ROGERS, Ark. (March 3, 2011) – Bass fishing pro Dave Lefebre of Union City, Pa., crossed the stage Thursday with a five-bass limit weighing 16 pounds, 4 ounces to lead day one of the FLW Tour bass fishing event on Beaver Lake. Lefebre holds a slim 7-ounce lead over Justin Lucas of Guntersville, Ala., who caught five bass weighing 15-13 in a tournament featuring 316 anglers from all across the country, Canada and Mexico.
“You never know what you have in one of these tough (tournaments),” said Lefebre, who has struggled at Beaver Lake in the past. “Practice was so tough. I got three bites the first day, one bite the second day and six bites the third day of practice. Any time it’s that tough in practice you really don’t know what you have. I’m pleasantly surprised. I feel very, very awesome about the next day.”
Lefebre said he discovered a spot the last day of practice that allows him to sit in 80 feet of water and concentrate on “making two casts.” He fishes from one boat position for a while and then repositions the boat and focuses on a new area to let his other fish rest.
“I can catch keepers on it all day long, I think,” said Lefebre. “That was a place I thought I could catch two or three to get the day started at least and I’d be struggling from there on, but this spot seems to be replenishing itself. It’s a perfect pre-spawn type of deal.
“I’m not going to get my hopes up,” Lefebre added. “I’m real happy to be leading Beaver Lake. This place has been a thorn in my side for many years, as anyone would know. I’ve just been getting consistently better over the past three years here.”
Lefebre left his spot with four fish in the livewell Thursday and said he would be surprised if his area did not hold fish all four days of the tournament.
Lucas said he focused on two spots on the first day of competition and relied heavily on a Lucky Craft jerkbait during the course of the day. He managed to catch all five of his weigh fish, including a 5-pound, 6-ounce kicker fish, during a one-hour flurry of action from 10:30 to 11:30 a.m. That kicker fish turned out to be the day’s Bass that earned Lucas $500.
Lucas said he hopes Friday’s forecast for isolated thunderstorms will help him on the second day of competition.
“I have one area that’s key and one other area that I felt like I could catch them, and I started there,” said Lucas. “I even went back later in the day and hoped they had turned on, but they hadn’t. I don’t know if the water’s too clear or what. Maybe this storm will help them bite a little bit and make them more comfortable.”
Rounding out the top 10 pros after day one on Beaver Lake are:
3rd: Justin Kerr, Simi Valley, Calif., five bass, 14-4
4th: Shad Schenk, Waynetown, Ind., five bass, 13-9
5th: Chad Brauer, Osage Beach, Mo., five bass, 13-4
6th: Stacey King, Reeds Spring, Mo., five bass, 12-4
7th: Bobby McMullin, Pevely, Mo., five bass, 12-3
8th: Roy Hawk, Salt Lake City, Utah, five bass, 12-0
9th: Andy Morgan, Dayton, Tenn., four bass, 11-6
10th: Matthew Stefan, Chicago, Ill., five bass, 11-5
Overall there were 406 bass weighing 845 pounds, 5 ounces caught by 139 pros Thursday. The catch included 33 five-bass limits.
Keeton Blaylock of Benton, Ark., leads the Co-angler Division with five bass weighing 13-6 followed by Jeffrey Cummins of Marion, Ohio, in second place with three bass weighing 9-15.
Rounding out the top-10 co-anglers are:
3rd: Van Foster Jr., Dalton, Ga., five bass, 8-1
4th: Tony Nation, Springdale, Ark., two bass, 7-6
5th: Ronnie Lawson, Hollister, Mo., three bass, 7-4
6th: Jacques Fleischmann, Lampe, Mo., three bass, 7-0
7th: Jim Campbell, Maryville, Tenn., four bass, 6-15
8th: Johnny Carr, Loxley, Ala., four bass, 6-13
9th: Maurice Cobb, Kuttawa, Ky., one bass, 6-10
10th: Moo Bae, West Friendship, Md., three bass, 6-8
Cobb caught the Big Bass weighing 6-10 in the co-angler division to win $250.
Overall there were 146 bass weighing 287 pounds, 6 ounces caught by 88 co-anglers Thursday. The catch included two five-bass limits.
Co-anglers are fishing for a top award of $25,000 this week plus valuable points that could help them qualify for the 2011 Forrest Wood Cup.The FLW Tour Co-angler of the Year will be determined by the most points accumulated over the six Tour Majors and the winner will receive a new Ranger 198VX with a 200-horsepower Evinrude or Mercury outboard.
Anglers will take off from Prairie Creek Park located at 9300 N. Park Rd. in Rogers at 7 each morning. Friday’s weigh-in will be held at Prairie Creek Park beginning at 3 p.m. Saturday and Sunday’s final weigh-in will be held at the John Q. Hammons Center located at 3303 Pinnacle Hills Pkwy. in Rogers beginning at 4 p.m.