7 Questions with Brandon Lester

Bassmaster Elite Series pro Brandon Lester just turned 31, but in his sixth year on tour, heâs one of its longest-tenured members.

The Fayetteville, Tenn., resident also is one of the steadiest sticks competing in the Elite Series. Heâs finished in the money in 52 of 79 career Bassmaster events (66 percent) and has a whopping 16 Top-10 finishes in that span.
Bassmaster.com reporter Andrew Canulette caught up with Lester as he prepared to fish the Basspro.com Eastern Open at Lake Chickamauga in late May.

<b>BASSMASTER.COM:</b> In addition to the Elite Series tournaments, youâve fished in quite a few Open events throughout the years. What kind of experience is that for an Elite Series angler? Is there a reason you fish them still?</p>
<b>LESTER:</b> Itâs another tournament and honestly, itâs another chance to make money. Last year, it was a little bit different when B.A.S.S. had the Open Championship. Thatâs how I qualified for the Classic last year. This year, weâre back to the âwin and youâre inâ format. But either way, you have another chance to make the Classic when you fish the Opens. And for whatever reason, Opens typically go pretty well for me. Last year, I won the points title in the Eastern Division and I started off this year with a Top 10 in Florida (fifth place at the Basspro.com Eastern Division at the Harris Chain of Lakes.) â¦I like the lakes, and I like the guys who fish the Opens, too. Iâve been fishing them since 2012 and Iâve enjoyed it all, so Iâll keep fishing them.

BASSMASTER.COM: In addition to the Elite Series tournaments, youâve fished in quite a few Open events throughout the years. What kind of experience is that for an Elite Series angler? Is there a reason you fish them still?
LESTER: Itâs another tournament and honestly, itâs another chance to make money. Last year, it was a little bit different when B.A.S.S. had the Open Championship. Thatâs how I qualified for the Classic last year. This year, weâre back to the âwin and youâre inâ format. But either way, you have another chance to make the Classic when you fish the Opens. And for whatever reason, Opens typically go pretty well for me. Last year, I won the points title in the Eastern Division and I started off this year with a Top 10 in Florida (fifth place at the Basspro.com Eastern Division at the Harris Chain of Lakes.) â¦I like the lakes, and I like the guys who fish the Opens, too. Iâve been fishing them since 2012 and Iâve enjoyed it all, so Iâll keep fishing them.

<b>BASSMASTER.COM:</b> Weâre past the halfway point of the 2019 season now. Are you pleased with the way youâve performed so far?</p>
<p><b>LESTER:</b> You know how fishermen are. If we have 30 pounds, we want 32. It could be better, but itâs been good as far as the Elites go. Iâm right there at 14th in the (Toyota Angler of the Year) points, but I want to be a lot better. I know I can do a lot better. At Lake Lanier, I had a 44th there, and I barely missed the cut at (Lake) Fork. I guess whatâs key is my worst finishes have not been terrible. You have to avoid the disasters when you finish close to last. If I can get a Top 10 and offset those two âsort ofâ bad ones I had at Lanier and Fork, Iâll jump way back up there in the points. Iâm not satisfied, but Iâm thankful. It could be a whole lot worse.

BASSMASTER.COM: Weâre past the halfway point of the 2019 season now. Are you pleased with the way youâve performed so far?
LESTER: You know how fishermen are. If we have 30 pounds, we want 32. It could be better, but itâs been good as far as the Elites go. Iâm right there at 14th in the (Toyota Angler of the Year) points, but I want to be a lot better. I know I can do a lot better. At Lake Lanier, I had a 44th there, and I barely missed the cut at (Lake) Fork. I guess whatâs key is my worst finishes have not been terrible. You have to avoid the disasters when you finish close to last. If I can get a Top 10 and offset those two âsort ofâ bad ones I had at Lanier and Fork, Iâll jump way back up there in the points. Iâm not satisfied, but Iâm thankful. It could be a whole lot worse.

<b>BASSMASTER.COM:</b> Whatâs been the highlight of 2019 so far? Not to put words in your mouth, but it has to be tough to top that Super Six finish at the Classic in your home state of Tennessee.</p>
<p><b>LESTER:</b> That was absolutely the highlight. I would give anything if I could have the first day of the Classic over again. I ran around too much, had too many things in my mind. The hindsight is 20/20, but I would have stuck to my guns and fished like I did on the last day. It may not have worked. Who knows? But that takes nothing away from finishing Top 6 in front of a Tennessee crowd. It was an awesome Classic for a lot of different reasons.

BASSMASTER.COM: Whatâs been the highlight of 2019 so far? Not to put words in your mouth, but it has to be tough to top that Super Six finish at the Classic in your home state of Tennessee.
LESTER: That was absolutely the highlight. I would give anything if I could have the first day of the Classic over again. I ran around too much, had too many things in my mind. The hindsight is 20/20, but I would have stuck to my guns and fished like I did on the last day. It may not have worked. Who knows? But that takes nothing away from finishing Top 6 in front of a Tennessee crowd. It was an awesome Classic for a lot of different reasons.

<b>BASSMASTER.COM:</b> What if you get your first Bassmaster tournament win in one of these final few Elite Series tournaments in 2019? Do you change your mind and make that your highlight of the year?</p>
<p><b>LESTER:</b> Iâd say so (laughing.) Iâve been so close so many times. There are guys that fished the Elite Series for years and years and they had amazing careers, and they didnât win one. I donât want to be that guyâ¦I feel like learning how to win a multi-day event, itâs something that has to come to you. Rarely do you see guys just come in and start winning. You have to learn that. I feel like Iâm getting closer. I think if I can get one under my belt, weâll be ready to go thenâ¦I do take pride in being consistentâ¦.Thatâs what pays the bills. If youâre not consistent, youâre not making money. Thatâs the long and short of it.

BASSMASTER.COM: What if you get your first Bassmaster tournament win in one of these final few Elite Series tournaments in 2019? Do you change your mind and make that your highlight of the year?
LESTER: Iâd say so (laughing.) Iâve been so close so many times. There are guys that fished the Elite Series for years and years and they had amazing careers, and they didnât win one. I donât want to be that guyâ¦I feel like learning how to win a multi-day event, itâs something that has to come to you. Rarely do you see guys just come in and start winning. You have to learn that. I feel like Iâm getting closer. I think if I can get one under my belt, weâll be ready to go thenâ¦I do take pride in being consistentâ¦.Thatâs what pays the bills. If youâre not consistent, youâre not making money. Thatâs the long and short of it.

<b>BASSMASTER.COM:</b> Speaking of consistent, your finish to the 2018 season was a study in consistency. You canât get much better than five Top-5 finishes in a row. Whatâs it like to be in that sort of zone?</p>
<p><b>LESTER:</b> Iâve been through it a couple times in my career. Itâs not something you can feel coming on, but you can feel it when youâre in it, and you definitely feel it when youâre out of it. When youâre in that zone, youâre not rushed. You have a good cadence. You could be going down the lake and see a bank for the first time, pull over and start fishing, and you have complete and utter confidence youâre going to catch one out of that place. Iâm hoping I can fish my way back into that zone again to finish up the year. I was thinking about it the second day at (Lake) Fork. I was running around like crazy and I had a thousand things rolling through my head. If I could just slow down, look at whatâs in front of me, it would be so much better for me. But itâs not that easy. I knew what I was doing wrong, but in the heat of the moment, itâs not easy to make yourself do what you need to do.

BASSMASTER.COM: Speaking of consistent, your finish to the 2018 season was a study in consistency. You canât get much better than five Top-5 finishes in a row. Whatâs it like to be in that sort of zone?
LESTER: Iâve been through it a couple times in my career. Itâs not something you can feel coming on, but you can feel it when youâre in it, and you definitely feel it when youâre out of it. When youâre in that zone, youâre not rushed. You have a good cadence. You could be going down the lake and see a bank for the first time, pull over and start fishing, and you have complete and utter confidence youâre going to catch one out of that place. Iâm hoping I can fish my way back into that zone again to finish up the year. I was thinking about it the second day at (Lake) Fork. I was running around like crazy and I had a thousand things rolling through my head. If I could just slow down, look at whatâs in front of me, it would be so much better for me. But itâs not that easy. I knew what I was doing wrong, but in the heat of the moment, itâs not easy to make yourself do what you need to do.

<b>BASSMASTER.COM:</b> There were some big changes to start the 2019 Elite Series; a lot of new faces. Now that youâve seen things in action for half a year, whatâs your take?</p>
<p><b>LESTER:</b> Anybody who thought this was going to be a lesser bunch of guys, with less competition in the Elite Series, was wrongâ¦These guys have as good of fishing ability as anybody Iâve competed against. Theyâre a group of hammers. And the AOY leaderboard reflects one thing â these guys are hungry. Theyâre putting every ounce of energy they have into this.

BASSMASTER.COM: There were some big changes to start the 2019 Elite Series; a lot of new faces. Now that youâve seen things in action for half a year, whatâs your take?
LESTER: Anybody who thought this was going to be a lesser bunch of guys, with less competition in the Elite Series, was wrongâ¦These guys have as good of fishing ability as anybody Iâve competed against. Theyâre a group of hammers. And the AOY leaderboard reflects one thing â these guys are hungry. Theyâre putting every ounce of energy they have into this.

<b>BASSMASTER.COM:</b> Any new anglers in particular who impress you?</p>
<p><b>LESTER:</b> One that stands out is Drew Cook. I fished against him in the Opens and made a couple Top 10s with him last year. I knew he was good, but now I realize heâs really good. And Patrick Walters is another one. Those guys are good on and off the water. I would definitely commend both of them for their fishing ability and the way theyâre doing things. Iâve been at this game long enough to see guys do it the right way. Those guys are definitely doing it the right way.

BASSMASTER.COM: Any new anglers in particular who impress you?
LESTER: One that stands out is Drew Cook. I fished against him in the Opens and made a couple Top 10s with him last year. I knew he was good, but now I realize heâs really good. And Patrick Walters is another one. Those guys are good on and off the water. I would definitely commend both of them for their fishing ability and the way theyâre doing things. Iâve been at this game long enough to see guys do it the right way. Those guys are definitely doing it the right way.