After two days of competition, it was obvious that no one had anything that would produce a solid bag each day. Other than

Lefebre knew he was in a precarious position.

With the format of this tournament, there are no scales and no weigh-in lines. Anglers aren’t allowed to talk with each other

regarding their unofficial logged weights and, therefore, no one knows the other competitors’ weights until they are announced on stage. Such was the case again today.

The other caveat of this tournament was the radio chatter, which on previous days, could be heard on the judges’ radios. The first two days anglers could hear when another angler caught a fish – today the judges wore headsets eliminating knowledge of how the others were progressing.

So, as Lefebre came to the weigh-in you could see him running numbers in his head like Stephen Hawking. He knew his 10 pound bag put him in a bad position to lose what he had worked so hard for over the last three days. It was obvious his stomach was in knots and he just wanted it all over with – win or lose. Problem was he had to sit through nine other anglers as they presented their weights on stage.

When it came down to the end, Andy Montgomery sat in the hot seat located in the bed of a Toyota Tundra, Dave Mercer had the microphone in his hand and Lefebre stood close by his side. Then Mercer made the announcement, “You need 9-12 to take the lead and win $250,000.” After that comment, you could see the pressure release from his shoulders and when Mercer made it official by displaying his weight on the screen, he finally revealed his excitement to the crowd.

Finally Did It

“I’m trying to think of a new word (to explain the way I feel),” Lefebre said. (“I don’t have any words, though.”)

“I’ve been in training for this all year,” he said. “I missed out on FLW AOY this year by one point and missed winning the FLW Cup by a close margin, too. I told my wife we had one more shot this year and this is the one we want.

“I knew it was going to be close. It ended up being one notch on the Boga-Grip (that won it for me.”)

Likes the Format

“I like the format of this tournament a lot,” Lefebre said. “We get to catch fish, show them off to the spectators on the water, weigh them and then let them go. I really think this will be the way tournaments are held in the future.

“The other thing about this format is the radios,” he added. “It adds a unique aspect to the tournament and a lot of strategy goes along with it. I just wish I had it today – it would have let me know when the other anglers were catching fish.

“The tournament was also run smoothly, the crowds were great and the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department and Toyota did a great job.”

Felt Like Home

“I had a good feeling when I got here,” Lefebre said. “My family and I were staying in a condo on the lake and when I went down to the dock for the first time it reminded me of a lake back home that I fish all the time.

“The lake ended up fishing like Lake Conneaut,” he said. “Then the cold front came through the first day and it made me feel even more at home.

Winning Way

Lefebre spent most all of his time fishing one genre of lure – only switching color or weight when he needed to.

“My only bait was a TABU jig,” he said. “On days one and three, I used a 7/16th-ounce jig and swam it under the docks with 15-pound Berkley 100% Fluorocarbon line. The second day, when it got really cold, the swimming retrieve didn’t work and I had to downsize to a 5/16th-ounce jig and 12-pound fluorocarbon. In fact, the second day I’d skip the jig as far under the dock as I could and just let it sit.

The trailers I used depended on the retrieve I was using,” he said. “When I was swimming the jig, I was using a generic craw and when I was fishing slower, I used a Kinami Norie’s Bug. Both of those trailers did what they had to do when the conditions were right.

He used an 8-foot Setyr flipping stick paired with an ABU Revo Premier reel. His jig color was black and blue but he rotated through a number of different colors on his trailers over the three days of competition.

Notes

> He lost a 7-pound fish within the first 15 minutes of the day today but it didn’t hurt him. “I lost that fish right off the bat and it didn’t affect me. I knew I had a long day ahead of me. What did affect me was the 4-pounder I lost right at the end of the day. I thought that one killed me.”

> “I have to say I had never driven a Toyota Tundra before this weekend. Kelly Jordon let me drive his truck this week and I have to say I was impressed. I might have a new truck in my life soon.”

Full coverage of this event will air on the CBS Sports Spectacular on Saturday, November 21st at 2:00 pm EST.

For more coverage and photos from the Toyota Texas Bass Classic, visit Fishpaa.com