There’s something different about getting a group of women together who understand the outdoor industry from their own corners of it.
Women continue to be a growing presence in fishing, and I love seeing more opportunities that bring us together on the water. We all find our place in the industry differently too. Some people guide, some compete, some work behind the scenes, and some of us have built a place through content creation. No matter how we got here, we’re still on the water learning and sharing these experiences. Hopefully, we’re introducing more people to fishing and the outdoors along the way. At least, that’s always been my goal, and it’s part of what made this women’s fishing trip on Lake Vermilion with Lund Boats so much fun.
Lund brought Renee Flatland, Susie Busta and me together for a few days at Ludlow’s Island Resort. Emily Mueller joined us behind the camera, capturing photo and video along the way. It was Lund’s first time putting together a trip like this. The itinerary gave us plenty of room to fish, experience some of their newest boats, create content and simply spend time together.
Going into the trip, I knew we’d be fishing and creating. I figured I’d probably spend some time driving boats for content too. What I didn’t know was that some of my favorite moments would have very little to do with catching fish at all.
Lake Vermilion certainly made us earn those moments.
An Island in the Middle of Vermilion
Ludlow’s Island Resort was the backdrop for the trip, and it’s hard to pick a cooler place for something like this. The resort sits on its own private island on Lake Vermilion, so getting there is part of the experience. You leave your vehicle on the mainland, load everything up and take the water taxi across. From that point on, you really do feel like you’re staying in the middle of the lake.
There’s also a lot more history behind Ludlow’s than I realized when we arrived. The Ludlow family’s connection to the island dates back to 1907. The first cabin was built in 1933, and the family began renting it a few years later. Generations later, the resort has grown into a collection of handcrafted cabins scattered around the island while still maintaining the character and history of the place.
We stayed in Stardust, a five-bedroom, four-bathroom cabin that gave our group plenty of room to make ourselves at home for a few days. Having a full cabin together was one of my favorite parts of staying there. It gave us somewhere to come back to after fishing, spread out our gear, make meals and sit around talking about whatever had happened that day.
The cabins themselves are worth exploring because they’re all different. I got a photo of Dreamcatcher while we were there, and that one is hard to miss. It’s a four-story, treehouse-inspired cabin tucked into the pines, with different views and spaces on every level. The third-floor living area has floor-to-ceiling glass looking out through the trees. Up on the fourth floor, the suite has its own outdoor deck and whirlpool tub. It’s one of those cabins that makes you stop and wonder what the inside looks like before you even know anything about it. Between Stardust and Dreamcatcher was a gorgeous path that you could walk to a chair swing and enjoy the sunset each night.
More Than a Fishing Resort
Obviously, we were there to fish, but Ludlow’s has a surprising amount to do if not everyone in your group wants to spend sunrise to sunset in a boat.
The Woodland Spa was one of the spaces I photographed while exploring the resort, and I loved how tucked away and peaceful it felt. There’s a dedicated massage space along with a traditional Finnish sauna, giving guests an entirely different way to spend part of the day. We very much enjoyed our rainy Monday afternoon in the sauna.
Around the rest of the island, guests have access to kayaks, canoes, paddleboards, hydrobikes and other ways to get on the water. There’s also a swimming beach, pickleball and tennis, a game room, evening beach bonfires and plenty of places to simply hang out along the lake.
For anglers, they’ve made staying on an island surprisingly convenient too. There’s covered slips with electricity if you bring your own boat, along with boat rentals and access to fishing guides. There’s even a full bait shop on the island! Having fishing necessities available on the island means you don’t have to constantly run back to the mainland either. It makes Ludlow’s work just as well as a fishing home base as it does a family or group getaway.
That balance is probably what stood out to me most. You could spend an entire trip fishing Vermilion hard, but you wouldn’t have to. Someone else could spend the morning paddling around the island, hit the spa, sit on the beach or never touch a fishing rod at all and still have plenty to do.
Our first evening gave us a chance to enjoy some of that slower side of the island before the weather became a major character in the rest of the trip. We watched the sunset, cooked up some brats, said a prayer together, made s’mores on the beach and had time to settle in before everything really got started.
Those quieter parts of a trip are always some of my favorites. There’s the itinerary and everything you’re technically there to accomplish, but then there’s everything that happens in between. You sit around after fishing, talk about the day and laugh about something that happened six hours earlier. Somewhere in there, you get to know people beyond whatever brought you together in the first place.
The People Made the Trip
A trip like this can have the best location, boats and itinerary in the world, but the people are what ultimately make it memorable. This group made it an easy one.
Renee is one of my best friends, and we’ve traveled together enough to know there will always be some kind of story by the end of it. She’ll also be the first person to tell you she’s more of a hunter than a fisherman, so she came into the weekend wanting to learn more on the fishing side. She compensated by bringing enough wild game to feed all of us and quickly became the unofficial camp chef.. still thinking about that caribou backstrap!
I’ve known Susie for several years too. We’ve been part of a number of women’s fishing events together over the years, so this definitely wasn’t our first time sharing a boat or a fishing trip. She’s just a genuinely wonderful person and always someone I’m happy to see on an itinerary. She’s kind, encouraging and incredibly easy to be around.
That became even more apparent when she handed me an ornament on Tuesday night that said, “Keep making him proud,” in memory of my dad. A big hug followed. Susie and I have both lost parents. It’s not a fun club to be part of, but there’s an understanding that comes with it that doesn’t require much explanation. She knew what that little gesture would mean, and it meant more to me than she probably realizes. (Susie if you’re reading this, I am eternally greatful for your friendship.)
Emily joined us behind the camera and was an absolute delight to have around. She’s incredibly talented, and as another photo/video person, I loved having someone there who understands that side of what we do. We could talk shop one minute and have her right there laughing with the rest of us the next. She never felt like someone standing outside the experience documenting it. She became part of it.
Then there was Tim, Lund’s Experience Manager and the person who really orchestrated this entire thing. Tim is a hoot. He’s incredibly kind, doesn’t take himself too seriously and fit right into the group from the beginning. He also gave us one of the running jokes of the trip by repeatedly reminding everyone that certain things “weren’t part of the slideshow.”
Amy, Lund’s marketing director, helped bring everything together on that side as well. Between Amy and Tim, there was clearly a lot of work happening behind the scenes to get all of us, the boats, lodging, guides, cameras and everything else in the same place. Once we were there, though, it never felt overly produced or rigid. We had things to accomplish and content to create, but there was still room for the trip to happen naturally.
Noah Honsey from Aronson Boat Works was also along as a local Lund rep / area guide and quickly became our adopted little brother by the end of the trip. He genuinely wanted to hang out with all of us, and his energy was exactly what we needed when the fishing was tough and the weather wasn’t cooperating.
He’s incredibly knowledgeable on the water, but more than anything, he’s just fun and was so much great to have around. We had some great conversations about the outdoor industry and influencers, bonded over our mutual love of rap music and by the end of the trip, it felt like we’d known him a lot longer than a few days.
That’s what I appreciated most about this particular group. Everyone came into the weekend with a different role, background and relationship with fishing, but it never really felt divided that way once we were together. We were there to fish, learn, create and spend a few days on the water.
The right group of people can make a trip, and we definitely had that.
Lake Vermilion Wasn’t Giving Anything Away
I’ve now fished Lake Vermilion twice, and apparently the lake and I have decided wind is going to be part of our relationship.
One morning started around 38 degrees. Another stretch of fishing involved pouring rain. At one point, the wind continued building until we were dealing with gusts over 30 mph. Lake Vermilion seemed determined to give us a little bit of everything except easy fishing weather.
We spent Monday morning targeting walleyes with local guide Nathan Lease. Nathan was great to fish with and helped us work through different locations and presentations. We kept things relatively simple, including jigs and crawlers, and slowed things down when we needed to.
I liked that there wasn’t some groundbreaking secret to fishing Vermilion that morning. Sometimes becoming a better angler isn’t about learning a completely new technique. It’s being reminded to simplify what you’re doing, slow down and pay attention to what the fish are telling you.
Later, we switched gears toward muskies, which is also when the rain decided we had been far too comfortable. On our way out, it started absolutely downpouring. Noah told us that weather and how you adapt to it is all mental.
“It’s All Mental!” became one of the unofficial catchphrases of the trip pretty quickly. It’s a lot easier to convince yourself that being soaking wet is somehow a state of mind when your rain gear is holding up and everyone else in the boat has apparently agreed to believe it too.
The muskies never cooperated, but Noah was an absolute sport through some pretty miserable conditions. We didn’t have the giant fish moment where everyone lost their minds. No muskies wanted to play, the weather sucked, and somehow, we still had fun.
There are fishing days where the fish make the memory. Other times, it’s the people you’re with who make it instead. This was definitely the latter.
Sometimes Seeing the Fish Is the Lesson
Fishing Vermilion gave us an interesting comparison when it came to electronics. With Nathan, we had forward-facing sonar and could actually see groups of fish and watch how they reacted to our presentations. In the Lund boats, we had a much simpler setup with traditional down and side imaging. We’ve all fished without forward-facing sonar for years, so it certainly isn’t necessary, but having both experiences on the same lake reminded me why I chose to invest in it for my own boat.
I run forward-facing sonar with TargetLock on my Lund 1875 Impact XS now, but I came from using a first-generation LiveScope with an LVS34 transducer in a portable bag setup and separate pole on our old Lund Angler. When we designed the Impact, we were building our dream boat, and having the technology we wanted fully integrated into it was non-negotiable. I wanted a setup I could really learn and use to make my time on the water more efficient. Fishing with Nathan was a good reminder of why I value it. We could see fish, adjust our presentations and learn from how they reacted, but we could also watch them completely ignore everything we threw at them. It’s an incredible tool for finding fish and understanding their behavior, but seeing them certainly doesn’t mean you can make them bite.
Fishing Vermilion without it also had me thinking about how I’d approach the lake in my own boat. Having Spot-Lock paired with TargetLock would let me hold the boat in position while independently directing my forward-facing sonar, which would have been especially useful in the wind we experienced. There are giant walleyes and muskies swimming around Vermilion everywhere, and after getting a taste of what the lake has to offer, I’d love to come back with my new own boat someday. I have a feeling Vermilion and I still have some unfinished business.
Two Lunds, Two Very Different Personalities
Going into the trip, I knew we’d be spending time in some of Lund’s newest boats. I assumed I’d probably drive at some point for content. What I didn’t expect was how much of the experience would end up happening for me from behind the wheel.
The red Pro-V caught my attention immediately. Admittedly, part of that was because it was red and therefore pretty hard for me to ignore, but Pro-Vs are just impressive boats. Once I got behind the wheel, I understood the appeal even more. The biggest thing I noticed was how planted it felt. Its additional weight gave the boat an incredibly sturdy feeling in the wind and rougher conditions we were experiencing. Steering felt solid, acceleration was smooth and predictable, and despite being larger than what I normally run, it didn’t take long for me to become comfortable operating it. There was also an almost ridiculous amount of storage.
To me, the Pro-V felt very fishing-first. It’s the kind of boat I picture for someone whose time on the water revolves heavily around fishing, and the layout, space and performance all seemed to reflect that priority.
The Tyee gave me a completely different impression, and I liked it for different reasons. It was deep, comfortable, spacious and still incredibly fishable. At the same time, I could picture someone fishing hard out of it in the morning and cruising with family later that afternoon. It is more of a crossover between serious fishing and lake life.
Compared with the heavier Pro-V, the Tyee felt a little more lively behind the wheel, while the Pro-V gave me that extremely planted feeling I personally loved. Neither one felt like the “better” boat. They simply felt designed around different priorities, and spending time driving both gave me a much better understanding of who I could picture each one fitting.
It’s All in the Details
One of my favorite features on the newer boats was something incredibly simple: the digital dash. I’m used to traditional circular gauges with needles for things like MPH and RPM, so having all of that information digitally displayed right in front of me was immediately noticeable. Speed, RPM, battery information, diagnostics and other boat information were easy to see at a glance. I also liked the added illumination and how the controls were positioned alongside the display.
The digital dash is definitely one of those features that catches your attention when you first step into the boat, but actually spending time behind the wheel made me appreciate it even more. When you’re driving, watching the water and paying attention to everything happening around you, being able to glance down and immediately find the information you want is incredibly convenient.
Finding My Confidence Behind the Wheel
Tuesday morning ended up becoming one of my favorite parts of the entire trip. The weather was getting worse, the wind was building and we were figuring out who was going to drive. I felt comfortable doing it, so I volunteered.
I already know how to drive a boat. I run my own Lund 1875 Impact XS (see link below), and I’m comfortable operating it. There’s a difference, though, between running your own boat and climbing behind the wheel of something brand new, shiny, larger that you’ve never driven, especially on unfamiliar water with wind gusts over 30 mph. I started the morning in the Tyee, undocked us and drove it out, which gave me a chance to get comfortable with how it handled. Later, I switched over to the Pro-V and drove that back.
Take a look at my boat walkthrough here!
The actual driving wasn’t what made me nervous. Docking and undocking unfamiliar boats is where I get in my head because every boat responds a little differently. I don’t want to oversteer, give it too much throttle, misjudge how it’s going to react or, worst of all, damage someone else’s boat. Add wind pushing you around at the dock and I’m probably going to be thinking about every move a little more than necessary. It’s a lot of micro-adjustments in a matter of seconds.
By the time I was bringing the Pro-V back in, I had spent enough time behind the wheel to feel much more comfortable with it. Still, I knew I had to dock the thing, so naturally I decided what I needed was “With Them” by Young Thug. I connected my phone to the boat, turned up some confidence music and headed toward the dock with the wind still blowing.
And I parked it. Tim told me afterward “you’re a badass, Sarah!” I’ll take it. LOL
That whole moment carried straight into lunch. We started talking about the music, which somehow turned into Noah, the girls and me building a Spotify playlist for the afternoon. Young Thug was obviously staying, and we added YNW Melly, Gucci Mane, Moneybagg Yo, Young Dolph and plenty of old-school rap and hip-hop. Music just makes everything way cooler. (The radio/bluetooth connectivity is also a small luxury I enjoy in my own boat.)
The playlist quickly took on a life of its own, and Tim’s reaction probably summed it up best: “This wasn’t part of the slideshow.” Another trip catchphrase was born.
Wild Game and the Bamboozler
Some of my favorite parts of trips like this happen nowhere near a fishing rod. Renee’s and Tim’s wild-game supply eventually turned into our lunches and dinners of burgers that were either Axis deer, whitetail, elk or antelope. Add chips, Top the Tater and corn on the cob from the grill, and we were doing just fine.
Then there was the Bamboozler. We made a stop at the The Vermilion Club during the trip, where the pizza itself became part of the experience. The Bamboozler is absolutely massive, and seeing the box is something that obviously warrants a photo or two.
Those meals, sitting around talking, building a ridiculous playlist, and laughing about whatever had happened on the water that day were a huge part of the trip. Those moments made it feel less like a work obligation and more like spending a few days with people I genuinely wanted to be around.
Lund’s team was a huge part of that too. This was their first time putting together a trip like this, and I appreciated that it wasn’t overly structured. We had things we needed to accomplish and content to create, but there was room for the experience to happen naturally. By the end, we’d learned things about the boats, the lake and each other that you’re probably never going to get from a presentation. Some things, after all, weren’t part of the slideshow.
More Than Seat Time
Looking back, my favorite part of the trip wasn’t catching a fish. It was the time I spent behind the wheel, and that surprised me. I left proud because I trusted myself enough to step into an unfamiliar situation and figure it out.
There are times when I have a tendency to underestimate myself outside the exact circumstances I know. Give me my boat, my electronics and familiar water, and I know what I’m doing. Put me behind the wheel of something bigger on water I don’t know, with wind I definitely didn’t ask for, and naturally there’s a little more hesitation. This trip chipped away at some of that.
There’s still plenty I want to improve. One of my next goals is getting better at controlling the trolling motor while watching electronics and maintaining boat position while somehow also remembering that I need to actually fish at the same time. I’ve watched my husband Jay multitask through all of it countless times, while I tend to get completely locked in on whichever one thing I’m concentrating on. I’ll get there.
That’s what I loved about having the opportunity to actually spend time in these boats rather than simply look at them. I got to learn by doing and make myself a little uncomfortable. More importantly, I came away knowing myself better as a boat owner and angler than I did when I arrived.
Why Experiences Like This Matter
There was something else I took away from the weekend that goes back to why I enjoyed this particular group so much. For a few days, Lund brought together women with different strengths, backgrounds and relationships with the outdoors. We fished together, but nobody had to prove that they belonged there. We could ask questions, share what we knew, learn something from each other and laugh when things didn’t go according to plan. That kind of environment matters to me.
There are so many different ways to be part of fishing. You can be a guide, tournament angler, weekend fisherman, content creator or someone who simply wants to keep learning. One path doesn’t make someone’s connection to the outdoors more legitimate than another.
For me, content creation has opened doors to experiences I never imagined I’d have when I first started sharing my time outdoors. Trips like this remind me that the value isn’t only in the content we bring home. It’s also in the relationships built and the things we learn while we’re there.
A Trip I Needed More Than I Realized
There was another part of this trip that I didn’t really understand until I was in the middle of it. The last six months of my life have been incredibly heavy, culminating in losing my dad just before this trip. I went into Vermilion carrying all of that with me. Of course I did. Grief doesn’t disappear because you pack a bag, get in the truck and go fishing for a few days.
I didn’t expect this trip to fix anything, either, and it didn’t. What surprised me was how much I smiled and how much I laughed. I got soaked in the rain and laughed about it. Driving boats in wind that made me nervous somehow ended with me feeling proud of myself. I ate food with people I enjoy, listened to music way too loud and spent a few days doing something I genuinely love. For a little while, life felt lighter.
Sometimes what you need finds you at exactly the right time, even when you didn’t realize you needed it. That’s why Susie’s ornament will probably always be tied to this trip for me. In the middle of everything else happening, she handed me something that said, “Keep making him proud.”
I’m trying. Maybe that’s part of what I’ll remember most about Vermilion. I didn’t escape what was happening in my life. Instead, I was reminded that I could still have moments that felt good in the middle of it.
Until Next Time, Vermilion
Eventually, we had to pack everything back up and leave the island. Renee and I were exhausted when we started the drive home, but instead of immediately going quiet, we spent a good portion of it reminiscing about everything that had happened over the previous few days.
I pulled into home around 12:30 that night and pretty much immediately passed out, exhausted and a little sad that it was already over. I’m incredibly grateful to Lund for bringing us together and recognizing the many ways women can be part of the fishing world. I hope this was the first of many trips like it because I’d do it again in a heartbeat.
Preferably with slightly less wind… but then again, it’s all mental!
Read all about my last Lake Vermilion Trip here:
