I was fortunate to have parents that introduced my brother & I to the outdoors. In fact the first time I remember going fishing, my mother took my older brother (who was 9) and I (5) to a small pond bream fishing. I was catching them one right after with other. My brother wasn’t as lucky and he threw his rod & reel in the water. After Mom whipped him, she made him go in the water and retrieve his tackle. At the time I didn’t know what was wrong with him. Once I started fishing and not catching I found out what his problem was. How many times have I thought about throwing my tackle in the lake!!

Jumping forward, I met Larry (my husband) at a fish weigh-in in 1988. He asked me out for 5:30 a.m. the next morning and I went. We have been fishing together ever since. I really like fishing because to me the work begins when you pull the trigger hunting. With fishing you get to recycle the resource.

After Larry and I married we heard about the women’s tour and we decided I should try it. I’ve been fishing them ever since. I gave myself 5 years (after turning Pro) to make it in the fishing industry. If I didn’t make it I was going to stay home and have babies. I was so thankful to win the Bass'n Gal Classic in 1995. Don’t get me wrong, I like children, but I like to hand them back to their parents. Having children wasn’t my life long dream. I went on to win the 1997 Bass'n Gal  1st Pro-Am. We had 246 anglers from 17 states. In 2000 I won the WBFA Pickwick tournament, 2002 WBFA Angler-of-the-Year, and in 2005 the WBFA Lake Eufaula in Alabama. In 2009 I was inducted into the “Legends of the Outdoors National Hall of Fame”. I have had a great career so far and I’m looking forward to see what the LBAA has in store for all the women anglers. I feel privileged to be associated with such a diversified group of women. There is no stopping us and we will definitely be a trail to be reckon with. Let’s all work together to get the word out and make this trail AWESOME.

Sponsors: Evinrude Motors, Phoenix Boats, Lowrance Electronics, FINS, and Deka Batteries

If you would like to know more about Emily including her favorite lakes, techniques and what you can do to get involve with fishing, then we invite you to come find the Lady Bass Anglers Association at a lake in your neighborhood.