LeBrun cracks 25-10 on Lake Murray to pace the field on Day 2
COLUMBIA, S.C. – It hasn’t taken Nick LeBrun long to settle in on the Bass Pro Tour. Fishing only the third BPT event of his rookie season, LeBrun took control of Fox Rent A Car Stage Three Presented by Mercury on Lake Murray with a monster limit weighing 25 pounds, 10 ounces.
The Louisiana pro had the Berkley Big Bass, a stout 7-1, with a pair of 5s to reach that total. He will carry a 2-9 advantage over second place angler Dustin Connell when Group B returns to the lake on Wednesday.
LeBrun smashes over 25
It was undeniably a great day for LeBrun, who admitted that his 25-10 exceeded his expectations after practice. His 25-plus five-fish tally is the best of the week to far, as is his 7-1 kicker
“I thought if I was lucky, I could catch 17 or 18 pounds today,” LeBrun said. “Those waypoints I had marked had some bigger fish on them, unbeknownst to me. I didn’t realize what was there.”
LeBrun shared that he’s running and gunning, fishing many areas, hoping to capitalize on the herring spawn.
“Most of what I was doing centered around little clay points and humps right off the bank,” he said. “The herring are up there spawning and those big largemouth are coming to eat them. These bass are crazy; it’s like fishing offshore for saltwater fish.”
Two other keys to his success were good timing and the willingness to use different lures in rapid succession.
“Sometimes you have to throw 10 different lures at them to get them to bite, and other times a boat will come by and cause a wake that stirs up those herring and get the bass to trigger and bite anything,” LeBrun said. “It’s all about rotating through enough spots to hit them when those bass are fired up.”
LeBrun expanded on his areas today and now has multiple areas that he feels hold the right quality bass to advance.
“I found a few new spots today and one was because I was running down the lake and saw the fish blowing up on herring,” he said. “That’s where I caught that 7-pounder. I’m excited to get back out there and try to make the Knockout Round.”
Connell‘s enjoying a plethora of bass
At the end of the day Connell had a total of 23-1, but he caught plenty more fish than that. Unofficially, he placed 25 bass on SCORETRACKER® for a 3-pound average. Those numbers don’t include all the fish he declined to weigh when he knew they wouldn’t help the cause. It was an immensely fun day for him and he was more impressed with Lake Murray than anything.
“It was unbelievable out there; this place is unreal,” Connell said. “This lake has so many 3- to 5-pound bass in it, it’s crazy. I laid off them after the second period because I felt like I was in a good position to make the cut and was tired from setting the hook so much.”
Connell’s torrid day was thanks to a fast start and he projects that the fishing on Murray will get even better later this week.
“The fish are in transition with some coming off beds and some coming up,” he said. “It’s a constant cycle of fish and that should make things better every day. It also shows just how healthy this lake is right now.”
While he didn’t get into technique specifics, Connell said that he’s targeting fish in transition around spawning grounds, but will be quick to move to the banks if necessary.
“I found some really good areas later today with some big spawning fish,” he said. “I doubt those same fish will be there later in the week, but the areas are perfect. But, my first goal is to catch 13 pounds or so when we come back out here to make the Knockout Round and see how it pans out from there.”
News and Notes from Day 1
Stripers: One common denominator kept coming up in conversation as anglers put their boats on their trailers after competition – striped bass. Through two days, the field has encountered hearty numbers of stripers intermingling with largemouth. LeBrun estimates he caught more than 40 stripers on Monday, but many are swimming right next to the largemouth he’s targeting.
“I caught a 4-10 (largemouth) late in the day between two striper catches,” he said. “You have to keep fishing those areas to keep them honest. They’re mixed in together and one day you might catch all stripers; the next, it’s all largemouth, you never know.”
The Toro Cut Line: Yesterday, 20th place in Group A was held down by Matt Lee with 15-13, but today was nearly a pound more with Ott DeFoe’s 16-12 in Group B. Whether that was due to the overcast conditions or an improving bite is yet to be seen.
The kicker bite: Today, four bass over 6 pounds were caught to go along with LeBrun’s 7-1. Yesterday, it was just two over 6. The bigger bass are starting to show up and their impact is already being felt as three anglers in the Top 5 capitalized on a 6-pound or better bite to boost their totals.
What’s next
Stage Three continues Tuesday as Group A comes back to Lake Murray. Half the field will advance to the Knockout Round and the rest will go home. The overcast weather from today looks to be changing tomorrow, with sunny skies and warmer temps in the forecast.
The action starts at 7:45 a.m. ET with MLFNOW! streaming live on MajorLeagueFishing.com and lines going in at 8 a.m. ET. The pros will fish for three periods until 4 p.m. ET.