Wild Women Unite - Bassmaster

In my role as Communications Manager for B.A.S.S. I was invited to attend Yvonne Folck’s Wild Women Unite Conference held in Grand Island, N.Y. It is a weekend filled with more than 200 women looking to improve their outdoor skills. With 30 workshops to choose from, Wild Women Unite offers a host of activities and learning opportunities for women. For more information on how to get involved or participate, visit www.wildwomenunite.com.

I jumped at the chance to hone my skills on the water and with a bow. So, I signed up for four workshops: boating, fishing, archery and yoga.

Here, I learned how to correctly hold a recurve bow, nock an arrow, position my stance, draw the bow and fire.

With other women eager to participate along with me, Wild Women Unite provided a great environment to for beginners to learn the basic knowledge and safety procedures within various outdoor sports, while also providing the opportunity to try different gear and equipment under the guidance of a professional.

Along with a recurve bow, we were also introduced to a crossbow.

The group was taught how to pull the arrow back with even pressure on both sides of the barrel.

Once the arrow was locked into place, we were shown how to hold, aim and shoot the crossbow.

I joined a group of women from two countries, eight states and 12 New York counties. We were all gathered in an effort to stuff ourselves with all the outdoor knowledge we could learn in two days.

In our fishing workshop, we were taught the basics on hooks, lines, sinkers, rods, reels, lures and more.

At the heart of the conference were instructors just as willing to teach as we were to learn.

Avid outdoorsman Zachary LaVenture was a co-instructor for the fishing workshop.

âI interviewed the instructors to make sure there are quality teachers at this event,â Folck said. âThe people who appreciate the concept and want to drive it forward are the best instructors.â

LaVenture spent time teaching us about each bait and the different effects certain line has in the water.

The workshops provided a completely open forum for questions and interaction between instructors and attendees.

We were taught how to tie on baits by using various knots.

Our fly fishing instructor, Andrew Messina, showed us how fly fishing differs by the use of hand-tied flies that are used to resemble natural bait species.

We were taught to cast the line and not the lure. Messina worked through each step patiently: load by bending the rod and releasing it to jerk the line forward.

It was a weekend filled with perfect casts (and backlashes), bullâs eyes (and practice shots) and everything in between.

It was a weekend of fellowship with women who care about the outdoors and want to spend their time there, too.

I left New York feeling so fulfilled. Maybe that was the time I spent outside, or the time I spent learning or all of the friendships I formed, but the weekend was an accomplishment and an item to cross off my bucket list.
“There is a space for women in the wild.” – Yvonne Folick