Rookies LeBrun, George Lead The Way On Day 1

By John Johnson
BassFan Senior Editor

Competing on one of the sport's most famous venues, Nick LeBrun and Sam George had memorable starts to their professional careers.

LeBrun, the 2018 BFL All-American champion from Louisiana, caught a 29-02 stringer to lead the field after the first day of the FLW Tour season opener at rain-enlarged Sam Rayburn Reservoir in Texas. George, a 23-year-old Alabamian who's spent the past several years trying to qualify for the Bassmaster Elite Series, boxed 28-05 to put himself within a pound of the top slot.

"I just had an awesome day," Lebrun said. "I won't catch that (weight) again tomorrow; I'll be thrilled if I can get into the high teens."

George said he couldn't have dreamed up a better first day on his new job.

"I'd have called you a liar if you'd told me yesterday that this was going to happen today," he said. "I had a terrible practice – the biggest fish I caught was a 4-pounder – and (former FLW Cup champion Brad Knight) and I had an hour-long conversation last night about the importance of finishing 100th instead of 150th. I went out to salvage every point I could and weird stuff just happened."

Two other competitors – second-year pro Chad Warren and the ever-improving Jordan Osborne – topped the quarter-century mark. Warren weighed 25-07 and Osborne caught 25-01.

Three-time Angler of the Year David Dudley rounded out the top 5 with 24-03. The bottom half of the initial top 10 is a veteran-laden quintet consisting of Jim Tutt (23-09), Troy Morrow (22-12), Scott Martin (22-02), Bryan Thrift (20-15) and Terry Bolton (20-10).

Osborne and Martin each caught a bruiser weighing 9-12 to share big-fish honors.

The extreme high-water conditions were expected to negate any home-lake advantage held by the numerous Rayburn aces in the field, and that proved to be the case. Tutt and Russell Cecil (17th, 17-14) had good days, but you had to look at 67th place and below to find names such as Jason Reyes, Todd Castledine, Chris McCall, Dicky Newberry and Clark Reehm.

It was the first day in the history of the circuit, which dates to 1996, that competitors didn't have another angler fishing out of the back of the boat. Co-anglers have been replaced by non-competing marshals this year.

"It was like night and day – it was so much better," said Tutt, whose stringer was topped by an 8-pounder. "It was a huge deal for me because I could really saturate the areas that had a lot of fish and I didn't have to share them."

The full field will be back on the water for day 2, with the top 30 competitors advancing to Saturday's round. Only the top 10 will compete on Sunday, when the winner will be determined by highest cumulative weight.

LeBrun said he had an awesome pre-practice at Rayburn before the venue went off-limits last month, but was a bit bummed out when he returned for official practice and found it 5 feet higher.

"I refocused and I learned that a couple of my spots weren't affected too badly," he said. "I changed some techniques and tactics and relearned the areas and it worked out."

He caught 18 pounds in short order and had 23 by 10 o'clock. He went looking for new water at that point and culled up three times. He didn't boat a fish that weighed more than 6 1/2 pounds, but didn't weigh any that were under 5.

"I'll say that a half-ounce Bill Lewis Rat-L-Trap was very key in finding fish in practice and I've evolved that into a few different things, but I'm not ready to share those details yet. They're grass-related fish, but when the grass is 15 to 20 feet deep you have to fish it a little differently. You kind of have to slow down.

"The key to my success tomorrow will be getting another decent limit early so I can slow down and go head-hunting."

George also loaded up early and made two culls just before lunchtime. He ran a grass-based pattern with quite a few other competitors in his vicinity.

"The area I'm fishing is pretty specific and I don't really know what it is or why they're on it," he said. "I don't know if I've found the magic bait and I don't know if I can catch them tomorrow; we'll see

"I'm going to ride this one while I can. If it all hits the fan tomorrow I'll pull out a dropshot and fish for 6 pounds of spotted bass."

Warren, who's become a consistent performer on the Southwestern FLW Series over the past 3 seasons, fished the Tour in 2017 before taking last year off. He's returned with a vengeance – his stout bag was topped by a fish in excess of 7 pounds.

"I expected to have a good day, but not that good," he said. "I caught a bunch in 10 or 15 casts at my first spot and then did the same thing at my second spot, and then I left them. I was done by about 9 o'clock.

"I pretty much had both of those areas to myself and I left them biting in both places. Tomorrow I'm hoping for at least 15 pounds – I think that'll give me enough to make the cut."

Osborne caught his 9 3/4-pound lunker right around noon.

"It came in pretty smooth," he said. "It came up and broke the surface one time, but I could see it had the crankbait choked. I wasn't worried about it getting off.

"A little while before that I'd set on one and told my marshal it was a giant, but it turned out to be a 2 1/2-pounder – it was just mean. When the big one bit, I said, 'Okay, I'm not going to say anything about this one.' Then it broke the surface and it was like, 'Okay, it's big.'''

He also caught weigh-in fish on a Carolina rig and a spinnerbait.

"I'm doing the things a lot of other people are doing, but I just found a really special wad of fish."

Morrow, who's attempting to bounce back after two lousy seasons in a row (119th and 153rd in the points), had a 9 1/4-pounder in his bag. He didn't have much going on until he came across a point that was teeming with baitfish and bass.

"I had an awful practice," he said. "It was so bad that I started out today fishing for spots so I'd at least have five to weigh in."

Castledine said that all of his experience on Rayburn is useless this week. He caught his 11-15 bag entirely from places he's never fished before. He employed a spinnerbait, which is an offering he said he's never used to catch an entire limit at Rayburn.

"I had a pretty good practice – not 25 pounds good, but 14 to 18," he said. "Today the fish just got small on me.

"The smallest fish I caught in practice was 2 1/2 pounds and I could barely catch one that size today."

Weather Forecast

> Fri., Jan. 11 – Partly Cloudy - 62°/49°
- Wind: From the SE at 5 mph

> Sat., Jan. 12 – A.M. Showers - 63°/38°
- Wind: From the WSW at 10 mph

> Sun., Jan. 13 – Sunny - 54°/36°
- Wind: From the N at 7 mph

Day 1 Standings

1. Nick Lebrun -- Bossier City, La -- 29-2 (5)

2. Sam George -- Athens, Al -- 28-5 (5)

3. Chad Warren -- Sand Springs, Ok -- 25-7 (5)

4. Jordan Osborne -- Longview, Tx -- 25-1 (5)

5. David Dudley -- Lynchburg, Va -- 24-3 (5)

6. Jim Tutt -- Longview, Tx -- 23-9 (5)

7. Troy Morrow -- Eastanollee, Ga -- 22-12 (5)

8. Scott Martin -- Clewiston, Fl -- 22-2 (5)

9. Bryan Thrift -- Shelby, NC -- 20-15 (5)

10. Terry Bolton -- Benton, Ky -- 20-10 (5)

11. Andrew Upshaw -- Tulsa, Ok -- 19-8 (5)

12. Derek Fulps -- Broken Arrow, Ok -- 19-4 (5)

13. Bryan Schmitt -- Deale, Md -- 19-2 (5)

14. Miles Burghoff -- Hixson, Tn -- 18-12 (5)

15. Jon Englund -- Farwell, Mn -- 18-11 (5)

16. Billy Shelton III -- La Crosse, Va -- 18-9 (5)

17. Russell Cecil -- Willis, Tx -- 17-14 (5)

18. Tom Redington -- Royse City, Tx -- 17-10 (5)

19. Matt Reed -- Madisonville, Tx -- 17-8 (5)

20. Jim Moynagh -- Carver, Mn -- 17-5 (5)

20. Wes Logan -- Springville, Al -- 17-5 (5)

22. Andy Wicker -- Pomaria, SC -- 16-9 (5)

23. Randy Blaukat -- Joplin, Mo -- 16-7 (5)

24. Jason Meninger -- Saint Augustine, Fl -- 16-1 (5)

24. John Cox -- Debary, Fl -- 16-1 (5)

24. Derrick Snavely -- Piney Flats, Tn -- 16-1 (5)

27. Charlie Ingram -- Centerville, Tn -- 15-14 (5)

28. Charles Sim -- Nepean, On -- 15-13 (5)

29. Ramie Colson Jr -- Cadiz, Ky -- 15-10 (5)

30. Shawn Murphy -- Nicholasville, Ky -- 15-9 (5)

31. Colby Schrumpf -- Highland, Il -- 15-5 (5)

32. Kurt Dove -- Del Rio, Tx -- 15-3 (5)

33. Wade Strelic -- Alpine, Ca -- 15-0 (5)

33. Matt Becker -- Finleyville, Pa -- 15-0 (5)

35. Jimmy Houston -- Cookson, Ok -- 14-14 (5)

36. Sheldon Collings -- Grove, Ok -- 14-9 (5)

37. Darrell Davis -- Dover, Fl -- 14-7 (5)

37. Casey Scanlon -- Lake Ozark, Mo -- 14-7 (5)

37. Darrel Robertson -- Jay, Ok -- 14-7 (5)

40. Chad Grigsby -- Maple Grove, Mn -- 14-5 (5)

41. Billy Hines -- Vacaville, Ca -- 14-4 (5)

42. Cody Kelley -- Conway, Ar -- 14-3 (5)

43. Hunter Freeman -- Monroe, La -- 14-1 (5)

43. Evan Barnes -- Hot Springs, Ar -- 14-1 (5)

45. Tommy Dickerson -- Orange, Tx -- 14-0 (5)

46. Billy McCaghren -- Mayflower, Ar -- 13-11 (5)

47. Dakota Ebare -- Denham Springs, La -- 13-7 (5)

47. Troy Roder -- Brookeland, Tx -- 13-7 (5)

47. Mike Surman -- Boca Raton, Fl -- 13-7 (5)

47. Kyle Cortiana -- Coweta, Ok -- 13-7 (5)

51. Kerry Milner -- Bono, Ar -- 13-5 (5)

52. Joey Cifuentes -- Clinton, Ar -- 13-3 (5)

53. Rob Jordan -- Flowery Branch, Ga -- 13-2 (4)

54. Richard Lowitzki -- Hampshire, Il -- 13-1 (5)

55. Joseph Webster -- Winfield, Al -- 13-0 (5)

55. Bob Morin -- Seymour, Tn -- 13-0 (5)

55. Cody Murray -- Nampa, Id -- 13-0 (5)

58. Daryl Biron -- South Windsor, Ct -- 12-14 (5)

59. Bradley Dortch -- Atmore, Al -- 12-13 (5)

59. Ryan Salzman -- Huntsville, Al -- 12-13 (5)

61. Johnny McCombs -- Morris, Al -- 12-11 (5)

62. Timmy Thompkins -- Myrtle Beach, SC -- 12-9 (5)

63. Brandon Mosley -- Choctaw, Ok -- 12-8 (5)

64. Greg Bohannan -- Bentonville, Ar -- 12-7 (5)

65. Jeff Dobson -- Bartlesville, Ok -- 12-6 (5)

65. Corey Neece -- Bristol, Tn -- 12-6 (5)

67. Jason Reyes -- Huffman, Tx -- 12-4 (5)

68. Jimmy Brewer -- Marshall, Tx -- 12-3 (5)

69. John Hunter -- Shelbyville, Ky -- 12-2 (5)

70. Tim Frederick -- Leesburg, Fl -- 12-1 (5)

70. Joel Willert -- Prior Lake, Mn -- 12-1 (5)

72. Todd Castledine -- Nacogdoches, Tx -- 11-15 (5)

73. David Wootton -- Collierville, Tn -- 11-14 (5)

74. Aaron Britt -- Yuba City, Ca -- 11-11 (5)

74. Jeremy Lawyer -- Sarcoxie, Mo -- 11-11 (5)

76. J Todd Tucker -- Moultrie, Ga -- 11-9 (5)

76. Jay Kendrick -- Grant, Al -- 11-9 (5)

76. Dylan Hays -- El Dorado, Ar -- 11-9 (5)

79. Christopher Brasher -- Longview, Tx -- 11-6 (5)

79. Jacob Wall -- Jacksonville, Or -- 11-6 (5)

81. Chris McCall -- Palmer, Tx -- 11-4 (5)

81. Tyler Woolcott -- Port Orange, Fl -- 11-4 (5)

83. John Voyles -- Petersburg, In -- 11-3 (5)

84. Austin Felix -- Eden Prairie, Mn -- 11-1 (5)

84. Rex Huff -- Corbin, Ky -- 11-1 (5)

86. Bradley Hallman -- Norman, Ok -- 11-0 (5)

86. Dicky Newberry -- Houston, Tx -- 11-0 (5)

88. Curtis Richardson -- Belleville, On -- 10-15 (5)

88. Blake Smith -- Lakeland, Fl -- 10-15 (5)

90. Drew Ratley -- Shreveport, La -- 10-14 (5)

91. James Niggemeyer -- Van, Tx -- 10-12 (5)

92. Brian Latimer -- Belton, SC -- 10-11 (5)

93. David Gaston -- Sylacauga, Al -- 10-9 (5)

94. Jimmy Reese -- Witter Springs, Ca -- 10-6 (5)

95. Brandon McMillan -- Clewiston, Fl -- 10-3 (5)

96. Ryan Chandler -- Hebron, In -- 10-0 (5)

97. Ron Farrow -- Rock Hill, SC -- 9-13 (5)

97. Tony Dumitras -- Winston, Ga -- 9-13 (5)

97. Scott Wiley -- Bay Minette, Al -- 9-13 (5)

97. Mark Fisher -- Wauconda, Il -- 9-13 (5)

101. Larry Nixon -- Quitman, Ar -- 9-12 (5)

102. Clark Reehm -- Elm Grove, La -- 9-11 (5)

103. Glenn Chappelear -- Acworth, Ga -- 9-10 (5)

104. Kurt Mitchell -- Milford, De -- 9-9 (5)

104. Miles Howe -- San Juan Capistrano, Ca -- 9-9 (4)

104. Austin Wilson -- Citrus Heights, Ca -- 9-9 (5)

107. Buddy Gross -- Chickamauga, Ga -- 9-7 (5)

107. Bradford Beavers -- Summerville, SC -- 9-7 (5)

107. Braxton Setzer -- Montgomery, Al -- 9-7 (5)

107. Barry Wilson -- Birmingham, Al -- 9-7 (3)

111. Jason Abram -- Piney Flats, Tn -- 9-6 (5)

112. Rusty Trancygier -- Hahira, Ga -- 9-3 (5)

113. Bill McDonald -- Greenwood, In -- 9-2 (5)

113. Joshua Weaver -- Macon, Ga -- 9-2 (5)

115. Chad Randles -- Elkhorn, Ne -- 8-14 (5)

115. Marty Lawrence -- Mesa, Az -- 8-14 (5)

117. Chris Whitson -- Louisville, Tn -- 8-7 (5)

117. Lendell Martin Jr -- Nacogdoches, Tx -- 8-7 (5)

119. Matt Greenblatt -- Port St Lucie, Fl -- 8-6 (5)

120. Tom Monsoor -- La Crosse, Wi -- 8-1 (5)

120. Brant Grimm -- Church Hill, Tn -- 8-1 (5)

122. Jay Brainard -- Enid, Ok -- 8-0 (4)

122. Cody Hahner -- Wausau, Wi -- 8-0 (3)

122. Luke Dunkin -- Lawrenceburg, Tn -- 8-0 (4)

125. Scott Ashmore -- Broken Arrow, Ok -- 7-14 (5)

126. Clayton Batts -- Butler, Ga -- 7-13 (5)

127. Tim Cales -- Sandstone, WV -- 7-8 (4)

128. Kevin Finley -- Phoenix, Az -- 7-7 (5)

129. Kyle Weisenburger -- Ottawa, Oh -- 7-6 (4)

129. Charles Stratton -- Chaffee, Mo -- 7-6 (5)

131. Pete Ponds -- Madison, Ms -- 7-0 (5)

131. AJ Slegona -- Pine Bush, NY -- 7-0 (3)

133. Randy Allen -- Gilliam, La -- 6-15 (2)

134. Craig Rozema -- Simpsonville, SC -- 6-14 (2)

135. Bill Hutchison -- Bessemer, Al -- 6-11 (4)

136. Chris Neau -- New Orleans, La -- 6-10 (4)

137. Charlie Evans -- Berea, Ky -- 6-9 (3)

138. Grae Buck -- Harleysville, Pa -- 6-7 (4)

139. Nick Gainey -- Charleston, SC -- 5-15 (5)

140. Alex Davis -- Albertville, Al -- 5-8 (3)

141. Michael Matthee -- Centurion, Gp -- 5-7 (3)

142. Brad Knight -- Lancing, Tn -- 5-6 (5)

143. Matthew Stefan -- Junction City, Wi -- 5-5 (2)

143. Josh Douglas -- Isle, Mn -- 5-5 (5)

145. Jared McMillan -- Belle Glade, Fl -- 5-0 (2)

146. Jamie Horton -- Centerville, Al -- 4-6 (2)

147. Bailey Boutries -- Daphne, Al -- 4-5 (2)

148. Hensley Powell -- Whitwell, Tn -- 4-4 (2)

149. Matt Wittekiend -- Angleton, Tx -- 4-2 (2)

150. Tim Malone -- Kodak, Tn -- 4-1 (2)

151. Tyler Stewart -- West Monroe, La -- 3-15 (2)

152. Rob Kilby -- Hot Springs, Ar -- 3-8 (2)

153. Chuck Medley -- Owens Cross Roads, Al -- 3-7 (3)

154. Robert Pearson -- Herndon, Va -- 3-6 (2)

155. Alton Wilhoit -- Noble, Ok -- 3-2 (1)

156. Robert Case -- Point, Tx -- 3-1 (1)

157. Andy Young -- Isle, Mn -- 3-0 (2)

158. Zell Rowland -- Montgomery, Tx -- 2-11 (1)

159. Jonathan Canada -- Helena, Al -- 2-4 (2)

160. Robert Behrle -- Hoover, Al -- 2-3 (1)

161. Chip Harrington -- Olathe, Ks -- 2-2 (1)

162. David Williams -- Maiden, NC -- 1-15 (1)

163. Gary Yamamoto -- Palestine, Tx -- 1-13 (1)

164. Harry Moore -- Valley, Al -- 1-11 (1)

165. Rex Jaeger -- Hamilton, Oh -- 1-1 (1)

Randy Despino -- Colfax, La -- 0-0 (0)

Eric Jackson -- Walling, Tn -- 0-0 (0)

Ron Nelson -- Berrien Springs, Mi -- 0-0 (0)

Jim Jones -- Big Bend, Wi -- 0-0 (0)

Jason Christy -- Dadeville, Al -- 0-0 (0)