Facing a do-or-die scenario, Shane LeHew vowed to send it.
The 35-year-old from Catawba, N.C., stood outside Classic qualification heading into the season-ending St. Lawrence River tournament. LeHew assessed his only chance was running to potentially perilous Lake Ontario.
“I’m going to the lake, putting all my marbles in that basket,” he said. “If I don’t make it, at least I felt like I did the right thing. I knew I needed at least a Top 10 to get into the Classic.”
LeHew jumped out to a great start, and despite some white-knuckle moments, posted a sixth-place finish, his best of the year. That move up the Progressive Bassmaster Angler of the Year standings has LeHew heading to his sixth consecutive Classic.
“I don’t like missing the Classic,” he said. “You got a chance to win the biggest tournament in your life. That’s definitely goal No. 1 every season.”
With nothing like the rough northern fisheries near home, LeHew admits he had been wet behind the ears. Baptism by fire over the years has him more at ease traversing waves.
“It took a while to get used to it where I was comfortable out there in that big water,” he said. “I’ve been on Erie. It gets rough on St. Clair. The fear of that is pretty much gone.”
It was LeHew’s sixth Elite event at St. Lawrence, where he posted a best finish of seventh and worst of 76th, with a 19th, 31st and 58th in between. His Top 10 came from venturing into Ontario, but that was in 2022 out of Clayton.
This year’s event launched from Waddington, adding more than an hour of run time and complications like refueling and stricter time management. He faced 2 1/2 hours of travel one way, not leaving much time to relocate fish or move around.
“It’s definitely a gamble,” he said. “I was worried about fishing time. And you’re really putting a lot of trust in your equipment.
“I pretty much suck in the river. I hate it. The way I fish, I knew I wasn’t going to make the Classic in the river.”
After taking a few more risks than usual during the first eight events, Lehew almost felt forced to risk the run at stop No. 9. His uncharacteristic up-and-down season had him 48th in points, needing to gain about 30 on those above him.
In two days of practice, LeHew did locate a large school in mouth of river, but during competition, they were gone. Good thing he heeded the siren’s call of Lake Ontario.
“I knew I had to catch a big bag, so I ran 17 miles out into the lake,” said LeHew, who ducked behind islands on several stretches. “I was pretty miserable riding out there. Once I made that final turn, that last 6-mile stretch was really bad.”
His “typical Ontario” area with bottom boulders was protected from winds. Utilizing his forward-facing sonar, LeHew found the cruising smallmouth easier to target than those tight to structure. On Day 1, he brought in 24 pounds, 13 ounces to stand in fifth place.
“I think I had that weight in two hours,” he said. “I made sure I could make it back. Second day, same thing.”
A big surprise greeted LeHew on Day 2. Thinking the fish were moving out, he started a bit deeper despite issues discerning smallmouth from all the drum.
“I literally put the trolling motor down and maybe moved 5 feet, and there were two big dots swimming toward me,” LeHew said.
They looked too big to be smallmouth, he thought, pitching his bait at them anyway.
“Both shot to the bottom. ‘Those are smallmouth!’” said LeHew, who landed a 6-12, the smaller of the two.
The Phoenix Boats Big Bass of the day helped LeHew again post the fifth-best weight of the round, 25-12, which moved him up to third place.
“That 6-12 bit the first cast of the day,” LeHew said. “I was reeling it in and the one with it was even bigger. It had to be 7 1/2 pounds.
“It was lucky, but I was in the right area. I had enough there to win. But for some reason, smallmouth get weird, and they did that third day.”
With 50-9, LeHew was just 1-14 off leader Cory Johnston’s pace. He still thought he had a chance to win, so despite stiffer winds on Semifinal Saturday, he again made the run, albeit more carefully.
“I had a chance to win. The third day was tough. The winds were nasty. It was probably the most scared I’ve been in a bass boat,” he said. “The two roughest days I’ve ever experienced in a bass boat have been in Ontario. It was pretty rowdy.
“Most people didn’t go (to the lake). I think Cory (who got seasick) and I were the only ones to go. I think a couple people fell out of the Top 10. I probably watched six or seven guys turn around. That doesn’t help the confidence.”
The bite changed as well, LeHew said. He threw to loads of marks but most “acted goofy,” just nipping at his bait or coming off quickly. He did catch four 4-plus fish but was worried he had blown it. A fall to 30th or worse would have thwarted his Classic hopes.
Back in the river, LeHew filled his smallest limit of the week at 20-6, but he stayed in the Top 10 in sixth, which moved him to 38th in AOY. With his Classic mission accomplished, he opted not to revisit the lake on Day 4, which “could have been giant waste of time.”
“I feel like I took more risks this year that didn’t work,” he said. “I really want to win one bad, so I feel like I fished a little differently, and it kind of burned me in quite a few tournaments.”
After starting 2024 with two finishes in the low 30s, LeHew placed ninth at the Classic. The Florida and Alabama events weren’t kind, all finishes in the 60s that dropped him outside the Classic cut. With two events to go, LeHew was 51st in points. He closed his gap with a cut at Champlain, then St. Lawrence gave him his sixth Classic.
While others might still be ciphering whether they’d have done better last year under the new “no entry fee” format, LeHew is looking forward to Lake Ray Roberts. He has some revenge to exact from last time there, a 53rd in the 2021 Classic.
“I was doing the right things,” he said. “Most of the guys were doing the shallow bush thing. I found a stretch in practice where I had a bunch of big bites. It just never worked out the first day. I think I zeroed.
“I’m just looking forward to getting back to it and trying again. It’s a cool lake. It’s got a bunch of big fish, and I’m looking forward to giving it another run. I need some redemption from last time.”
And just maybe he’ll take some more risks.
