Final-Day Double Keys Lefebre’s Comeback Win

By BassFan Staff

Dave Lefebre knows people rolled their eyes at him when he talked earlier this week about being around the caliber of fish to catch a 25-pound and perhaps a 30-pound sack at Smith Lake. He was convinced that if he executed properly on just a few of the big fish he was around, he could make a run at the lead and possibly a win.

Turns out, he didn’t need to catch near that much. After catching three straight stringers in the 14 1/2- to 16-pound range, Lefebre came in with 19-05 today to wipe out an 8 1/2-pound deficit and rally from 7th place to post his third career Tour win. On a day when none of the other finalists cracked the 15-pound mark, Lefebre weighed in the biggest sack over the final 3 days of the event to win by nearly 2 pounds over Clark Wendlandt.

Zack Birge, who led after days 2 and 3 and went out today with a 3-plus pound lead, faltered with just four fish for 5-02, leaving the window open for someone to pounce. Lefebre capitalized and notched his first Tour win since 2012.

“I haven’t even gotten a chance to think about it, but it’s just unreal for me,” he said. “I needed it. I have a lot of things going on, some not fishing related, and I needed a boost in a lot of different places. I’ll always say the Toyota Texas Bass Classic (win) is my biggest one ever, but this one dwarfs it. It’s a true miracle. It was just destined to happen.”

Lefebre, who’d posted an 87th at Lake Toho in the season opener and knew he couldn’t afford another hiccup this season if he’s to get back to the Forrest Wood Cup, benefited from an incredible stroke of good luck and some steely nerves today when he managed to catch two fish on one cast with a Rapala BX Waking Minnow.

In a nearly identical scenario from two days ago, Lefebre hooked a 4-pound largemouth on the wakebait this afternoon, but he quickly saw a bigger fish also giving chase. He played the 4-pounder a little longer than normal in hopes the bigger one would snatch the bait as well.

“I let the 4-pounder swim under the boat, around the trolling motor and out again and the 6-pounder never left its side,” he said. “Then it went after it and missed it and then it finally got (the bait).”

He’s not sure on the elapsed time of the whole sequence, but figures from the time the first fish hit until he netted them both, it was 90 seconds at least. He made two culls with those fish and went from 15 1/2 pounds to 19 plus.

“It’s the craziest thing I’ve ever done and I did it twice in one tournament,” he said. “The first time it didn’t work, the second it did.”

Wendlandt came in with 12-10, his smallest bag of the week, and wound up with 63-07. It’s his best result in an FLW Tour event since he was the runner-up at the Potomac 10 years ago. Fellow Texan Jason Reyes moved up two more spots to finish 3rd after catching 14-07 to close with 62-04.

Tracy Adams wound up where he started the event in 4th following an 11-09 effort today that gave him 61-03. Scott Martin, who was 93rd at Smith Lake in 2013, finished 5th behind a 14-03 bag that pushed his total to 60-12.

Here's how the rest of the finalists finished up:

6. Zack Birge: 59-10
7. Andy Morgan: 59-10
8. Drew Benton: 57-14
9. Clayton Batts: 50-15
10. John Cox: 45-15

John Cox was involved in a one-boat accident shortly before noon Sunday and he opted to not finish the rest of the day. He didn’t suffer any significant injuries, but he was evaluated by medical personnel and it’s expected he won’t miss any tournaments. Cox didn’t weigh in and finished 10th. BassFan spoke with Cox on Sunday evening and will publish his account of what happened shortly.

A second straight night of temperatures in the 30s seemed to halt the next wave of fish moving into the staging areas prior to pushing further shallow to spawn and that hampered the efforts of some of the finalists. But it did nothing to spoil what many considered their best week of fishing ever at Smith Lake. Both largemouth and spotted bass were caught on a wide variety of baits and tactics, deep and shallow, but ultimately it was a pair of largemouths that won it for Lefebre.

With his 14th-place finish at Smith, Wesley Strader took over the lead in the Angler of the Year race, but his advantage is just one point over Luke Clausen with Birge two points back in 3rd place. The Tour will be off for a few weeks before heading to Beaver Lake in Rogers, Ark., for the third event of the year on April 23-26.

Quantity and Quality for Lefebre

> Day 4: 5, 19-05 (20, 65-05)

It’s been a hectic start to the season for Lefebre, who fished out of a borrowed boat at Toho and out of a different borrowed boat this week. His new Ranger was finished this week so he should have it in time for the Beaver Lake tournament, meaning he’ll fish the first three tournaments out of three different boats.

He was pretty familiar with the boat he used this week, though, as it was his tournament boat from a couple years ago and still had the same Power-Poles and electronics on it. The gentleman he sold it to graciously let him use it at Smith Lake.

Using one of FLW’s stock Rangers today, Lefebre had a dynamite start to his day that set the stage for his memorable afternoon double that carried him to the win.

“I caught a ton of fish today,” he said. “I don’t even know how many. I must’ve had 20 spots this morning by 9 a.m. and 12 to 15 largemouths later on.”

He targeted schools of suspended spotted bass with a Fish Head Spin paired with a Yamamoto D Shad trailer before waiting until the afternoon to move into pockets where blueback herring had been spawning to throw the wakebait.

He knew he needed a big bag to challenge Birge. He just wasn’t sure how big.

“I’m a realist and I know Zack caught 17 or 18 every day,” he said. “I’m 8 pounds behind him. How’s he not going to catch 12? I thought 24 pounds today would give me what I needed to beat him even if he has another 17-pound day.

“That lake is unbelievable with how many big fish are in there.”

Full details of his winning pattern, as well as those of the other top finishers, will be published soon.

2nd: Tougher Day for Wendlandt

> Day 4: 5, 12-10 (20, 63-07)

Wendlandt had no complaints about how his tournament went. He just wishes the cold front would’ve waited until after the event to come through because he thinks it halted the next wave of fish from making their push toward the bank.

“I feel like the fact that Zack didn’t catch ‘em left me that opening, but they didn’t bite today,” he said. “It was different. Lefebre did a great job with that miracle fish he caught. I don’t think I would’ve done that, though. That 4-pounder would’ve been the biggest one in his box, but good for him.”

He said he sensed pretty quickly the fishing was going to be tougher than the previous days. It had been taking him 30 minutes or so to catch a limit, but today his second keeper didn’t come until the day was 2 hours old.

“I had quite a few bites on the first stretch but I kept not hooking them,” he said. “They were short-striking the bait. I guess it was these 2 cold days in a row. I’d caught some on a jerkbait, too, and I threw that and didn’t get any bites on it.”

He wound up catching eight keepers, including a couple small ones off beds with a tube.

“I got stuck on a couple big ones that just wouldn’t bite,” he said. “It was a little cloudy and windier today, but at the same time I didn’t know anybody else was struggling even though I figured they would be.”

3rd: Reyes Notches Best Tour Result

> Day 4: 5, 14-07 (20, 62-04)

Reyes echoed what others among the Top 5 experienced today, save for Lefebre: The fishing was just tougher overall. He still managed to scratch out 14-07 and move up two more spots to record his best career finish in a Tour event.

“It feels good to get in there and at least be able to have a chance on the final day to win,” he said. “I’ve had events where I’ve been good one day and struggle the next and I’ve never really, truly been in contention to win, so that feels good. Hopefully, it generates some momentum for me.”

He totaled seven keepers today and again focused mostly on schooling spotted bass with a 3-inch Keitech Swing Impact swimbait. He also caught one largemouth off a bed today before returning to his area with spots.

“I felt like my only shot at it was to catch spots,” he said. “When you’re fishing for these spots, you’re hoping a solid 14- to 17-pound average would hold up. I didn’t really fish much different, but I didn’t have any easy opportunities where I’d pull up and things would be happening. I had to manufacture everything. The spots that were producing multiple fish only kicked out one good one a day. I just had to scramble around.”

4th: Adams’ Fish Shrunk

> Day 4: 5, 11-09 (20, 61-03)

Adams took off today thinking he could continue the momentum he build Saturday catching good fish off docks with a wacky-rigged Zoom Trick Worm. He caught plenty of fish that way, but they weren’t the size he needed. Still, his 11-09 kept him in the Top 5

“It was a good tournament,” he said. “Obviously, today and day 2 hurt me a little, but I had 2 good days. I guess you’re lucky to have 2 good days then. If you’d have told me I’d catch 61 pounds before we started, I’d say I’d be leaving with the big check.”

His dock pattern was productive again, but he couldn’t match the quality from Saturday.

“I probably caught more under the docks than any of the other days, but they were all little today,” he said. “I thought I could get a couple more in that 4-pound range.”

He also targeted some leftover bedding fish with a Zoom Centipede, but again they were small in stature.

5th: Martin Had a Blast

> Day 4: 5, 14-03 (20, 60-12)

When Martin saw the schedule come out last year and noticed Smith Lake was back on the ledger, he made it his goal to make amends for his clunker there in 2013. By averaging better than 15 pounds a day, he certainly did that.

“I’m happy with it,” he said. “It was a fun tournament for me, probably one of the more fun ones I’ve had simply because I wasn’t stressed out. I wasn’t worried about where to find fish. I went to new water each day and found new fish.”

He caught three spotted bass right away this morning on a Bruiser Baits swimbait, then picked up another keeper on a wakebait before he started running into pockets to target bedding fish.

“Those fish weren’t just in every pocket,” he said. “You really had to get lucky and pick the right creek. I made a move today and I was in a part of the lake I’d never been to and I look over and saw three pockets and said, ‘That looks like a good spawning area.’ I went into the first pocket and caught a 3-pounder and a 4-pounder. I move to the next pocket and didn’t see any on beds.”

Figuring he’d need at least a 20-pound bag to get into contention for the win, he continued his search for bigger bedding fish, but ran out of time.

“I kept looking around for a big cull, but never did find one,” he added.

Notable

> Day 4 stats – 10 anglers, 7 limits, 1 four, 1 two, 1 zero.

> Read how Jay Yelas and Luke Clausen tackled the fishing-friendly confines for Smith Lake this week in our Pro View Report. Click here to read more.

Final Standings

1. Dave Lefebre -- Erie, Pa -- 14-8 (5) -- 15-14 (5) -- 30-6 (10) -- 15-10 (5) -- 19-05 (5) -- 65-05 (20) -- $125,000

2. Clark Wendlandt -- Leander, Tx -- 16-3 (5) -- 17-5 (5) -- 33-8 (10) -- 17-05 (5) -- 12-10 (5) -- 63-07 (20) -- $30,000

3. Jason Reyes -- Huffman, Tx -- 13-2 (5) -- 18-4 (5) -- 31-6 (10) -- 16-07 (5) -- 14-07 (5) -- 62-04 (20) -- $25,000

4. Tracy Adams -- Wilkesboro, NC -- 18-9 (5) -- 13-3 (5) -- 31-12 (10) -- 17-14 (5) -- 11-09 (5) -- 61-03 (20) -- $20,000

5. Scott Martin -- Clewiston, Fl -- 18-6 (5) -- 12-9 (5) -- 30-15 (10) -- 15-10 (5) -- 14-03 (5) -- 60-12 (20) -- $19,000

6. Zack Birge -- Blanchard, Ok -- 18-15 (5) -- 17-14 (5) -- 36-13 (10) -- 17-11 (5) -- 5-02 (4) -- 59-10 (19) -- $18,000

7. Andy Morgan -- Dayton, Tn -- 16-3 (5) -- 14-11 (5) -- 30-14 (10) -- 14-15 (5) -- 13-13 (5) -- 59-10 (20) -- $17,000

8. Drew Benton -- Panama City, Fl -- 20-12 (5) -- 15-1 (5) -- 35-13 (10) -- 12-12 (5) -- 9-05 (5) -- 57-14 (20) -- $16,000

9. Clayton Batts -- Macon, Ga -- 19-9 (5) -- 11-13 (5) -- 31-6 (10) -- 14-06 (5) -- 5-03 (2) -- 50-15 (17) -- $15,000

10. John Cox -- Debary, Fl -- 16-7 (5) -- 12-13 (5) -- 29-4 (10) -- 16-11 (5) -- 0-00 (0) -- 45-15 (15) -- $14,000