'Redeemed' LeBrun Relishes Guntersville Win

By John Johnson
BassFan Senior Editor

Almost exactly 4 years ago, Nick LeBrun competed in the BFL All-American on Cross Lake near his home in Bossier City, La. He figured that if he could just win that big-money event on a familiar body of water, all his off-the-water problems would disappear.

He did, but they didn't.

The $100,000 payday had no effect on the things that were truly wrong with his life. Just 2 weeks later, he was right on the precipice of killing himself. He'd driven to the place where he planned to end it all and had a Springfield XDM .40-caliber pistol in one hand. He used the other hand to make one last call to a buddy.

"Leading up to that tournament, I had a lot of problems in my life and in my marriage," he said. "I was just living this fake life and thinking that winning would solve everything, but nothing could be further from the truth than that. It actually left me feeling more empty and hopeless than ever."

So he called his friend and relayed his horrific plan. He told the guy that that he wasn't the man his friend thought he was and that things had spiraled too far out of control to go on. His friend pleaded with him to hang on for just a minute, then hung up on him and called a guy named Craig Kennedy, a crisis management expert, Christian marriage counselor and police/firefighter chaplain.

"He spoke the truth to me and told me the things I needed to hear and he talked me down," LeBrun said. "I learned that a lot of my problems were the result of not having a relationship with Jesus Christ and I surrendered my life to Him a few weeks later. (Christ) made everything new and fixed everything and I've got a future and I've got hope now.

"I talked to (Kennedy) a lot over those next few weeks – me and my wife (Jolene) were separated and it was a tough time. I learned so much, and the main thing was that I needed to take responsibility for everything. It wasn't everybody else's problem, it was my fault and I needed redemption from Jesus Christ."

Got Another Chance

The 38-year-old LeBrun, the father of twin 6-year-old sons and a 2-year-old daughter, said that he told his wife on numerous occasions over the past few years that he wished he could go back and redo the All-American win as a Christian and a "new person." He wanted to give the glory to God.

A similar opportunity arose on Sunday when he won the MLF Pro Circuit event at Alabama's Lake Guntersville, and he took full advantage of it. With Jolene by his side, he related his journey to spiritual fulfillment to the people who showed up for the weigh-in at Lake Guntersville State Park.

"You just never know what people are going through," he said. "There's a chance there was somebody there who needed to hear that."

A shallow-water power-fisherman by trade, he was an unlikely winner out on the famed Guntersville ledges. But he had a loaded-up stretch all to himself for the week and caught a 22-15 bag over a 45-minute period at midday to win the final round by almost 2 1/2 pounds over the runner-up, rookie Nick Hatfield.

The first fish he put in his livewell on the final day was a 7-pounder.

"The All-American was kind of a career-launching win, but I was fishing shallow cypress trees and that was right in my wheelhouse," he said. "To win this one 4 years into my pro career, a ledge event on a (Tennessee Valley Authority) lake, it feels career-defining. I feel like I grew my tenure a little bit last week.

"I fish deep water offshore back home on Rayburn a lot, but that's like 20 feet of flat water. There aren't big drop-offs and it's mostly brushpile-related. The ledge thing is different and I learned a lot. Yeah, I won the tournament, but I still don't feel like I know what I'm doing out there. I wish I had time to spend another 3 or 4 days there and just keep learning.

"At least the next time we have one like this, I won't be intimidated. I'm looking forward to it."

Pattern and Gear Notes

LeBrun's key locale was a 100-yard stretch that had several small sweet spots on the ledge. He kept his boat in 30 feet of water and made lengthy throws into the 12- to 14-foot depth range.

"There were probably about a hundred fish there and they were a mix of all sizes of both largemouth and spotted bass," he said.

The tricky part was the he couldn't always fish it effectively. He said there were times when the floating eelgrass made it resemble "a cow pasture" and he'd be forced to depart and return later after the current had dispersed the vegetation.

His primary offering was a 4 1/2-inch Producer swimbait (blue crack) attached to a 3/4-ounce homemade jighead. He used a 7 1/2-foot heavy-action Fitzgerald Fishing All Purpose Series rod, a Fitzgerald Stunner casting reel (7:1 ratio) and 18-pound Sunline Sniper fluorocarbon line.

"I had to make a real long cast with the swimbait," he said. "I was on the edge of my seat for the first 30 feet (of the retrieve), but every once in a while one would surprise me and bite it halfway back to the boat."

During periods when the swimbait wasn't producing, he opted for a 10 1/2-inch V&M J-Mag worm (several colors, including plum apple). That setup included a 7'3" Fitzgerald Stunner rod, the same reel and line and a 3/4-ounce black V&M Mega Shakey Head jighead.

"I did weigh a few fish that I caught on a small finesse swimbait on a spinning rod," he said. "It was a 3.3 Keitech on a Hayabusa FPJ 960 head.

"My Lowrance ActiveTarget was a big key for knowing where the school was and making sure my bait was coming through them."

Notable

> The win moved LeBrun up to 24th in the Angler of the Year (AOY) points standings. He'd be among the leaders if not for a 148th-place bomb at Florida's Harris Chain, but he's not stressing over that. "When you're fishing to win, you're going to bomb out sometimes," he said. "What I'm doing is working right now, so I'm going to roll with it."

> He won the Grand Lake Bassmaster Central Open last November and qualified for this year's Classic at Lake Hartwell, where he finished 18th.

> To watch a YouTube video in which LeBrun and his wife detail their marital hardships and how they overcame them, click below.