Kellogg’s Frosted Flakes team pro Dave Lefebre provides an inside look at the latest FLW Tour event in Grove, Okla.
Despite the best weather and water conditions I could have ever dream up, I had another bomb in an FLW Tour major. Grand Lake was really high and muddy from recent severe storms in the Tulsa area, but the fishing was still quite good.

Our next stop on the FLW Tour is Grand Lake in Oklahoma. I am really looking forward to this tournament but maybe not for the same reasons all the other guys are. Yes, Grand has a giant population of 3- to 6-pounders and is a lake that you can fish deep or shallow, but I am looking forward to it because of my good friend, Mark Leach.

My last blog was after the FLW Tour Smith Lake tournament and I am now enjoying some much needed time off. I have fished five tournaments back to back, starting with the Beaver Lake tour event. From there I went to the Red River to fish a BASS Open. Then I fished back-to-back EverStart events on Pickwick and Wheeler and then finally the FLW Tour at Lake Eufaula.

Kellogg’s Frosted Flakes team pro Dave Lefebre provides an inside look at the latest FLW Tour event in Eufaula, Ala.
Despite a miserable finish at Lake Eufaula, I’m still moving on up in the AOY standings. I finished 55th – just a few ounces away from a $10,000 check – and I can tell you that is not fun at all. I now sit in 36th place with two events remaining. The goal is to sneak into that top 15, which will require a couple of very strong tournaments.

I fished this past weekend with my good friend, Jim Finley, on Lake Okeechobee in the Gambler Bass Open. We had a fantastic day pitching reeds, throwing a Gambler Big EZ and swimming jigs. We started out the day catching lots of small fish, but then like many magical days we kind of got dialed into the secret that started unlocking the big ones.

Kellogg’s Frosted Flakes team pro Dave Lefebre provides an inside look at the latest FLW Tour event in Rogers, Ark.
Remember way, way back two years ago, before we were allowed to throw 13 or 25 baits at a time …

In one week I will officially be a college fishing graduate, and my graduation ceremony will take place at the 2013 FLW College Fishing National Championship on Beaver Lake, in Rogers, Ark.

I had a great weekend fishing with Cole and Corbett Sands here at the Big O. I met these fine young anglers last year at the Forrest Wood Cup. Cole, 16, is the 2011 and 2012 Angler of the Year for the Cleveland Jr. Bass Club and the 2011 Tennessee TBF Jr. State Champion. Corbett, 12, is the 2012 Tennessee TBF Jr. State Champion - pretty impressive accolades for such young anglers.

Well, I can say I have been dreading writing the second blog of the year for Lewis Smith Lake, during the three days of official practice the weather was cold and in the upper 40’s. I had just got done fishing the EverStart on my home lake of Guntersville and managed a decent finish but wasn’t what I was looking for.

Had a great day fishing with Michael Cash and Joe Cooper, winners of the Bass Fishing Kids raffle selling contest. We fished the Big "O" tournament style against their dads. We caught about 40 fish and our five biggest weighed close to 30 pounds. These kids can fish! Michael caught the biggest fish of his life - over 8 pounds. I was so impressed with these boys - respectful, hard working and lots of fun. They are great anglers and I hope to one day see them out on the professional trail.

Kellogg’s Frosted Flakes team pro Dave Lefebre provides an inside look at the latest FLW Tour event in Jasper, Ala.
Our second FLW Tour event was on Lewis Smith Lake near Jasper, Ala., and I must say it was a tough one.

It’s day three of our second FLW Tour event of the season and I wish I was fishing today instead of writing this blog.

Well it’s Saturday, March 2nd, and today I had an event at the Azalea Festival in Palatka, Fla. It was fun being with the folks from the True Lube Tire and Auto - Leota, Eugene and Elliott. They are such nice people and we really had a great time.

Rayovac pro recalls the Classic, preps for three week road trip
First of all, being the so-called local favorite at the Bassmaster Classic was pretty tough; there’s a lot of pressure. But I received a lot of media attention which is good, of course. I also really feel like I gained a lot of experience that will help this year and for the rest of my career. I’m talking about things like dealing with spectator boats and how to fish a big tournament on your own lake.

I’ve been slacking on trying to get my blog updated for the FLW Tour event on Okeechobee. After the EverStart Championship I got sick real bad with flu-like symptoms and put me out of commission for about six weeks this winter. I was blessed to get to spend Christmas around my family and friends up in Michigan and Canada, but physically I was exhausted from being sick.

The FLW Tour season opener at Okeechobee is in the books. The lake was definitely stingier this year and no one came close to breaking the century mark. Congratulations to Drew Benton on his first tour win in his very first tour event.

Kellogg’s team pro Dave Lefebre provides an inside look at the latest FLW Tour Major in Clewiston, Fla.
One hundred and second place – not a bad way to kick off the 2013 FLW Tour season … yeah right! This trip to Okeechobee is hard to swallow and it will be a long time before I quit thinking about it. I feel like a field goal kicker who just missed a game-winning boot in the last 3 seconds of a game; it’s a sick feeling. A bad performance is never good, but there is a good reason why this bomb hurts a lot more than those in the past.

The 2013 FLW season is upon us. I’ve been waiting to get the season started and am really excited about the first tournament being on my home lake – Lake Okeechobee. Before the lake went off limits I was able to go to the lake and prefish 6 to7 days. I had a few good days and caught some big fish but I also had some days that I struggled and could never find a pattern of what the big ones were doing.

It’s hard to believe that the 2013 season is officially here already. We ended the 2012 season at Sam Rayburn in October and this offseason has flown by.

The 2013 FLW Tour season is rapidly approaching and, for some reason, I’m more excited about competing than I’ve ever been. I can’t wait to get out there and get back into shape both mentally and physically as we’ve been “off” for way too long. I’ve also been preparing myself to get at least six hours of sleep – something I neglected last year and paid heavily for during the first practice days at Okeechobee.

Kellogg’s team pro Dave Lefebre provides an inside look at the latest FLW Tour Open in Lufkin, Texas
It has been an exciting season on the 2012 Walmart FLW Tour and finally getting to visit the famous Sam Rayburn was a perfect ending. Strangely, I’d never seen Rayburn in my 12 years as a professional. Standing next to the water before practice began was humbling to me. This is where our sport began and so many historic tournaments have been held there that I was in awe just being there.

The third stop on the FLW Tour Open schedule was set for Wheeler Lake, a fishery that I get to fish a couple of times a year. It’s actually closer to where I live than Guntersville but it is hard to pass up Guntersville to head to Wheeler since the bite on Wheeler can be tough with the lack of aquatic vegetation. Although this event was close to home I was only able to practice for two days for this event having fished a BFL the weekend before. The weather was pretty horrible in practice. The heavy rain made it tough to get around on the lake and just about all the anglers were soaked getting off the water at the boat ramp.

Kellogg’s team pro Dave Lefebre provides an inside look at the latest FLW Tour Open in Woodhaven, Mich.
Detroit is such an incredible place to fish and I especially like it because it is the closest FLW Tour stop to my home in Erie, Pa., at only four hours. Although Lake Erie is where I usually like to go in tournaments out of Detroit, it never ceases to amaze me how different that section of the lake is compared to where I live; it is truly like night and day.

The Detroit River FLW Tour Open has come and gone and it was an eye-opener for me personally. I have fished all my life and covered tournaments across the country but I’ve never seen fishing quite like its done on St Clair and Lake Erie. For starters, the contour of St. Clair seems to change less than an inch per mile.

Well, this event is a tough one to write about since the finish was the worst I’ve had to date. I spent three full days from daylight to dark practicing; two days on Lake Erie and one day on Lake St. Clair. This is the body of water I grew up fishing, but rarely did I fish for bass since the walleye and perch were more sought after for food. When we wanted to go sport fishing we would target northern pike and musky since they were bigger. Don’t get me wrong, I caught my fair share of smallmouth growing up but they were usually caught while targeting other species. Well this is officially my third event back on these waters and I’ve yet to cash a check here from the front or back of the boat.