All in the family - Tangled Line

While mother-daughter bonding is known to happen in shopping malls, some women are finding more challenging venues -- like saltwater fishing. BoatU.S. member Donna Zumstein and her daughter, Meredith Fitzpatrick, a BoatUS. Magazine staffer, decided to try the "Ladies, Let's Go Fishing" seminar in Ft. Lauderdale in March to learn basic fishing skills from professional women anglers. With prior saltwater experience limited to dining out at Red Lobster, both women learned to cast with a spinning rod and reel, handle hooks and lines, back a trailer down a ramp, gaff a fish, and bait a hook -- all in the first day of the weekend program.

"I was impressed with the patience of the instructors. I'd never cast a rod in my life, but they wouldn't let me quit until I did it perfectly," said Zumstein. "I also appreciated the conservation techniques Meredith and I learned, including the use of circle hooks, fish venting, and catch and release."

The seminars, sponsored in part by BoatU.S. Marine Insurance, include a full day of instruction followed by a half-day fishing trip. The program was featured on NBC Nightly News in March. A mile off the Ft. Lauderdale coast, mom and daughter dropped their baited lines, hoping for a nibble from grouper or triggerfish to take home for dinner. As the hours passed, they realized the one thing they didn't learn was how to guarantee that the fish would bite. For more on Ladies Let's Go Fishing, go to the Women in Boating site at BoatUS.com/women.