Dave Lefebre, who is from Erie, Pa., and knows plenty about catching smallmouth bass, said he always fishes for largemouth bass when he comes to the St. Lawrence River. Lefebre estimated he caught 60 bass yesterday in culling up to his 9th place total of 21-11.
He’s doing it again today. According to BASSTrakk, Lefebre had caught 27 bass at noon in culling up to a 16-pound limit that has him in 6th place. Several anglers talked about concentrating on largemouths before the tournament started. There had been a strong topwater frog pattern in practice. But the leaders on Day 1 flourished on smallmouth bass, with the exception of Lefebre.
“It’s overlooked here,” he said. “And I don’t ever do the same thing twice. If you cover enough water, you can get those 4-pound-average-plus bites. I’ve weighed as much as 23 pounds here in the past on largemouths.”
It’s too early to mention what Lefebre is doing different this time to catch largemouth bass on the St. Lawrence River. Whatever it is, it’s producing more bites than anything anyone else is doing for smallmouths or largemouths. And he’s obviously getting enough big bites to be in contention.
“I should have had more (Thursday),” Lefebre said. “I lost a big one, like a 5 1/2-pounder.”