Nick LeBrun's Pattern, Baits & Gear
"That's where all of my confidence was," he said. "It's not that I jacked around during practice, but I didn't want to stray from my main mental game plan, which was around that grass. "Fishing tall hydrilla and milfoil that's not matted is one of my favorite ways to fish at Toledo Bend and Rayburn," he added. "In early July, it was a dropping bite, where you could take a 1-oz. weight and drop it where you couldn't see. I thought that'd be the deal. During practice and the tournament, it evolved to a worm bite, just casting it and paralleling it along the side of the grass." He also tapped into a swimbait bite around schools of fish where he could reel a swimbait under the school and catch quality fish. "I caught a 5 in practice doing that," he said. "I unlocked that the last day of practice."
He couldn't have asked for a better start to the tournament. His preparation had paid off with a 13-05 stringer that had him five ounces off the lead. He caught three fish out of some lily pads early and then slowly added to his creel with three more keepers out of the grass. "On day 1, it was old-school Texas-rigged worm fishing," he said. "It brought me back to being a young teenager and fishing with my uncle and my brother and throwing a 5-inch U-tail worm. With the technology these days, you can add a new twist to the old-school techniques, but at the end of the day you're worm fishing and topwater fishing. To me it was an old-school lake - don't overthink it and keep it simple. "I was feeling pretty good. My whole goal for the tournament was to make the cut and influence some people and gain some respect and prove that I deserved to be there. After day 1 went so great, I was really pumped and confident. I know they say you can't win it on day 1, but you can get into position and I sure did that." As the tournament evolved, he started his days around some of the only lily pads he could find on the lake.
"I went back to my starting area (on day 2) with pads because I knew I'd left some fish in there day 1," he said. "I had some fish that waked on it that didn't get it. It was a lot brighter and a lot hotter. There was no fog or overcast skies and I never had a real bite in there that day. I committed almost 2 hours to that because it's not something you can just hit it and go. You have to put your time in. Instead of leaving there with a bonus fish or two, I left with zero and had no momentum at that point." He moved to where he could fish for schoolers and coaxed a 1-pounder, which was his only fish when 11 a.m. rolled around. "After that I moved to a grass hump and a big one came up chasing," he said. "I threw my topwater out there and it smoked it. That brought me from zero to hero and got my mind right."
He managed one more keeper and held onto 2nd entering the final day. "I knew that most likely I'd fish the same areas, but I racked my brain on the rotation," he said. "I knew the winning fish were in those schools by the Crystal Springs Marina and if I got there early - they school early there - and get two or three 3-pounders that would put me in position. I went there from 7 to 9 a.m. and they never showed themselves until I started idling out. I saw them churning the surface. I turned around and by the time I got set up, they were done." He spent the rest of the day chasing big ones in the grass. "I had five more bites, but nothing over 2 pounds," he said. "I knew if I caught five I'd have a sack, but that wasn't the case. I have no regrets. I'm at peace with my decisions and patterns. The things I'd change I have no control over. Being my first Cup and being a non-Tour guy, to finish 4th I'm just blessed."
Gear:
Topwater gear: 7'2" medium-heavy Fitzgerald Fishing Bryan Thrift Signature Series frog rod, same reel, 30-pound Fitzgerald Fishing Vursa braided line, River2Sea Whopper Plopper 110 (powder).
He also mixed in a 6th Sense Splashback 90 (white pearl)
Grass gear: 7'6" medium-heavy Fitgerald Fishing Stunner casting rod, Quantum Smoke S3 casting reel, 17-pound unnamed fluorocarbon line, 1/2-oz. Elite Tungsten worm weight, 5/0 Hayabusa 959 worm hook, 8 1/2" V&M Baits Wild Thang worm (blue flex).
Main factor: "Keeping my head together and not getting spun out. I'm a real humble guy but one thing I think I'm good at is my mental game and I had to utilize it to the fullest. It was such a grind. It's all between your ears because there is so much that's out of our control. It's all about where you start and where to go from there. What put me in position was going through that process and my mental preparation."
Performance edge: "My Lowrance Carbon 9 and 12 units helped me find those key grass edges and let me go back and stay on top of them."
FLW Tour Forrest Woods Cup at Lake Ouachita Winning Pattern BassFan 8/16/18 (Todd Ceisner)
