Kellogg’s team pro Dave Lefebre provides an inside look at the latest FLW Tour Major in National Harbor, Md.
The Potomac River is one of my absolute favorite locations to fish on Earth. It's a venue where I swear I’ll never do the same thing twice, or even use the same primary techniques or baits, and I suppose that’s why I like it so much … it’s always a clean slate.

Kellogg’s team pro Dave Lefebre provides an inside look at the latest Walmart FLW Tour Major in Rogers, Ark.
We just wrapped up the third FLW Tour Major on Beaver Lake and it looks like I’m back to my old Beaver Lake ways. I’m having difficulty dealing with my 63rd place finish after the insanely good practice I had this year.

Fuel prices are once again in the headlines and are becoming a central focus among many Americans this spring. As a society, we've pretty much gotten used to the skyrocketing price shocks. But the reasons behind the wild swings in the oil market are veiled with secrecy, misinformation and political spin.

A look back at the successful patterns, techniques at the recent FLW Tour event in Missouri
Just prior to the FLW Tour Major on Table Rock, the common starting point for most anglers was shallow. However, the prevalent notion that the event would be won sight-fishing didn’t prove true. Instead, the majority of the top-10 anglers found large limits of pre-spawn females in a 5-mile stretch of Long Creek that had the most stained water.

The second stop of the FLW Tour Majors brought us to the great scenery of the Ozark Mountains in Branson, Mo. I arrived in Branson Sunday evening after leaving the Lake Seminole Everstart Saturday morning. The first thing that I noticed rolling into town was the damage to a number of buildings from the tornadoes that hit the area just a few weeks prior to our arrival. I started practice early Monday morning with Craig Dowling from Nashville, Tenn. Since the water was up about 4 feet, and the temperature was in the mid 60s we focused mainly on flipping flooded bushes. Our afternoon hours were spent looking for bed fish. We didn’t have many bites, and I immediately knew this was going to be another tough tournament for a co-angler since most of the fish were relating to beds or heavy cover.

Kellogg’s team pro Dave Lefebre provides an inside look at the latest FLW Tour Major in Branson, Mo.
Dropping from 11th to 57th in the FLW Tour Anger of the Year standings is never a good thing, but honestly, it could’ve been much worse. We just finished up the second FLW Tour Major of the season on Table Rock Lake and I managed my worst finish in a long time, 103rd.

A quick overview of the successful patterns at the FLW Tour Lake Hartwell event
The Walmart FLW Tour event on Lake Hartwell turned out to be a dealer’s choice event for the 163 pros who participated. The prevailing pattern was primarily deep, as National Guard pro Brent Ehrler wonderfully executed a game plan that he built around one stellar group of spots in about 30 feet of water. But the prevalent pattern for the top 10 was actually shallow.

I left north Alabama the Saturday before the first official practice day and rode with my travel partner to Anderson, S.C. I had been to Hartwell one time before but it was in the fall and that time the bite was pretty tough.

Kellogg’s team pro Dave Lefebre provides an inside look at the latest FLW Tour Open event in South Carolina
We just wrapped up the first FLW Tour Major of 2012 on Lake Hartwell in South Carolina and it certainly lived up to its reputation. There were a ton of fish caught and the weights were up there, similar to last season when the Tour visited Anderson

Lake Havasu, Ariz., was the site for the recent EverStart Series Western Division event. What an incredible fishery! Looking at the results and looking at the numbers of fish caught do not do it justice. Being there and seeing what we saw, it was amazing. Imagine fishing in an aquarium where you can see 15 feet down. This was the first time I had seen this on this lake and it blew me away.

The FLW Tour opener on Lake Okeechobee was a tournament of ups and downs. I had been down in Florida since early January where I fished the Everstart Series as a boater and was fortunate enough to cash a check after a tough second day. I practiced all three days of official practice with FLW pros Craig Dowling and Trevor Fitzgerald, both of whom are very proficient at flipping. Not surprisingly, we spent most of our practice time looking for areas where the big jig could produce for them. Both pros had found some good stretches of Big O fish but during the tournament both areas were destroyed by the wind.

Postgame analysis of Randall Thap's victory at the FLW Tour Open on Lake Okeechobee
The Alabama Rig did not win the Walmart FLW Tour Open on Lake Okeechobee. Though few ever believed the A Rig would play a role on the "Big O," there was still a collective sigh of relief as day one of the 2012 season came to a close. A breath of fresh air blew into the tournament world in the form of 33 pound-plus stringers snatched from matted vegetation by Okeechobee favorites, Randall Tharp and Brandon McMillan.

Kellogg’s team pro Dave Lefebre provides an inside look at the latest FLW Tour Open event in Florida
It is hard to believe another season is now under way and the first event of 2012 is already in the books. Lake Okeechobee kicked off the FLW Tour Open season this past week and it was a slugfest as usual, for one guy at least.

EverStart Series pro Jimmy Reese discusses his latest Shasta experience
Well I have to say it’s been an interesting journey the past few years. I have been watching all of the industry changes, watching friends come and go, watching young guns step up and chase their dreams and watching leaders rise as well as fade. But the one element that seems consistent is change!

As I stated in my previous blog, I was a melting-pot of emotions heading into the event – anxious, excited, nervous, confident – the list could go on. After all, it was my last college fishing qualifier and I needed t have a good showing.

We all are familiar with the old saying that “you shouldn’t talk about religion or politics around a group of people.” For now, I’m going to break tradition a bit, and talk about politics, given the fact we are on the eve of another presidential election.

OK guys, it’s time to man up and talk about the real fire behind the fury. Why are some “pros” so dead set on banning Alabama Rigs from tournaments? The answer is simple. They are scared. They are scared that somebody else is going to cash the fat checks they’ve grown accustomed to. And I understand. I’m scared, too. But I’m a pro. I learn new techniques all the time, and I continually work on the old ones to make them more effective. It’s what we do as pros.

The 2012 FLW season has arrived! Every year, I study the schedule and plan how I am going to attack it. I work hard during the off-season developing and practicing new techniques and am faced with the same decision each year. I ask myself if it is a technique I can successfully employ to do my job and win tournaments. Some techniques I have become very proficient with but still choose not to add them to my arsenal. Others I have adopted. They have become a part of me and my fishing style and help me to achieve my goals as an angler. That is what makes this sport great and what distinguishes all the top anglers from one another.

The Alabama Rig is all the rage now in the sport of professional bass fishing. In my 23 years as a pro, I have never seen a new bait create such excitement – or catch as many bass. I believe the reason it has been so successful this past fall and winter is the fact that it is something new the bass haven’t seen before. I operate under the assumption that in heavily-fished public lakes, every bass has been caught before, at least once. However, every time it has been caught, it has always been on one lure.

Let me start by saying I don’t think either BASS or FLW has another reasonable option other than to prohibit multi-bait rigs from their tournaments.

Looking back at 2011, I am really thankful for Boone Pickens’ contributions to FLW, but also to the U.S. as a whole. Pickens is an amazing individual and I’m not just saying that because he is an FLW partner and I’ve been fortunate enough to represent the Pickens Plan for FLW. I say this because of what he is doing to set America up for greater economic prosperity, heightened national security, and long-term environmental protection and stability – that is what impresses me about Boone Pickens.

Kellogg’s team pro Dave Lefebre provides an inside look at the Oct. 20-23 FLW Tour Open on Lake Guntersville
Veteran bass pro Dave Lefebre has agreed to take time to share his insights into each FLW Tour event of the 2011 season. After every event, Lefebre will give his thoughts on tournament strategy, winning techniques and other behind-the-scenes stories/information that is compelling to our readers.

I just can’t wait. I just can’t wait. For practice that is. I am excited for the tournament, but I just can’t wait for practice alone. You see, practice is something that as an amateur I just do not get enough of. As an amateur before a weekend tournament I might get 8 or 10 hours of practice between work, the wife and the kids. So I just can’t wait.

Kellogg’s team pro Dave Lefebre provides an inside look at the Sept. 15-18 FLW Tour Open on Lake Champlain
When you ask FLW Tour pros what their favorite lake is most of them will say Champlain. And I’d probably have to agree with them. The lake is so full of fish it’s amazing.