Shane Lehew Gets His Chance
A near miss in 2014 cost Lehew a shot at the Cup, but he’s ready for his shot this season
At the final weigh-in of the 2015 Walmart Bass Fishing League All-American at Paris Landing on Kentucky Lake in June, BFL stalwart Bill Schroeder offered a few words of wisdom to any young anglers who might have been watching via flwfishing.com. A pre-tournament favorite who wound up in third place, Schroeder reminded aspiring fishermen that they, like him, wouldn’t catch the fish they wanted to catch every day, and they would have more bad tournaments than good. “Don’t get frustrated,” Schroeder admonished. “Life goes on.”
Schroeder spoke in general, but he could have been talking to Shane Lehew. In 2014, it was the North Carolina angler’s turn to be disappointed by Kentucky Lake. In the last tournament of the Walmart FLW Tour campaign there, Lehew needed a decent showing to qualify for the Forrest Wood Cup. On the first day of the event, also staged out of Paris Landing, he began the day by losing his first four fish. With them went the rookie’s best chance to qualify for a chance to earn tournament fishing’s richest prize. Lehew finished 101st at Kentucky Lake and 40th on the year.
“You know you’re going to lose a fish every now and then, but I lost four in a row, and every one of them was in the 3 1/2- to 4-pound class,” recalls the 26-year-old Lehew, of Mooresville, N.C. “I changed hooks after the first two jumped off, but then the next two got off too. They were real active, and I couldn’t keep them from jumping. Typically you don’t lose fish like that when you’re fishing a worm, which I was. I was pretty upset about it – getting that close and missing out by a couple of points – but it was my own fault.”
As Schroeder suggested, Lehew didn’t let the misfortune keep him down for long. This year, he’s qualified to fish in his first Forrest Wood Cup after placing 36th in the annual standings. Lehew won $51,797 in his second year as a professional on the Tour and racked up a fairly consistent record. His worst finish in 2015, 111th place, came at Lake Chickamauga, while his best finish, 18th, was tallied at Lake Toho in the season-opener.
In 2014, Lehew began his Tour pro career by capturing 24th place in the first event of the year on Lake Okeechobee. His performances on the Big O last year and at Lake Toho this spring reflect his preference for fishing shallow water with mixed cover.
“I would describe myself as a shallow-water power fisherman – old school like Andy Morgan and Bryan Thrift, though now Thrift has gotten so good with his electronics that he’s become more versatile offshore too,” observes Lehew. “I also need to work on that [using electronics]. Those deep Tennessee River lakes give me fits.”
Though Lehew has never fished Lake Ouachita before, he thinks it’s comparable to Lake Norman, with its variety of shoreline cover and offshore brush piles. In effect, how goes Lake Norman in August, so goes Lake Ouachita – or at least Lehew hopes so.
“Topwater and a jig are my two favorite lures to fish, and I think Ouachita will set up pretty well for those,” notes Lehew, who’s engaged to be married. “Bream beds will be a big factor, just like they are at Lake Norman. However it goes, I’m going to try to enjoy myself. Last year I stressed myself out so bad trying to make it, and then being disappointed – I want to just relax and take in the whole experience.”
He also has enjoyed the experience of winning tournaments in Arkansas. In 2007, the year that Scott Suggs won the Forrest Wood Cup on Lake Ouachita, Lehew captured the 15- to 18-year-old age group title in The Bass Federation’s Junior World Championship on nearby Lake Hamilton. Then came a solid career in the FLW College Fishing ranks. A member of the University of North Carolina-Charlotte team and a College Fishing All-America honoree, Lehew and his partners finished second in the Southeastern Conference championship in 2012, won the title in 2013 and went on to earn runner-up in the 2013 National Championship (second to University of Louisiana-Monroe by less than a pound).
Lehew, who has a degree in criminal justice from UNC-Charlotte, also was eligible to fish in the 2014 National Championship, after having won the Lake Wheeler Invitational in 2013. He decided to skip it because he would have had to miss the Lake Hartwell Tour event and given up a chance to qualify for the Cup. Ultimately, Kentucky Lake spoiled that plan, but Lehew has no regrets.
“Tournament fishing is a humbling sport,” Lehew says, echoing Schroeder’s words at the All-American weigh-in. “There are still things I do wrong. I’m still learning, but this is what I want to do, and I’m going to keep fishing for as long as I can make a living at it.”