Some said it was only a matter of time. They were right.
Pennsylvania FLW Tour pro Dave Lefebre has come so close to victory so many times in the past half-decade, it's a little mind-boggling. He "almost" did it this year at the Pittsburgh Forrest Wood Cup on his home water, but he finished 7th. He almost did it the year
before at the Murray Cup, but he finished 2nd. And this year alone, he's notched six Top 10s in FLW Tour, FLW Series and Stren competition without a win.
But today at the Toyota Texas Bass Classic (TTBC) at Lake Conroe, Lefebre finally did it: He led wire-to-wire and won a championship.
Although it's hard at this point to pinpoint the significance of the victory in the annals of the sport – this TTBC was the first to serve as the PAA Tournament Series championship –g in terms of dollars, it's right up there. For the win, Lefebre pocketed $210,000 in cash plus a new Phoenix boat, for a total payout estimated at $250,000.
And he beat many of the sport's best to do it. Inside the Top 10 were names like Aaron Martens, Clark Wendlandt, Tim Horton and Tommy Biffle.
Andy Montgomery finished a heart-breaking 2nd. Remarkably, this was Montgomery's second runner-up finish in Texas in as many weeks. He lost last week's Toledo Bend PAA Tournament Series to Rick Morris by about 8 ounces, and he lost today to Lefebre by 4 ounces.
Lefebre Ecstatic
It's been a long time coming for Lefebre, and he said he's happy to trade all that heartbreak for this one championship. That's how good it feels. And he did it in front of a crowd that he said seemed bigger than any Cup or Bassmaster Classic he's witnessed.
"It's unbelievable, man. All those 2nds and stuff going on lately – to win this one, I'd trade it all. This was the one I wanted. This was just unbelievable. I still can't believe it. I haven't even really had time to think about it yet."
In a dramatic close, Lefebre caught the winning fish with only minutes of fishing time left.
Lefebre's weight today wasn't huge – he weighed 10 pounds even. And it took some last-minute heroics to ice it.
"Earlier in the day I lost a fish between 5 and 7 pounds," he said. "It was a huge one. I was catching them good, but just not catching good ones. I had like 9 pounds in the box all day. The wind had changed so I was running new stuff all day that I couldn't fish the first 2 days. And right toward the end of the day, with 20 minutes left, I stopped on a place where I hadn't ever been before. But I was fishing a pattern, and just running it those last couple of hours.
"With 20 minutes left I pulled in there, flipped and lost a 4-pounder. I set the hook and knew it was a big one. The spectator boats were going crazy. It came out from under the dock, jumped and threw the jig and I was devastated. That's what I'd been looking for all day because I had to get rid of a 1-08."
He put the trolling motor on high and zoomed to the next dock, flipped under the walkway and caught a 2-03. "That culled the 1-08 and it was the winning fish," he said. "It was just amazing. I didn't think I had enough. That's how important ounces are.
"I hated to see Andy (Montgomery) go through that," he added. "But it seems like I'm never on this side of it. When things are close and I need a boost or something, I never come out on top. I'm always the other guy. I knew it was going to be close. It just feels good to finally get the nod."
Lefebre fished a 7/16-ounce black-and-blue Tabu jig tipped with a craw on days 1 and 3. The second day, he tipped the jig with a new, prototype Kinami Bug to combat the post-frontal conditions. The full details of his winning pattern will be posted soon.
Andy Montgomery, who finished 2nd for the second week in a row, says it's all pretty tough to swallow.
Montgomery Frustrated
Montgomery, who weighed 15-12 today, came within a pound of winning $300,000 over the past 2 weeks. He said he's having a particularly tough time with today's near-miss.
"It's extremely disappointing because of the money difference between 1st and 2nd," he said. "But also, I want to win a national tournament. I lost last week by about 4 ounces at Toledo Bend, and this week by 4 ounces. That's pretty hard to swallow 2 weeks in a row."
When asked if he had the winning fish on at any time today, Montgomery said: "I broke one off yesterday that would have won it, and broke one off today too. I'm sure Dave lost some too. But I don't know – you think back, and you just needed so little to win so much money. It's frustrating – hard to swallow.
"But these last 2 weeks have given me a lot of confidence that I can fish, and that I've got what it takes to win one of these things," he added. "I can't seem to get it done. Hopefully it'll come around. The way I fish is mostly shallow fishing, and you just don't get into position to win that often. To have two chances in 2 weeks and not win either week, it's kind of tough to swallow."
Notable
> When Greg Hackney and Mike Iaconelli finished 1-2 in this year's Cup, many felt it showed that Bassmaster Elite Series pros were dominant in the sport. For those keeping score, Lefebre and Montgomery fish the FLW Tour, as do Jason Christie (5th), Clark Wendlandt (6th) and Sean Hoernke (9th).
Final Standings
1. Lefebre, Dave -- 46-12
2. Montgomery, Andy -- 46-08
3. Auten, Todd --46-04
4. Martens, Aaron -- 45-12
5. Christie, Jason -- 42-00
6. Wendlandt, Clark -- 41-04
7. Morgenthaler, Chad -- 41-00
8. Horton, Timmy -- 39-08
9. Hoernke, Sean -- 37-08
10. Biffle, Tommy -- 29-00
The following anglers didn't make the cut and didn't fish day 3:
11. King, Stacey -- 26-08
11. Lane, Russ -- 26-08
13. Cecil, Russell -- 25-12
14. Omori, Takahiro -- 25-08
15. Ogrodowicz, Matt -- 25-00
16. Thomas, Joe -- 24-04
16. Kenney, J.T. -- 24-04
18. Clausen, Luke -- 23-08
18. Baumgardner, Chris -- 23-08
20. Blassingame, Shonn -- 23-04
20. Hackney, Greg -- 23-04
22. Contaoi, Fred -- 23-00
23. Kennedy, Steve -- 22-12
24. Fukae, Shinichi -- 22-04
25. Dudley, David P. -- 22-00
26. Kriet, Jeff -- 21-08
27. Jenkel, Duke -- 21-00
28. Eaker, Sr., Guy -- 20-04
28. McClelland, Mike -- 20-04
30. Faircloth, Todd -- 20-00
30. Gagliardi, Anthony -- 20-00
30. Browne, Glenn -- 20-00
30. Lane, Arnie -- 20-00
34. Lane, Bobby -- 19-12
35. Bobo, Dalton -- 18-12
35. Melvin, Sandy -- 18-12
35. Evers, Edwin -- 18-12
35. VanDam, Kevin -- 18-12
35. Caka, Keith -- 18-12
40. Snowden, Brian -- 18-08
40. Walker, David -- 18-08
42. Duckett, Boyd -- 17-12
43. Grigsby, Shaw -- 17-08
43. Elliott, Chris -- 17-08
45. Morris, Rick -- 17-00
46. Daves, Chris -- 16-08
47. Martin, Tommy -- 16-00
48. Rackley, Justin -- 15-12
49. Bird, Cody -- 15-08
50. Morgan, Andy -- 15-04
51. Jordon, Kelly -- 15-00
51. Thrift, Bryan -- 15-00
53. Dowling, Craig -- 14-08
54. Rose, Mark -- 10-04
54. Reed, Matt -- 10-04
56. Wurm, Michael -- 9-12
57. Smith, Dave -- 8-08
58. Mabrey, Kyle -- 6-12
59. Vick, Lance -- 5-04
60. Mansue, Dave -- 1-04
