With some adjustments, the colorful minnow and feathered lures could be used to create pretty cute earrings and great Christmas tree ornaments. Set out on a table, the lures were bright and captivating – and to crappies, muskies, and smallmouth bass as well, as a group of female students and I learned from the biologist teaching our Advanced Fishing class. She explained that many fish species see spoon-shaped lures, called spinners, as “shiny, fun things that are going to attract their attention and they can’t resist them.”
A classmate exclaimed, “Spinners are my favorite!”
Advanced Fishing was my final class in the Becoming an Outdoors Woman program, a two-and-a-half-day workshop offered to women to promote interest and ease in the great outdoors. The program, hosted by the West Virginia Division of Natural Resources, provided instruction on fishing, preparing wild game, maneuvering a boat trailer down a ramp, shooting a handgun, and understanding stream ecology.
Becoming An Outdoors Woman, or BOW, workshops began in 1991, and West Virginia hosted its first one in 1997. The purpose of these workshops is to close the gender gap in outdoor activities by teaching women utilizing noncompetitive environments and following a two-and-a-half-day format, with approximately a third of the program focused on fishing, a third on hunting, and the remaining third on other outdoor activities like climbing and using a compass.
Ashley Anderson, a park activities coordinator at the West Virginia Department of Natural Resources, spearheaded the fall BOW workshop in Canaan Valley, which attracted women from various states. The program is designed to provide comfort and education to women who may otherwise be hesitant to engage in outdoor activities, and it has found success across a range of activities, from hunting to fishing, to kayaking, and various outdoor sports.
