Reel News Feb. 2019

idea would provide more

opportunities to women anglers,

the larger base we have the more

we are heard as women anglers. It

would provide a network of anglers

across the US and new fishing

opportunities to travel to. We are

just at the beginning stages of

exploring this opportunity and have

a lot more questions than answers

right now. We will continue to

update the club on our progress.

No decisions will be made on

implementing this idea without a

membership vote. This is your club,

you will have the ultimate decision

on whether we move forward with

this concept or not. Stay tuned in

the members only group on

Facebook as we will continue to

post updates through our meeting

minutes in the files section.

We are so excited to be inducted

to the Minnesota Fishing Hall of

Fame on Friday, March 22nd. This

ceremony is open to the public,

tickets are $40 and it will be held in

conjunction with the Northwest

Sportshow at the Millennium Hotel

in Downtown Minneapolis. For

more information go to the

Minnesota Fishing Hall of Fame

website and to order your tickets.

We hope to see you there!

2019 is shaping up to be a fun year

w i t h m a n y e v e n t s a n d

opportunities to get to know each

other. I look forward to meeting

each of you. Thank you for making

our club amazing, see you on the

water! - Kristen

2019 has been off to a fast start!

Many events happening this ice

season thus far, Ice Fishing 101, the

Annual Board Meeting, fishing trip for

trophy Brown Trout, winter trip to

Devil’s Lake and the annual ice

fishing tournament coming the first

weekend in March! Lots of

opportunities to get out and

participate and meet fellow women

anglers. Keep an eye on our private

members only Facebook page and

our website to stay up to date on

current happenings with the club!

The board met on the weekend of

January 12th to come up with our

annual budget, activities and to

discuss the future of our organization.

One big topic that was discussed

was to bring the same wonderful

opportunity of WAM to other states.

With the main goal of giving other

women the same opportunities that

WAM provides us. The board agreed

to investigate this with an attorney, to

further understand how this would

work. One thing was clear, the board

would not want anything to change

with our current organization, all the

same opportunities and missions

would remain the same. The sole

purpose of considering making a

national organization on top of WAM

is to provide a structure and support

system to help other states to get up

and running so they too could have

the wonderful opportunity to have a

club in their state. Again, to be clear,

WAM as it is today would stay the

same, the structure would remain the

same and would be the model that

would be used to allow other states

to build a similar organization. This

The President’s Pen by Kristen Merwin Upcoming Events • Mar.21-24

Northwest

Sportshow -

Minneapolis, MN

• April 13

Border Battle -

LaCrosse, WI

• April 14

Quarterly

Membership Mtg.

WE’VE

GONE

DIGITAL!

In an effort to

conserve printing costs

and materials, your

quarterly newsletter

will now be delivered

in electronic format!

You can now find your

newsletter here:

1.) Email. A link to view

the newsletter will be e

-mailed to members.

2.) WAM Website

(and in the soon-to-be

members only section)

3.) Facebook

Members-only group in

the files section

PAGE 2

Meet Your 2019 Board Members! By Patti Mercier

Erin Murray, Vice President St. Anthony, MN

Kristen Merwin, President Howard Lake, MN

Liz Colsen & Pat Hauslein Membership Co-Directors

Osakis, MN & St. Cloud, MN

Theresa Jones Social Co-Director

Billings, MT

Courtney Schurhammer Fundraising Co-Director

Rochester, MN

Chanda Gebhardt, Secretary Emily, MN

Dallas Shoutz, Treasurer Sartell, MN

Diane Westphal, Historian Maple Grove, MN

Sara Spiering Social Co-Director Garden City, MN

Britane Peterson Fundraising Co-Director

Mora, MN

Patti Mercier, Publicity Bloomington, MN

Katie Stockton Trips Co-Director Apple Valley, MN

Angie Fasbender Trips Co-Director

Hastings, MN

PAGE 3

Registration Coming Soon for June Tournament! by Erin Murray

Planning is underway for the 42nd Annual Open Water Tournament taking place on

Saturday, June 1! We are happy to be returning to beautiful Woman Lake for our last year

before we head to a new lake in 2020. We are working on getting registration set up and

integrating it with our new website (coming soon!) so keep your eyes and ears open! In

the meantime, it is highly recommended that you confirm your fishing partner/s and make

your lodging accommodations as soon as possible.

Here is a tentative schedule for the different events that will be happening the week of

tournament. This is one of our flagship events that many members look forward to each

year – and this year will be no exception!

Thursday, May 30, 2019

Social & BBQ

Woman Lake Lodge

6:00pm

Friday, May 31, 2019

Tournament Rules Meeting

Northern Lights Casino

4:00pm: Social

5:00pm: Annual Member Meeting

6:00pm: Tournament Meeting

Saturday, June 2, 2019

Tournament Day!

6:30am: Tournament Begins

3:00pm: Tournament Ends

5:30om: Dinner

6:15pm: Awards Ceremony at the American Legion – Backus, MN

Need Accommodations? Check out these nearby resorts for availability:

*Note: Our tournament headquarters resort (Woman Lake Lodge) is sold out.

Green Roof Lodge: 218-682-2399 • www.greenrooflodge.com

Broadwater Lodge: 218-682-2399 • www.broadwaterlodge.com

All Seasons Resort: 218-363-2030 • www.dokholidayresort.net

Evergreen Lodge: 218-682-2467 • www.evergreenlodgeonwomanlake.com

Minne-Teepee Resort: 673-229-3948 • www.minneteepee.com

Please contact me with any questions regarding the tournament! More details to follow.

Erin Murray |Vice President & Tournament Director

Cell: 612-670-4321| Email: vp@womenanglersmn.com

PAGE 4

Devils Lake, ND Ice Fishing Trip Recap by Katie Stockton/Angie Fasbender

A couple weeks ago, about 30 members made the difficult drive out to Woodland

Resort in Devils Lake, North Dakota. This bucket list trip caused for many to become stuck

about half way there due to road closures and no travel advisories. The staff at Woodland

Resort was beyond accommodating for everyone on and off the ice. This staff did their

best to keep us on fish, but with a huge cold front with bitterly cold temperatures it was

pretty difficult. Even though the fishing was rough, spending time in the restaurant telling

stories and meeting new friends caused for more fond memories to be made. One high-

light of the trip was when Jason Mitchell came to speak to our group about tactics to use

when fishing Devils Lake. He is a wealth of knowledge and gave us some great tips!

Thank you to everyone that made the journey out there! It was definitely a fun trip!!

PAGE 5

Upcoming Trip - Spring Border Battle by Katie Stockton & Angie Fasbender

SAVE THE DATE FOR THE ANNUAL BORDER BATTLE!

When: Saturday, April 13th, 2019

Where: Best Dam Float— LaCrosse, WI

Time: 9am - 3pm, although feel free to get there earlier to reserve your

spot as the barge fills up fast! But the contest will not begin until 9am

Cost: $15.00 fee to get on the barge. Please bring extra cash if you plan

to participate in a Big Fish Contest! This is an event that brings WWF and

WAM together for a little friendly competition. There is a free parking lot,

where you raise a flag then someone will come pick you up in their luxury pontoon boat! It

is handicap accessible and has hot food to serve upon order. Lodging details to come!

This is a family friendly event so feel free to bring your family members! However, only WAM

members will be able to participate in the contest.

Please contact your trip directors Katie or Angie with questions! trip@womenanglersmn.com

You’re Invited to the April Member Meeting! by Erin Murray

Please join us for our upcoming quarterly membership meeting! We will convene on Sunday,

April 14 from 1:00pm—3:00pm at the Osseo Community Center located at 415 Central Ave.

in Osseo, MN. Quarterly meetings include a speaker presenting an educational topic, door

prize, food, socializing, a brief agenda and a chance for members to take the floor. Food

will be provided, but please be sure to bring your own beverages!

Our speaker for this meeting will be WAM member Kara Wattunen,

presenting on open water walleye tactics that can be used through-

out the season! Kara has been involved in the outdoors since she

was born. She started fishing at 6 months old and hunting came

shortly after. Growing up she spent her summers at their family cabin

in Ely, Minnesota and exploring the Boundary Waters Canoe Area in

search of monster fish. In 2011 she took a leap of faith and entered

the Miss Minnesota US International pageant and won! Kara traveled

the country with her platform, Think Outside: No Box Required, which

is geared at getting youth back in touch with nature through fishing,

hunting and outdoor sports. Landing a job in the PR department at FLW solidified her secret

dream of becoming a professional angler. She currently fishes the National Walleye Tour,

AIM Professional Walleye Series as well as Classic Bass and other events around the country.

PAGE 6

Greetings WAM Sisters!

Your social team is excited for 2019 opportunities for all of us! We have been extremely busy

these first couple of months!

In 2018, we donated $11,407 to community events around the state! We donate back to

events like the WAM Mentors Girl Scouts on Ice! The Scouts met with WAM members at

Camp Lakamaga. We had 10 WAM sisters who mentored 23 Girl Scouts both in a classroom

and on the ice!. Topics included things like Ice Safety, Knot Tying, Reading a Flasher, hub

setup, and cleaning up when your done. Girl Scouts who wanted one were sent home with

a brand new ice pole and many were able to work on achievements towards badges! It

was a successful event with smiles all around! We would like to thank our volunteers for their

time and equipment usage! Without them, this event would not have been possible!

Volunteer Opportunities!

Some upcoming events we will need volunteers for include Buffalo Days in June and Family

Fun Day (date TBD). Both events are near the metro and family friendly!

At Buffalo Days each year WAM partners with Fishing Klinics For Kids to help at multiple

learning stations and it takes about 10 volunteers. The time range is 8am-1pm and doable in

shifts. We will also look into entering a float in the parade again this year. It was an absolute

blast last year to do so!

Family Fun Day is exactly what it sounds like! It's day for you to bring your family and meet

and have fun with other WAM families! We usually hold it at a park with a lake and shelter.

This year will be an old fashioned potluck and we are working on date, location, and activi-

ties. Let Sara or Theresa know if you are interested in helping!

Social/Charity/Discount/Logo Wear Updates by Theresa Jones & Sara Spiering

PAGE 7

Volunteer at the Northwest Sportshow by Kristen Merwin

WAM will once again have a booth at the show, Booth 1331. We will also be hosting the

Create-A-Crankbait booth at the show this year. This is a part of the kids adventure trail at

the show. So this year we will need lots of volunteers! Please contact the leader of the

booths below to sign up for a time to help out, it is a great way for you to give back to the

club and community! You will receive a free pass to the show for the day that you volun-

teer. We encourage you to consider two shifts one with the WAM booth and one with the

Create-A-Crankbait booth if you can.

WAM Booth: This is our club booth where we advertise the club and sign-up new members.

Please contact Liz Colsen at membership@womenanglersmn.com to sign up for a shift

Create-A-Crankbait Booth: This is a children’s activity, they will come to the booth to make

a crankbait, your job will be to help the kids make them, contact Erin Murray at

vp@womenanglersmn.com to sign up for a shift.

Discounts and Logo-Wear

The social team has accepted the responsibilities of all things related to discounts and

logo wear! We are working on completely overhauling the logo store with new software,

a new vendor, and new supplier that opens our possibilities immensely! The overhaul

means new items for you to purchase! This is taking some time to do, as the membership

team is also redesigning the website. We thank you for waiting patiently and promise, it

will be well worth it!

If you would like to be a part of the planning and implementation team for either above

events, or have logo store questions, discount form submissions, discount suggestions, do-

nation requests, and/or any other questions please reach out to us, Sara Spiering and

Theresa Jones and we will get back to you as soon as possible!

Thanks sisters! We are eager and energized for 2019!

We truly are For Women Who Love To Fish!

Cont. from previous page

WAM Gets Inducted to the Minnesota Fishing Hall of Fame! By Erin Murray

It is with great honor that we are proud to announce our induction into the Minnesota Fish-

ing Hall of Fame! Our 42-year history has helped pave the way and break down barriers for

women in the sport of angling, opening up a whole new sector to the fishing industry. This is

a HUGE accomplishment for us as the first ever all-female organization to be inducted. Alt-

hough we have experienced exponential membership growth and exposure to the public

in recent years, we would not be here today without our many years of history behind us

and all of the women who came before us as both leaders and members since the club’s

inception in 1977. Thank you to all of our members and sponsors who continue to support

the club, and to those who have served before us – you have officially left your mark and

have helped us earn a spot in the fishing history books!

Please join us in celebrating this accomplishment by attending the induction breakfast on

Friday, March 22 in Minneapolis. Tickets are available to the public for $40.00. After the

breakfast, we will be heading over the convention center for the Northwest Sportshow,

where we will have our usually scheduled WAM booth (booth #1331) as well as hosting the

create-a-crankbait booth for kids (NEW! In booth #92). If you would like to volunteer your

time to either of these booths, please contact either myself or Liz Colsen.

You can get more information on the weekend’s activities below. We hope to see you

there!

Hall of Fame Induction Info & Tickets:

https://www.fishinghalloffamemn.com/hall-of-fame-induction/

Northwest Sportshow Info: https://www.facebook.com/NorthwestSportshow

PAGE 8

THANK YOU TO OUR

2019 SPONSORS!