Dave Lefebre, the 11th-place finisher at the recent Hartwell FLW Tour Major, said that from a strategic standpoint, there's little he could have done that would've gained him another spot in the day-3 standings and thus qualified him to fish the final day. Some bites that never made it into his livewell were his undoing.
"It was one of those tournaments where I felt like I did everything right, but I just had too many get off," said Lefebre, whose 45-08 total left him 2 ounces behind Andy Morgan in the duel for the final cut position. "On day 1 I lost one over 5 pounds on camera and on day 2 I lost a 4-pounder. Those were fish I saw – that actually jumped several times.
"Then on day 3, I missed more bites than I hooked."
He said the fish he was catching were either spawning or real close to beginning that ritual. His best area featured shallow, muddy water that got up to 64 degrees in the afternoons.
"I had 27 or 30 rods rigged up in my boat, but this was the first tournament I can remember where I didn't have a single (traditional) jig tied on. I couldn't get a bite doing that kind of thing. It was all about fishing fast and covering water."
His offerings included a Phenix vibrating jig, a Rapala DT Fat 3 crankbait and a spinnerbait.
"I threw the vibrating jig a lot, and those things are notorious for having fish get off."
The Big Bite Lookback, which focuses on the angler who's first out of the final cut at each tour-level event, is brought to you by the great folks at Big Bite Baits.
