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The seminars, co-sponsored by . since 2000, provide group instruction from top-notch anglers (yes, many are men) during a day and a half of on-shore classes to teach fishing techniques at beginner and advanced levels. After that, students move to the water to hone their newfound skills on a half-day boat trip.

"We've had more than 2,000 women from all walks of life and all ages and backgrounds come through our seminars," Bauman says. "And more often than not, they've had such fun and gained so much confidence, not to mention new 'fishin' buddies,' that they stay with the sport, just getting better and more active."

Like Brenda Berger.

"I go out at least once a week, usually flats fishing with light spinning tackle for redfish and snook," says Berger. "Then, every two or three months, I'll go out with a professional guide to sharpen my skills even more but I'd never have had the confidence to do all that without the classes."

When she moved to the Tampa Bay area from Missouri, Berger says, she brought a little bit of experience catching freshwater bass from a dock on Lake of the Ozarks.

"But I didn't have a clue about saltwater fishing." Berger says. "I went to a local tackle shop looking for advice and after the guys stopped laughing at my old spin-cast rod and reel, they tried to help but only confused me. Then I read about Ladies, Let's Go Fishing and signed up."

That was only the beginning. Berger has gone through the course seven times now in different locations, not because fishing is hard to fathom but because she wants to learn all she can and try different types of fishing.

To make it a bit easier to get out on her own, a year ago Berger bought a 19-foot Sea Pro center console with trailer (yes, Ladies, Let's Go Fishing! even includes trailer backing sessions) powered by a 115-hp, four-cycle Yamaha outboard. Justas eager to improve her boat handling skills as her fishing techniques, Berger then joined the . Coast Guard Auxiliary and will soon be certified as crew for patrol duty.

Now she actively recruits other women to the ranks of the Auxiliary as well as to the fishing fold. And that's led to a lot of solid new friendships.

"When I go shopping with my girlfriends these days, we don't go to malls," Berger says. "We go to tackle shops."

Hooked on Fishing

Betty Bauman says not all her grads turn into such ardent anglers. Some have bought their own boats (of convinced their husbands/boyfriends to buy one). And others have teamed up with new friends to book charters in such fabled gamefishing locales as Alaska, Costa Rica and Australia. Other alumna have started their own women's fishing clubs or even become charter captains and fishing guides. Others have stepped out into the male-dominated tournament world.

One of those is Diane Hallaran, Class of 1997.

Whether it's bottom fishing, casting in back country back waters or bluewater trolling, Diane Hallaran can do it, and she does--three to four times a month. In fact, she took first place for the biggest fish in a tournament at Pompano Beach a couple years ago.

"I did have some fishing experience before I took the class but when I began to really understand types of tackle and how to fish different baits, it made all the difference," she says. "It gave me the self-confidence to get out and do it on my own."

But Hallaran doesn't have to fish alone. Like many women who go through the classes, she has also landed a number of good female fishing friends. She's been helping Bauman put on new seminars in the series t0r the past five years or so, too, and she has organized several fishing trips to the Dry Tortugas with women she's met through the program.

"But I'm not afraid to go out on the party boats by myself either," Hallaran reports. "I would never have done something like that on my own if I hadn't been involved with Ladies, Let's Go Fishing! first."

Bet a lot of guys wish she hadn't.

"I've even won the day's fishing pool over the men on those boats, several times, in fact," Hallaran says.

Grads like Hallaran also have been instrumental in the formation of nine nonprofit Ladies, Let's Go Fishing! chapters around Florida that serve to keep women anglers connected and active in the sport as well as to help put on the local seminars in their area.

Genmar Luring Women

Sportfishing's potential appeal to women has not been lost on one of America's largest boatbuilders. Boatbuilding giant Genmar has a three-day, four-night deluxe package in some of the best coastal fishing grounds in southwest Florida and women are among their target audience.

The Backwater Fishing School at historic Tarpon Lodge on Pine Island, FL, goes beyond guided fishing trips into the mangroves to make women--and all novices for that matter--extremely comfortable, from the gourmet meals to the personalized attention of the fishing guides, women pros among them.

Marcia Kull, vice president of operations for Genmar, sees the potential of the women's market tot boating and fishing and is actively scouting out ways to hook it.

"What we've heard repeatedly is that women want learning without criticism," Kull said. For example, a "neutral" instructor might be much better at explaining how best to back a trailer down a launch ramp than a spouse who might lose patience of make their partner feel inept.

Genmar also hopes to introduce Backwater students to their lines of boats, on the theory that boat buyers prefer the brands they learn on. A day of classroom and hands-on practice on the lodge's grounds casting nets, casting lines into the pool and flipping the fly rods is followed by two days on the water in a fleet of spanking new fishing boats from Ranger, Aquasport, Hydra-Sports and Sea Swirl, equipped with top-of-the-line fishing gear and electronics.

Genmar is also aiming to make single women, wives and significant others more comfortable at the wheel of a powerboat, with a new project, "Women on the Water," a self-contained on-the-water skills clinic of four hours that any boat dealer can put on at their local dealership.

Just rolled out last summer at its annual dealer meeting, "Women on the Water" has struck a chord with Genmar's 1,600 dealers who are looking for ways to boost boat sales. Kull said that 70% of its dealers requested the package outlining the program, so women powerboaters or would-be operators can look forward to a host of clinics next year.

For more details see of call 800-755-1099. For more information on Ladies, Let's Go Fishing! go to: www.