Veteran angler leaves Lake Erie's choppy water for the young guys

SANDUSKY -- On the first day of the Tackle Warehouse Pro Circuit Super Tournament at Lake Erie, 18-year bass fishing pro Dave Lefebre employed a strategy he's never tried before. Most of Lefebre's peers spent the day boating up to 200 miles looking for smallmouth bass that are abundant in Lake Erie. That's the most common strategy used to contend for this week's $160,000 first prize. Lefebre? He saw wind in the forecast and refused to stray further than 10 miles from the Shelby Street Public Boat Launch, where Tuesday's competitors began their day. He was content looking for largemouth bass, which he said are much harder to find and will likely only net him a $10,000 payday. A younger Lefebre would not have blinked at choppy waters. During one tournament years ago, waves broke his boat in half. He stayed the night at a nearby islander's house and borrowed a boat to return to the tournament site. Back then, close calls made for great war stories. Now that he's 50, though, he'd rather not risk it. So in his own words, he "punted" on the tournament's first day. "Man, I've almost died out on this lake a couple of times," Lefebre said. "Those guys running today — they'll be sore tomorrow. I'm getting older and wiser." That's a significant diversion from the attitude that helped Lefebre turn pro. He knew at age 16 that he wanted to fish for a living. Growing up in Erie, Pa., he was always on the water. His family took fishing vacations to Florida in the winters and to Canada in the summers. Lefebre also showed a mean competitive streak as a child. He was known for throwing dice if he lost on family game night. When he learned he could channel that competitive spirit toward fishing, it became his dream. But like all dreams, his came with its detractors. Lefebre said "pretty much everyone" told him he wouldn't make it as a pro bass fisherman. He can still remember his mother's warnings. "Oh, David," she'd say. "Come on. You're not going to fish for a living. You're not going to buy a house with fishing money." For a while, Lefebre's mother appeared to be right. At 18, Lefebre moved in with his grandparents while playing drums in a band and working third shift as a plastic molding inspector. The band, which was named Steele Justice, eventually opened for acts such as Brad Paisley and Sara Evans, but Lefebre saw music as a supplement for his fishing plans. "I didn't get much sleep. I just saved (money)," said Lefebre, who on Tuesday weighed five fish totaling 11 pounds, 5 ounces, good for 58th place among 180 anglers. At 33, he qualified for his first professional circuit. Sort of. He only had enough money to cover three entry fees on top of his truck, boat and equipment costs. Each entry fee cost $5,000. Fortunately for Lefebre, he finished third at one of those tournaments, which earned him $20,000. That, along with a few smaller fishing checks he won that season, kept him afloat during that year. The next season, Lefebre won his first big check -- $100,000 -- for finishing first at Old Hickory Lake in Nashville, Tenn. "That one put me on the map," he said. "(It) got me rolling." Lefebre is still rolling today, 16 years later. According to flwfishing.com, he's won six tournaments in his career, finished in the top 10 51 times and earned $1,876,081 — more than enough money to buy a house. The sport has changed since he started. Most notably, it's grown in popularity. Lefebre can only remember one kid from his hometown who liked fishing growing up. Now he's amazed by how young people approach him asking the same questions he once wondered. How do you become a pro? How do you earn sponsors? Lefebre's answers are different from what they used to be. He has two kids now, both of whom have changed his perspective on risk-taking. He understands what his parents were worried about when he told them his career plans. He tries not to discourage kids from pursuing his path, but he knows his plan won't work for everyone. It almost didn't work for him. Had Lefebre not won that tournament his first season, he might still be playing in a band or working third shift. That's how fragile the sport can be. So when the kids ask him how to follow his lead, he tells them to follow someone else's. "I tell them to not do it the way I did it," Lefebre said. "Don't assume you're going to make it. You can be the best fisherman in the world, (but) if you have three bad tournaments, you know, it's hard to get the ball rolling. "You don't want to be the person who tells them they (can't) do it. I just tell them to have a backup plan." ----- Super Tournament: Day 1 Leader: Josh Bertrand is the leader after the first day of Super Tournament on Lake Erie (FLW and Major League fishing pros). Bertrand, of Sun Tan Valley, Ariz., weighed five bass at 22 pounds, 6 ounces. The leader fished on Lake Erie, passing on trips to the Detroit River and Lake St. Clair. Quote: "It was pretty risky both ways you went," Bertrand said. "It was risky to make the long run and try to fish for numbers, and it turned out to also be risky fishing close. I was around a lot of guys that did not catch a limit today, and it was very difficult to catch five fish." Big bass: Dustin Connell of Clanton, Alabama, won Tuesday's $500 Berkley Big Bass award in the pro division with a 5-pound, 14-ounce smallmouth. Stats: Overall there were 767 bass weighing 2,132 pounds, 10 ounces caught by 180 pros Tuesday. The catch included 122 five-bass limits. Schedule: 4-day tourney ends Friday Where: Anglers launch each day at 7 a.m. at the Shelby Street Public Boat Launch in downtown Sandusky Weigh-ins: 3 p.m. today; 4 p.m. Thursday and Friday. Coverage on FLWFishing.com Purse: $1.3 million ($160,000 first prize) Attendance: Due to the coronavirus, limited to competitors and essential staff &emsp;&emsp;