid fisherman.
A major factor in getting my daughters interested in fishing at an early age was planning the trip ahead of time. They enjoyed being a part of planning, which really got them interested in the fishing itself.
Here are some tips on how to get your children and any ladies interested in future fishing trips.
One of the more important factors of a successful fishing outing is eating. Ladies love to feed their men and fishing trips are no exception. Put together a shopping list of things to bring along on your fishing trip with your lady friends and then make a trip to the store. It’s actually a lot of fun purchasing all of those delicious foods that will be consumed out on the water, where food actually tastes twice as good as it does on land!
Also, include the girls with your day out on the water by discussing where you will be fishing, how you will be fishing, if you are planning to keep any fish and more importantly, any plans for an upcoming fish fry!
Make sure that you bring along a camera. Take pictures of all of their catches and any interesting points of interest during your fishing trip. Ladies love to look at pictures and any fishing pictures that you take of their fishing trip will certainly become an excellent tool for getting them on the water in the future.
Finally, make sure that you discuss with your fellow lady fishermen their needs for a rest stop. Certainly it is important to have a bathroom on board, but if there isn’t be sure to make other plans for their needs.