BROOKELAND, Texas (Jan. 10, 2019) – Louisiana pro Nick LeBrun – fishing in his first career regular-season FLW Tour event – brought a massive 29-pound, 2-ounce five-bass limit to the scale Thursday to vault to the top of the leaderboard after Day One of the FLW Tour at Sam Rayburn Reservoir. Fellow rookie Sam George of Athens, Alabama, sits in second place with five bass weighing 28-5. The season-opening FLW Tour event features a field of 170 of the world's best bass-fishing professionals casting for a top award of up to $125,000.
The fishing at flooded Sam Rayburn was excellent Thursday, with plenty of five-bass limits, multiple 8- and 9-pounders, and 10 anglers weighing limits that topped 20 pounds. LeBrun estimated that he caught around 20 fish throughout the day, but lacked the giant kicker that multiple anglers brought to the scale. His smallest fish was around 5 pounds, and his largest just 6½.
"We all have those days when we can't do anything wrong, and today was one of those days for me," said LeBrun, who qualified for the FLW Tour after winning the BFL All-American Championship in 2018. "I had 23 to 24 pounds by 10 a.m. I decided to run new water that I hadn't looked at and the Good Lord blessed me with two more big bites. It's just unbelievable."
LeBrun said that all of his fish that he caught Thursday came off of one type of pattern. Although he remained tight-lipped about exactly what he was doing, he did share that the Bill Lewis Rat-L-Trap has been the biggest player for him.
"The Trap is my confidence bait," LeBrun said. "It's how I found them in practice and it is my search bait. It's nothing secret – a ½-ounce Rayburn Red or Red Crawfish color. But I've got a few other things that I evolved throughout practice that I'm doing as well.
"I'm going to do the same thing tomorrow," LeBrun went on to say. "I've got some other spots where I think big ones live and I can try to get that big bite. I'm kind of jealous of the guys catching the 8- and 9-pounders. I never had a real giant bite today, so hopefully I can get that tomorrow. If I can get a few solid ones and maybe another big one or two, I'll be right where I need to be."
The top 10 pros after day one on Sam Rayburn Reservoir are:
1st: Nick LeBrun, Bossier City, La., five bass, 29-2
2nd: Sam George, Athens, Ala., five bass, 28-5
3rd: Chad Warren, Sand Springs, Okla., five bass, 25-7
4th: Jordan Osborne, Longview, Texas, five bass, 25-1
5th: Polaris pro David Dudley, Lynchburg, Va., five bass, 24-3
6th: Jim Tutt, Longview, Texas, five bass, 23-9
7th: Troy Morrow, Eastanollee, Ga., five bass, 22-12
8th: Scott Martin, Clewiston, Fla., five bass, 22-2
9th: Bryan Thrift, Shelby, N.C., five bass, 20-15
10th: Terry Bolton, Benton, Ky., five bass, 20-10
Osborne and Martin split the day's $500 Big Bass award in the pro division after each weighed in a largemouth totaling 9-pounds, 12-ounces. Overall there were 724 bass weighing 1,869 pounds, 3 ounces caught by 165 pros Thursday. The catch included 126 five-bass limits.