Lefebre leads FLW pros into semifinals at Atchafalaya Basin

Pro Dave Lefebre of Erie, Penn., used a two-day catch of 31 pounds, 8 ounces to grab the top qualifying position heading into tomorrow?s finals. Photo by Gary Mortenson. Angler: Dave Lefebre.

February 13, 2003 • Gary Mortenson • Archives

Kirby’s consistency lands him in first place in Co-angler Division

MORGAN CITY, La. – After dominating the ranks of the EverStart Northern Division in 2002 in only his second year of professional bass-fishing competition, Dave Lefebre of Erie, Pa., decided it was finally time to see if he could compete in the big leagues of the FLW Tour in 2003. As it turned out, he need not have worried.

After posting a highly respectable 27th-place finish at the Lake Okeechobee tournament last month, Lefebre used a whopping two-day total of 31 pounds, 8 ounces to grab the overall lead at Atchafalaya Basin heading into tomorrow’s semifinals. To be sure, the rookie’s stunning success on the FLW Tour has surprised even Lefebre.

“This moment right here is like a dream come true,” said Lefebre. “It’s just overwhelming. This is only my third season as a pro, and I really didn’t think I’d be in this position so soon. I wish I had started this when I was a lot younger.”

The 32-year-old appears to be gaining confidence with each passing day. Although he started off the tournament with a fifth-place finish after day one, Lefebre managed to haul in the second-largest stringer of the day during today’s competition – a 15-pound, 12-ounce bag. However, more importantly, Lefebre’s prime fishing locations seem to be producing more and more fish as the tournament progresses.

“I normally like to run pretty far to get away from the crowd, but I found a spot that is only about 10 minutes away and it’s got a lot of good fish in it,” said Lefebre. “I got twice as many bites there today as I did yesterday, and I even had to shake some fish off. There’s a lot of shad there, and more fish seem to be coming in every day. I’m pretty sure that I have enough fish there to last me the whole tournament.”

Lefebre, who is fishing weedlines with a 3/16-ounce Telson jig in 4 to 6 feet of water, said that the key to fishing Atchafalaya this week is using lighter baits.

“It’s really important to have a light bait that falls really slowly in the water,” said Lefebre. “I’ve also been switching colors between green-pumpkin and June bug. And that seems to make a difference as well.”

Although Lefebre is surprised with the level of success he’s had to date on the FLW Tour, he said he’s not surprised that Atchafalaya is turning out to be one of his better tournaments.

“When I looked at the schedule, I thought I had a pretty good chance to do well at Atchafalaya,” he said. “I love fishing jigs, I love flipping and I really like muddy water. This is almost perfect for me.”

Thomas uses strategy, `good-luck beads’ to grab second place

Although Wes Thomas of Hanover, Ind., is one of the biggest characters on the entire FLW Tour, he hasn’t quite had the fishing success he would have liked over the past two seasons. However, that all seems to be changing with Atchafalaya. Bolstered by a two-day total of 30 pounds, 13 ounces, Thomas snared the second overall qualifying position heading into tomorrow’s semifinals.

“I’m just tickled to death,” said Thomas of his recent breakthrough. “I caught all of my fish in two little areas today, so I feel very fortunate to be here. Maybe it’s the beads?”

Whether Thomas’ success can be attributed to sound strategy and tactics or his magical “good-luck beads,” Thomas doesn’t really care. However, no matter how this tournament eventually unfolds, he knows that he will definitely have a good story to tell.

“When I first got here, I met a lady at the tourism bureau, and she gave me some (Mardi Gras) beads for good luck,” he said. “I had them in my car on the first day, and my co-angler asked me what they were. I told them they were my `good-luck’ beads. But when I finally got to takeoff, I left them in the car. Luckily, my co-angler reminded me to go back and put them on.”

Not long into the tournament, Thomas started catching fish – lots of fish.

“Every time I’d catch a fish my co-angler would say, `It’s the good-luck beads, it’s the good-luck beads,'” said Thomas. “I’ve had them on ever since. I’m definitely not taking them off now.”

Whether the Mardi Gras magic will continue for Thomas, only time will tell.

Chapman, Kline and Moore make their move

Although Bill Chapman of Salt Rock, W. Va., didn’t have any “good-luck” beads of his own, he still managed a fantastic two-day catch of 30 pounds, 12 ounces to net the third overall qualifying position.

Gary Klein of Weatherford, Texas, also continued his hot streak. After winning the BASS tourney at Lake Seminole last week, Klein managed to qualify for the FLW finals in fourth place after he recorded a total catch of 29 pounds, 8 ounces in today’s competition.

Meanwhile, Andre Moore of Scottsdale, Ariz., snared the fifth qualifying position with a total catch of 29 pounds, 3 ounces.

Best of the rest

Rounding out the top 10 pro qualifiers were day-one leader J.T. Kenney (sixth) of Frostburg, Md., with a catch of 29 pounds, 2 ounces; Jack Bell (seventh) of Kane, Pa., with a catch of 28 pounds; Paul Elias (eighth) of Pachuta, Miss., with a catch of 27 pounds, 10 ounces; Dwayne Horton (ninth) of Knoxville, Tenn., with a catch of 27 pounds, 5 ounces; and Jimmy Millsaps (10th) of Canton, Ga., with a catch of 27 pounds, 1 ounce.

Chip Harrison of Bremen, Ind., won the day’s Snickers Big-Bass Award in the Pro Division after netting a 5-pound, 14-ounce largemouth. Harrison, who finished the tournament in 74th place, won $1,750 for landing the largest fish over the first two days of competition.

Kirby grabs overall lead in Co-angler Division

Using a two-day catch of 19 pounds, Dennis Kirby of Lakeland, Tenn., won the top qualifying position heading into tomorrow’s final showdown in the Co-angler Division.

“It feels great just to be here,” said Kirby, whose best finish on the FLW Tour until now was 19th place. “My goal today was to go out there and catch 10 pounds and qualify for the finals in first place so I could fish with the first-place pro. I’m pretty happy right now.”

Kirby – who said that he landed the majority of his catch fishing hydrilla on black and blue tubes and jigs in about 5 to 7 feet of water – appeared ready to get back out onto the water not more than five minutes after today’s weigh-in.

“I’m really excited to go out there tomorrow,” he said. “I think the fish are going to bite even better than they did today. I’m having a great time.”

Best of the rest

Richard Strother of Tyler, Texas, grabbed the second overall qualifying position after landing a two-day catch of 17 pounds, 12 ounces. Meanwhile, local favorite Sandy Gaudet of Belle Rose, La., used a two-day catch of 14 pounds, 9 ounces to finish the day in third place.

In fourth place was David Brunaugh of Carbondale, Ill., with a catch of 14 pounds, 7 ounces. Fifth place belonged to Brad Rodrigue of Pierre Part, La., who turned in a catch of 13 pounds, 8 ounces.

Rounding out the top 10 qualifiers were Gerald Williams (sixth) of Scottsdale, Ky., with a catch of 13 pounds, 5 ounces; Gerald Grace (seventh) of Lincoln, Ala., with a catch of 13 pounds, 1 ounce; Frank Meyer (eighth) of Marianna, Fla., with a catch of 12 pounds, 15 ounces; Simon Morrow (ninth) of Alexander City, Ala., with a catch of 12 pounds, 15 ounces; and Rick Turner (10th) of Tyler, Texas, with a catch of 12 pounds, 15 ounces.

Tie-breaking procedures were used to rank Meyer, Morrow and Turner for tomorrow’s final round of co-angler competition.

Jim Short of Ocean Pines, Md., won the day’s Snickers Big-Bass Award in the Co-angler Division after netting a 5-pound, 7-ounce largemouth. Short, who only landed one fish in the entire tournament, won $500 on that one fish alone.

Tomorrow’s takeoff is scheduled to take place at 8 a.m. at the Belle River Boat Launch, located at Highway 70 N. in Belle River, La.