Nailing Bass

Denver wife and mother Michelle Armstrong, who’d rather fish than shop, becomes part of WBT history.

Fishing has played such a significant role in the lives of Troy and Michelle Armstrong that the Denver couple named their children in reference to the sport.“We named our son Fischer after ‘fishers of men,’ only his name is spelled with a ‘c,’ and we named our daughter Brook, after ‘babbling brook,’” the lady angler said.
“We were going to name our daughter Annette, but we were afraid that if we yelled ‘get a net’ while we were fishing, one of us would grab our daughter instead of a net.”

Fishing also was instrumental in helping Michelle land her man, so to speak.

“When I dated Troy, our first bass fishing trip was at Mountain Island Lake,” Armstrong said. “It was horrible; the day was windy, and we didn’t catch a fish.”

After the outing, Troy left Michelle behind at the pier while he went to trailer his boat. Never a quitter, Michelle, made several casts from the pier and caught a fish — and a lifelong companion.

“That’s when I decided to marry her,” Troy said. “After a miserable day out on the lake, she wouldn’t be beaten. She grabs a fishing rod, keeps on fishing and catches a fish.”

Michelle said her intention wasn’t to impress Troy as much as it was to understand the mystique of bass fishing.

“I couldn’t be defeated,” she said. “I knew there had to be something more to bass fishing than just going out on a boat.”

Although Troy took Michelle bass fishing for the first time, Michelle had been fishing since her days as a youth.

“My dad fished ever since I can remember, though I never went fishing with him,” she said, an omission she plans to correct shortly by taking her dad fishing after he recuperates from a stay in the hospital.

Nonetheless, young Michelle didn’t lack for fishing companions. She went fishing with her brothers and the boys and girls in the Charlotte neighborhood where she was raised.

Her early piscatorial pursuits were of a casual nature.

“I never really knew what I was fishing for; I just fished,” she said.

She also excelled in the art of hooking men at an early age.

“I went fishing with my grandpa when I was about 6 years old,” she said. “That was a disaster because I hooked him. Can you imagine that?”

In June 1993, Troy and Michelle made their fishing partnership a permanent one and, following their marriage, fished as a team at local, regional and national events, including the Guys and Dolls Couples Circuit, where they managed an impressive 10 top-10 finishes.

For Michelle, fishing evolved from a carefree childhood pursuit into a passion and recently into an adventurous undertaking with a sense of history.

When BASS launched the Women’s Bassmaster Tour, Michelle joined as a professional angler in the Boater Division at the urging of her husband.

Troy encouraged his wife to fish the WBT instead of embarking on a professional fishing career himself, not only because of finances but also because of the historical importance of Michelle’s endeavor.

“To break into men’s bass fishing right now, you’ve got to have financial backing from million-dollar companies or be financially independent because there are already so many well-established pros,” he said.

“But the WBT is a tremendous opportunity for Michelle, who is a great angler. There’s just a handful of women who fished the earlier women’s circuits, so the WBT is like the beginning of BASS in the 1960s.

“The opportunity is there to make a name for yourself on the ground floor. Since ESPN is involved as well as a magazine and TV shows, the WBT is getting a lot of attention because it’s the only game in town for women. It’s in the limelight.

“Sponsors also realize that for a fraction of the cost of what it takes to invest in something like the Bassmaster Elite Series, they can get access to the same media through the women’s tour.”

Michelle is aware of her place in bass fishing history.

“Even if I don’t catch a fish in any of the tournaments, I’m part of something that only a few women are doing,” she said. “It may sound corny, but I’m part of history right now. There’s only one first time, and I’m part of it, and that’s pretty neat.”

Three other Tar Heel women will become part of the same history.

Mary Hencken of Belmont will compete in the Boater Division, and Renee Brisendine of Eden and Linda Berry of Madison will fish in the Co-angler Division.

History can be demanding.

For Michelle to fish the circuit, the Armstrongs had to manipulate vacation time and work plans so Troy could find time to be free from his job as a Charlotte police officer and Michelle could find time to be free from Nail Creations, a nail salon she owns and operates in Mt. Holly.

In addition, they had to find baby sitters for their two children when the youngsters couldn’t travel with them to tournaments.

“I couldn’t have fished the WBT without the support Troy has given me along with his mom, Sue, who often baby sits the children,” Michelle said.

Michelle also received support from unexpected quarters — her clientele at the nail salon, many of whom have been her customers for the 15 years she’s operated the business.

At first some of the ladies thought Michelle’s decision to join the WBT was kind of strange, but most have become ardent fans.

“It’s so cool,” said Michelle, speaking of their support. “Ladies who have never fished in their whole lives now come in and ask me, ‘Are you in the fish?’ They’ve even learned the lingo.

“Some women bring their husbands who say they want to shake the hand of the bass fisherman — er, woman.”

A few ladies weren’t impressed until they saw Michelle open the box containing her dazzling fishing shirt bedecked with patches.

The outfit prompted them to say, “Oh my, you’re so famous!”

“I’m not really (famous),” Michelle said. “It’s their perception. They want to know if they’ll see me on TV. They might if I ever catch some fish.

“Some say that when I get my little baseball cards (fishing cards), they want my autograph.”

Despite their loyalty to Michelle, her clients have priorities.

“My ladies will let me take off a week at a time to fish tournaments but not two weeks,” Michelle said. “They don’t want their nails to go unattended for too long.”

Michelle’s initial exposure to WBT competition occurred at the March 16-18 tournament at Lake Lewisville, Lewisville, Texas. The tournament had been set for Sam Rayburn in Texas, but hurricanes in the area forced a switch to Lake Lewisville.

The event served as a WBT tryout for BASS and Armstrong. BASS wanted to test the waters to see what reception its women’s trail would receive while she wanted to see what fishing the WBT would be like.

The trial event proved successful for BASS, but she experienced mixed emotions.

While she embraced the fishing competition, the tournament opened Michelle’s eyes to what it really meant to be captain of your own ship.

“I didn’t really know what to expect,” said Armstrong, who hadn’t completely fished on her own before the WBT.

“When Troy and I went fishing, he always sat in front of the boat, ran the trolling motor, chose the spots, selected the baits and navigated us around the lake. All I had to do was sit in the back of the boat and catch fish. No big deal.

“At Lewisville, for the first time in my life, I had to run the boat and trolling motor and make decisions about where and what to fish. I even had to re-rig by myself and understand the equipment.

“I was also responsible for the well-being of my fishing partner and for finding our way back to the landing.

“With my poor sense of direction, I get nervous when I look at the statement on my GPS that reads, ‘This unit should not be used as the only means of navigation.’ ”

Armstrong was equal to the new challenges except for one — she caught only one fish.

“I had a really good practice, and there would have been no way anyone would have told me I would catch only one fish,” she said.

Her lament was similar to that of many tournament anglers, regardless of their sex.

“The fish did something totally different during the tournament (that during practice),” she said. “A lot of the other women said the same thing.”

The event also highlighted her strengths and weaknesses.

“One of my shortcomings is adjusting to what the fish are doing,” she said, an assessment with which her husband agreed.

“Michelle is mechanically sound and understands fish,” he said. “What she has to improve upon is picking a strange lake apart and adjusting quickly to what the fish are telling her. Those skills come with experience.”

Michelle said she found fishing an all-girl trail to be more intimidating than fishing against men.

“When I fished with Troy against a bunch of guys, it was neat to see me out there,” she said. “But when I’m fishing with a bunch of girls, I’m just one of the girls — and women are very competitive.”

At the April 20-22 WBT tournament at Neely Henry Lake in Ala., Armstrong again experienced tournament growing pains. She placed 85th with a 3.30-pound bass, a fish she caught the first day.

“I thought it was going to be a great day and then that fish was it,” she said. “I should have never thought that thought.”

When she came to the weigh-in empty-handed the second day, she witnessed a despondent look on her son’s face.

“He looked so sad for me,” she said, “and that’s when I knew I couldn’t look sad in return.

“I told him, ‘It’s OK, buddy because I went out there and really tried to do my best. I didn’t sit down in my chair and didn’t fish. I fished hard all day.’

“I want to teach my children it’s OK if you don’t win as long as you do your best; that you can lose and still be a good person.”

Armstrong said she tries to keep her emotions in check for the sake of her children and herself but admits it’s difficult because she feels the pressure to win and and wants to be successful.

“I don’t cry on my birthday, and I don’t cry at weddings or funerals, but if I lose a fishing tournament, I’m going to cry, “ she said. “At least, I haven’t ‘Iked out’ yet (referring to the bombastic outpourings of New Jersey BASS fishing pro Michael Iaconelli).

After a May 18-20 return visit to Lake Lewisville, the WBT has a July 27-29 tournament at Lake Norman, Armstrong’s home lake where she will experience the additional pressure of being “the local favorite.”

However, she doesn’t see herself as having an advantage, although she’s fished Norman for 15 years and has been dubbed “that Norman girl” by her competitors.

“Norman’s like a new lake to me because Troy has always been with me and guiding me around the lake, and now I’ll be on my own, so it will be an even playing field,” she said.

In July, Armstrong said the fishing at Norman will be “hot and agonizing” with the many docks at the lake coming into play.

She predicts it will take 10 to 12 pounds a day to win.

“The only edge I’ll have is knowing some of the docks that are productive along Norman’s 520 miles of shoreline,” she said. “Norman is loaded with docks, but you just can’t go to any dock and catch fish.”

Besides probing docks, her strategy will include looking for old wood, which is at a premium at Norman, and locating brush piles. She’ll fish these places slowly with soft plastics, such as Yum Houdini shads, an approach which she favors.

“I like fishing soft plastics and finesse worms, the tedious stuff most others don’t like to fish,” she said.

She’ll come armed with medium-action 6 1/2- to 7-foot rods and Pflueger bait-casting reels spooled with 12- to 17-pound-test Super Silver Thread and Silver Thread Fluorocarbon line.

By tournament time, she hopes to use prototype rods — tentatively named the Riverstone Series — that her husband and Frank Scalish are developing.

Although spotted bass have come on strong at Norman during recent years, including a state-record spot of 6 pounds, 5 ounces taken in 2003 by Eric Weir, Armstrong said she’ll target largemouth bass that generally run bigger than spotted bass.

While she has yet to cash a check on the WBT circuit, she’s already proud of one accomplishment that’s about as difficult as winning a tournament. She successfully marketed herself to a major sponsor, Legend boats of Midway, Ark.

“It’s my first official sponsor,” she said, “and when I got to choose the color for my custom-built boat, I stayed true to myself and didn’t select a ‘girly’ color but a brown-white color combination.

“The manufacturer was so happy with my color selection, the company showcased the boat at its factory and called it ‘one of the most beautiful boats the company had built.’

“It’s shown on the company’s Web site at www.ridewithalegend.com. My husband and children are in the picture, too.”

Armstrong envisions the day she never has to look at another hand and nail, but she knows a full-time career as a female fishing pro remains a dream for the moment.

“In my first year, I’m just trying to learn how to be a professional, “ she said.

While fishing has been so much a part of their lives, the Armstrongs are cautious about forcing their love of fishing upon their children.

“We don’t want them to grow up hating it,” she said.

Armstrong’s step into history with the WBT circuit may not be as bold a step as the first step on the moon, but she knows it was done with as much commitment.

“Instead of shopping, I’d rather go fishing,” she said.

That may be a historic statement in itself.