Guests can click on the “Taking a Trip” tab on this website. For our returning volunteers you know what to do. We’ll review these procedures on May 20th at our Cast Off Training at Craguns. See you email for details on Cast Off 2026!
Meet your new LGF Brainerd schedule coordinators: Tina Foster and Shawn Hansen.
Tina Foster: Community Coordinator for Outreach BLA. Tina has extensive background in volunteer engagement and event management. Tina will serve as the primary scheduler for LGF and will start taking calls and emails in May.
Shawn Hansen: Executive Director for Outreach BLA. Shawn will serve in the back-up position to Tina, ensuring that between the two of them, the LGF scheduling position will be fully staffed and ready to assist volunteers and clients.
Outreach BLA is looking at adding a part time staff person to their team and heard about the LGF Scheduler position opening. By working with LGF, Outreach BLA will slide some tasks from Tina’s workload onto a part time staff person, freeing up some time for Tina to help LGF with coordinating volunteers and clients.
Per Shawn Hansen from Outreach BLA: “This is an opportunity for 2 non-profits to work together. LGF is phenomenal in what they offer to allow people to have access to pontoon rides for fishing and nature tours. Outreach BLA is strong in working with volunteers and event management. This is a win-win for both agencies”.
All of us at LGF Brainerd extend a heartfelt THANK YOU to David Brown and his wife Libby for their dedication to our chapter for these past seasons. As President, David was proactive in the decision to acquire a second pontoon in order to expand our service to a grateful community. His guidance kept us on course and helped us achieve our many goals.
At this time David will take a step back from his board position but will remain an active LGF volunteer with Libby. “Thank you” does not begin to cover the gratitude we have for their dedication to our chapter.
Along with this update, we are proud to announce your 2026 LGF volunteer board positions:
Julie Kletscher – Interim President
George Olson – Interim Vice President
John Grandin – Treasurer
Karen Vogt – Secretary
Kathy Dufour – Event Coordinator
Ron Plinske – PR, Web, Social Media
Mike Daly – Equipment Coordinator
Steve Oslos – Member at large, past VP
We welcome George and John to the LGF board and thank them for stepping up to serve you and our guests. As “Interim President and VP”, Julie and George will hold these offices for the 2026 season. These positions will be up for election for 2027 and beyond.
As volunteers, thank you all for your energy, your passion and commitment to our guests, our volunteers and the community!
Stay tuned for a 2026 LGF event calendar update to be posted soon.
As we plan ahead for our 2026 season your Brainerd LGF Board has made the important decision to do away with lead tackle! We know our wildlife can be harmed greatly by the ingestion of lead from fishing tackle. This affects Bald Eagles, Ospreys, the Common Loon, Otters and any other birds and animals that ingest lead by eating fish that have succumbed to swallowing lead. Try as we might, we release most of what LGF catches on our trips. Rarely, we may have a fish break off with the lead tackle still attached. A floating fish is easy prey for Eagles, Ospreys and others.
Dear Loree,
As our 2025 season comes to a close we want you to know that your spirit is with us on every fishing trip, every nature tour and at every chapter function and board meeting this summer. Our chapter would not be as strong as we have become without your dedication to bring us back from the covid years and beyond. You taught us our guests come first and foremost and set the bar for us to reach for and exceed. We miss you immensely and think you’d be proud for what we achieved this year and will move into 2026 with energized spirits while remembering your drive and devotion for all of Let’s Go Fishing.
Sincerely,
Your Let’s Go Fishing Family
Join our Let’s Go Fishing MN Master Naturalists Volunteers for a scenic cruise up the Mississippi River from our Rice Lake Partnership #2. We take our time going upstream to view Bald Eagles, Trumpeter Swans, Great Blue Herons, Spiney Soft-shelled Turtles Common Loons and anything nature has in store for us. We always see something cool so bring your cameras and binoculars or use our loaner binoculars to view up close. The nature tours are available for any open trip as shown on the Rice Lake Partnership #2 schedule. Just tell our scheduler in the notes that you’d like to enjoy an LGF Nature Tour (no fishing on these) and Cheryl will coordinate with one of our naturalists. We hope to see you soon!
Thank you Shannon’s Auto Body for your donated labor and shop space to remodel our faithful Boat #1. Work is under way to completely redo the boat from the pontoons up. All new decking, flooring, seating and more! Jason from Shannon’s is heading up this project with LGF volunteers Dave and Ron joining the effort. Joshua from CLC College is also assisting as part of his internship at Shannon’s to learn the boat service trade. Joshua is an extremely hard-worker with a “Can do attitude”!
Thank you to our LGF President, David Brown, for these eloquent words on our dear friend . . as read at Loree’s Celebration of Life, February 7th, 2025.
My name is David Brown and I wanted to share some memories of Loree and our common bond that we shared with Let’s Go Fishing.
Let’s Go Fishing is a non-profit organization in its simplest terms we create memories for not only our guests but our Volunteers. Our guests include: Senior Citizens, Veterans, Challenged Youth and Adults and Hospice Patients and we take them on both fishing and non-fishing (Nature Tours) on our Pontoon(s).
I am wearing Let’s Go Fishing attire (yellow shirt) in honor of Loree as well as many here today are also doing.
The Brainerd Lakes Chapter was started in 2009, which is the same year Loree became a volunteer as a First Mate on the Pontoon. She most likely was one of the very first Volunteers.
She continued her role as a Volunteer until 2019, when she became Vice President. Covid hit in 2020-which resulted in no season that year. At the end of 2021 season, she became President which she served thru 2024 season. She retired at the end of 2024 season, but choose to stay on as a Volunteer and Board member at Large and was excited to continue to be part of our mission.
Prior to Covid, Brainerd Lakes was considered one of the flag ship Chapters ( today there are 14 chapters in Mn and 1 in WI) across Let’s Go Fishing. As a result of Covid, The Brainerd Chapter went thru some very difficult times. Along the way early in her Presidency, I’m sure she would agree that she ruffled some feathers. She did what was needed to keep the Chapter afloat. It was because of Loree’s leadership, guidance, drive and passion that the Brainerd Chapter endured. Today, the Brainerd Chapter has returned/exceeded pre-covid levels.
Last year we were working at the Brainerd Boat Show. Loree stopped in to see how things were going. We had lunch together and on our way we had been talking about eventually getting a 2nd Pontoon. Loree said, we should name in my name as: The Be sser. She had a sense of humor. We all laughed.
If 10 words could be used to convey a message, I could do it in 5 words and it would take Loree 100 words.
In 2024, I was Co-President with Loree. I had the privilege of working with her during the 2024 season where she mentored me. When she went to speak to different groups I accompanied her. I know at times she had some physical discomfort, but when she was speaking to groups, she was in her element.
She was passionate anything and everything to do with Let’s Go Fishing. She enjoyed being out in the public, sharing her knowledge and her stories in a way that only she could tell.
I feel privileged to have had the opportunity to spend some time with her in the 2024 season, where she prepared me well to lead the Board into the future, to carry on her passion and continue to expand our program’s.
She was proud of the Brainerd Lakes Chapter, proud of our Volunteers and the Board and proud to serve our guests to help create special memories for them.
She understood the value of what it meant to be a volunteer not only in Let’s Go Fishing but in other organizations in the community. One of those organizations that she was very supportive of was Camp Confidence. She made sure that we supported events that we could help with- such as what was then called Fishing Classic. It was later named Fishing Frenzy. We continue to support that event today and work closely with Camp Confidence. This year, Camp Confidence is renaming that event as: Loree Besser’s Fishing Frenzy in her honor.
We did obtain that 2nd Pontoon ( used from our Detroit Lakes Chapter) toward the end of last year. We have many things to look forward to this season, but it is with a heavy heart that she is not there with us for the ride. She will remain with us always in her spirit and we will think of her often. She touched so many lives, not just in Let’s Go Fishing but across the Community.
I miss her and will never forget that smile.
I end with this: From the book of Matthew, 5th Chapter:
4 Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.
To our dear friend: Rest in Peace.
Give MN is open for donations!
By donating through this Give to the Max site it gives LGF Brainerd Lakes continued support for our mission of serving the community. THANK YOU!
https://www.givemn.org/organization/Lets-Go-Fishing-Brainerd-Lakes
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