Lady’s first

Many competitive anglers spend years – if not a career – trying to reel in a tournament first. There’s first place. And if you’re skilled and lucky enough to pick up a win, then your white whale becomes a points title, the industry standard for consistency. Renee Hensley has done both, but as the first woman in FLW Outdoors history to do either of those things, her firsts were more like firsts squared.

Hensley, 44, was not the first woman in FLW Outdoors history to win a tournament (though she was the second), but she most definitely was the first woman to win a national bass-fishing championship – in her rookie season no less. And technically speaking, another woman has won a co-angler points title in FLW Outdoors competition, but it was for walleye fishing, where co-anglers share weight with their professional anglers. Hensley is without question the first woman in FLW Outdoors history to win a points title in a national bass circuit.

Fish know no boundaries

The Edwardsburg, Mich., co-angler couldn’t be more happy about having won the Stren Series Championship (then called the EverStart Series Championship) and the boat package that came with it on Alabama’s Pickwick Lake in 2001. And she is proud of her accomplishments, noting her consistency this year as she wrapped up the Stren Series Northern Division points title for co-anglers with 720 points.

“It’s an amazing feat for any co-angler – not just for me – to win it … especially with so many types of bodies of water (on the schedule),” she said of her points title. “I’m fishing against some amazing competitors. I think it’s an honor.”

But while Hensley likes being acknowledged for her firsts, she’s quick to downplay the “women in fishing” aspect of the notoriety. In fact, when she was the first woman to win a national bass-fishing championship – “the whole media wasn’t even ready for that” – being continually compared to other female luminaries of the sport grew a bit tiresome.

“You don’t have to compare me to other women … compare me to (bass-fishing legends) Rick Clunn or Dion Hibdon or someone like that – that’d be all right,” she said with a laugh. “I’m my own person.”

Hensley said she encourages other women to enter the sport, citing the common fear some women have about being “out there fishing with men” as unfounded. She said most pros are not only great sources of insight into bass fishing, but also gentlemen. And figuring out bathroom breaks is not nearly as complex as potential tourney anglers sometimes guess, she said.

Other than certain men “maybe being able to cast a little farther,” Hensley said she doesn’t see that much difference between the sexes in competitive fishing. She even allowed as how she does not fit the stereotype that some male anglers hold about women possibly having one advantage in being more patient; she said her frustration with trying to conquer an onboard GPS unit is proof otherwise.

“The fish don’t know if you’re a male or a female,” she said. “I mean, when a crankbait swims by a bass, they don’t think, ‘That’s a woman’s. I’m not going to bite that.’”

Bringing it home from the back of the boat

Hensley, who has seven years’ worth of experience from the back of the boat in FLW Outdoors competition, said a co-angler has to be prepared for anything: any type of pattern chosen by that day’s pro, any type of structure and water depth being fished, not to mention any type of pro. The vast majority of pros she’s fished with were great partners, but she said she’s drawn the occasional pro who is prone to “front ending,” or essentially fishing without any concern for a co-angler’s success.

“It’s very hard as a co-angler to win the points (title),” she said. “It really depends on your draw. And not to take anything away from the pros, but they do have control of the boat.”

Hensley’s banner year started off in July on the Potomac River, where she placed 35th, proving her ability to adapt as she’d never fished tidal water before. Then she nearly picked up a win closer to home in August, when the Stren Northern visited the Detroit River and she finished as runner-up. Heading back east in September, Hensley managed a solid 40th-placing showing on the Hudson River before sewing up the points title with a seventh-place finish on Lake Gaston in October.

“You have to be versatile from the back of the boat … I basically have to take the whole basement with me,” she said of packing equipment for a tournament to match any fishing scenario.

There’s more evidence of Hensley’s ability to parlay versatility into consistency than just her 2007 points title: She has qualified for the Stren Championship in each of the seven years she’s fished the circuit. And Mobile Delta-bound co-anglers take heed – Hensley is aiming for another first when the Stren Series closes out its 2007 season Nov. 8-11 in Mobile, Ala.: She wants to be the first woman to have won two national championships.

“I definitely want to win this tournament,” she said.

Looking back

Hensley, who works as a physical therapist when she’s not chasing bass, was not prepped for the sport in a way that some anglers are. Growing up, she said her father “never took a vacation,” but would still find time to occasionally take her out in an aluminum row boat to catch various kinds of panfish.

“I never fished for bass though,” she said. “I basically taught that to myself.”

In college, Hensley subscribed to a bass-fishing magazine (and to this day reads them religiously as well as watching all sorts of bass programming to improve her game). After some self-instruction and testing the waters, she was hooked. Not long after that, she competed in some Bass’n Gal and Women Bass Fishing Anglers events and started searching for a local bass club to join.

Hensley had found a new passion in bass fishing, but didn’t realize it would also lead to love. She recognized one of her club members as a man who had worked at a local tackle shop she frequented, and the two hit it off. Before too long, Renee Flesh became Renee Hensley, having married Stren Series pro Brian Hensley, who will also fish in this year’s championship.

Obviously the two share a love for bass fishing, and Brian, who now works as a sales representative for an outdoors sports company, knew first-hand about Renee’s love for tackle even before they were married.

“Instead of clothes and stuff, I like to buy lures,” she said.

Looking ahead

Both anglers have earned success in FLW Outdoors competition: Renee has seven top-10 finishes, including her championship win, and $55,791 in career earnings; Brian has 10 top-10 finishes and $94,667 in winnings. But despite their impressive résumés, neither has been able to make the leap to full-time fishing or sponsorships.

“We have none,” she said of sponsorship deals. “We work to fish. I don’t get anything for free. I’d love to go pro and fish that side, but bills have to be paid.”

If Brian can get into the Wal-Mart FLW Series for 2008, Renee, who is qualified to fish it based on her points title, said she will take the step up as well. Fishing a tour-level circuit could give the couple enough exposure to land sponsorships that would help pave the way to even more competitive fishing. In the meantime, Renee said she has told Brian she would scale back her own fishing so that he could take his to the next level, but that’s where the whole gentleman-angler concept comes back around.

“I said, ‘You’re a better angler than I am,’” she allowed, adding that he has yet to agree to quit his day job. “If my husband could be out there like the guys doing it full time, watch out. He’s an awesome angler.”

But with seven Stren Series Championship qualifications, a win and a points title under her belt, it’s obvious that Hensley is also a top-shelf competitor.

“I want to be the highest in the (Northern) division so I can qualify for the Forrest Wood Cup,” she said (the top finisher from each division at the championship earns a berth into the Cup, the world’s most lucrative bass-fishing championship). “I’m very competitive … with everyone, including my husband.”

Though Hensley is known for her skills with tubes and drop-shots as well as finesse fishing in general, she said she “used a whole different gamut of baits this year.” Fishing another tidal fishery for only the second time in her life at the championship, she’ll fly to Alabama Nov. 3 to practice, following Brian, who will drive down a few days earlier to prepare. And you can believe she intends to put her love for lures to good use.

“I’ve got to be ready and flexible enough to do anything that comes,” she said, adding with a laugh, “so my husband’s truck is going to be weighed down.”

Brian’s truck will also haul the boat she won in 2001, which he competes in and they both use for practice. That Ranger, a model year 2003, is at the end of its eligibility to keep them qualified for extra contingency dollars, so Hensley is more determined than ever to win a new one in November.

“I’m in it to win it,” she said. “We need to win a new boat.”

Regardless of the outcome of the Stren Series Championship, it’s a sure bet that Hensley will continue to exercise her competitive nature, both on and off the tournament trail, and always strive to learn more about the art of catching bass.

“If people think they’ve learned everything about fishing – just as in life – you’re done.”

It’s doubtful that Hensley will ever be done, because there’s always another first to achieve.