10th Annual Girls Gone Fishing Tournament a Success
June 3rd saw the running of the 10th Annual Girls Gone Fishing tournament held by River Bend Resort located on the Rainy River towards the northern end of Wheelers Point, MN. What started out as a lighthearted outing between just a hand full of women has turned into a two-day extravaganza.
“Participants are not only fishing in a tournament” Says tournament organizer and River Bend Resort owner Brandi Johnson. “These ladies take fun to extreme with costumes, decorated boats, and participate in quite a few other activities” Brandi continues “All in the name of women having fun inside of a little friendly competition that has grown to pay out fairly big prizes”.
An idea of getting all the girls together for a little fishing fun and competition, has remained just that. However, over the past several years it has grown into the event not to miss. “River Bend’s Girls Gone Fishing” is not only a fishing tournament. It is a costume contest. It is a “Best Guide” competition. It is a “Best Decorated Boat” extravaganza!! It is the event of ALL events this side of the Mississippi and this far north of the lower 48!!
2023 Theme… Luau! The torches were lit and the theme was set. On the banks of the Rainy River, there was a luau this past weekend to never forget!
How the Tournament Works! In a nutshell, this is a ladies only tournament. Ladies are allowed to have a guide or captain and they can be a man or a woman.
Although this is a fishing tournament with great pride for the winners, ladies cheer on other ladies at weigh in. A bit of competition, but at the end of the day, there is a whole lot of support and fun.
Results. Lots of walleyes were caught in this year’s Girls Gone Fishing tournament. With a protected slot limit of 19.5 – 28.0 inches, ladies needed fish as close to that 19.5 inch mark or under, or even better, a trophy over 28.0 inches. One fish over 28 inches was weighed in with numerous reports of big slot fish caught.
Fish the 2024 Girls Gone Fishing Tournament. This tournament is definitely set up for fun. If you have interest in fishing the 2024, feel free to apply. Next year’s tournament date is June 1st, 2024.
Some ladies fish on their own. Most decide to allow their male counterparts to guide them. It’s okay to let the guys in on some of the fun after all.
One great option some ladies take advantage of is hire a guide or a charter boat and fish two or even three teams of 2 ladies per boat. Talk about fun! Everything is provided, rods, reels, tackle, licensed charter captain, etc. And these guides know where the fish are!
Guys are allowed to guide, but cannot fish. They can certainly help take fish off of the hook and bait hooks, which makes it nice for some of the ladies who don’t fish all that often.
To sign up for the 2024 tournament, simply fill out the online application or print it off and send it in.
If you want to have fun next year on June 1, 2024, make plans and sign up. Some use this as a fishing trip. Others use this as a way to hang out with other ladies in a fun and safe environment.
Congratulation ladies on a wonderful tournament. Nice job River Bend Resort for setting up an event to showcase ladies fishing.
This year’s Girls Gone Fishing tournament was one for the books. The weather was great, the fish were biting, the two live performers were excellent and friendships, new and old, were made and rekindled. Everything is set for 2024, hope to see you there!
