By MLF Communications Staff
After weighing in his first four fish on Sunday afternoon, Bossier City, Louisiana’s Nick LeBrun was feeling the pressure at the MLF Pro Circuit event on the James River in Richmond, Virginia. Dakota Ebare of Brookeland, Texas had just weighed in a five-bass limit totaling 16 pounds, 5 ounces and was atop the leaderboard with only LeBrun left to weigh in.
LeBrun’s first four keepers weighed a total of 12-05 – his last fish had to weigh at least 4 pounds to have a chance at overtaking Ebare and earning back-to-back Pro Circuit wins.
“Let’s see that fifth keeper,” said longtime Pro Circuit emcee Chris Jones.
“How about a nice James River 5-pounder,” LeBrun yelled, pulling out a beautiful kicker fish that weighed 5-04 – more than enough to earn LeBrun his second straight Pro Circuit victory and the $100,000 top prize with a 17-09 stringer.
LeBrun became just the third angler in MLF history to ever win back-to-back Pro Circuit events after this triumph and his win last month at the Pro Circuit event at Lake Guntersville. Brett Hite of Phoenix, Arizona, was the first angler to accomplish the feat in 2008, winning back-to-back events at an FLW Tour (now Pro Circuit) event on Lake Toho and then a tournament on the California Delta just two weeks later. Mark Rose also accomplished the feat in 2017, winning back-to-back FLW Tour events on Lake Guntersville and Lake Travis.
“This was the most stressful tournament I’ve ever fished,” an emotional LeBrun said on stage after learning he had won. “I was running a long way every day and put over 450 miles in this week, and the running isn’t easy. It’s treacherous, especially when you’ve never been here before. I probably ran across areas I shouldn’t have and then once you get to your area, you are constantly looking at the tide and planning your strategy and timing for each area. My brain is fried right now.”
LeBrun’s key area this week was in the Chickahominy River. He said that of the more than 81 career events he has fished, he had never relied on his Power-Poles as much as he had this week. He targeted docks and cypress trees with an unnamed bluegill-colored squarebill crankbait and a wacky-rigged 5-inch junebug-colored V&M Chopstick with a 1/0 Hayabusa WRM201 hook.
“I rotated between a few different crankbaits, but the key was changing out the stock hooks to No. 2 Hayabusa TBL930 trebles with the NRB coating,” LeBrun said. “I was deflecting the bait off the trees to get them to react, and that hook was critical to keeping them buttoned up.”
His wacky-rigged Chopstick provided a finesse alternative when the fish weren’t interested in the squarebill.
“I’d lob it in there and let it sit and then barely shake it,” LeBrun said. “The rod would load up when they’d swim off with it. That was key this week for me to get the win. I set up on the spot today, caught four small ones and then the big ones started biting it pretty good. I caught a 5-pound fish and went to the other side of the dock and caught a 4-pounder; it was a special day today.”
With two wins and more than $200,000 in winnings in just the last four weeks, LeBrun now sits in 10th place in the Angler of the Year race and looks to be well in the driver’s seat to qualify for the TITLE, the Pro Circuit Championship.
“I’ve had a blessed year,” he went on to say. “To add my name to the list of anglers that have won back-to-back – those are some awesome names to be mentioned with. The James River will always be a very special place to me.”
With five of six regular-season events now wrapped up Alabama’s Josh Butler currently leads the AOY race with 896 points, while reigning AOY Michael Neal of Tennessee, sits right behind him in second place with 882 points. Justin Lucas of Alabama, and Italy’s Jacopo Gallelli are tied for third with 863 points, while Columbus, Mississippi’s Mitch Crane rounds out the Top 5 with 857 points.
The sixth and final regular-season event for Pro Circuit anglers will be Lake Champlain July 29- Aug. 1 in Plattsburgh, New York.
Final Standings
1. Nick LeBrun -- 17-09 (5) -- $101,000
2. Dakota Ebare -- 16-05 (5) -- $30,000
3. Mitch Crane -- 15-14 (5) -- $25,000
4. Michael Neal -- 15-11 (5) -- $20,000
5. Braxton Setzer -- 14-07 (5) -- $19,000
6. Cole Floyd -- 13-00 (5) -- $18,000
7. Cole Hewett -- 12-14 (5) -- $17,000
8. Robby Lefere -- 10-14 (5) -- $16,000
9. Martin Villa -- 9-07 (5) -- $15,000
10. John Cox -- 8-09 (5) -- $14,000
