Runner-up Randy Deaver pitched jigs around cypress trees and skipped shaky heads under docks.
Effective? Perhaps. Efficient? Maybe
not so much. Purposely casting a lure
with two treble hooks under cypress
limbs and crashing it over the knees
and roots requires a tremendous
amount of patience, persistence and
planning.
“Oh, it’s going to get hung up,”
LeBrun admits. “That’s something you
just have to accept. I like the Movement
80X for that technique because it gets
hung up less, but make no mistake
about it, getting hung up comes with
the territory.”
In an ironic way, the frustration of
getting hung up was a critical aspect of
LeBrun’s winning formula. Most people
will throw a crankbait on cypress trees
for a few hours, then eventually put it
down. Getting hung up three or four
times in a row in oppressive heat, with
the bites few and far between, when
there is $100,000 on the line, is a
recipe for frustration. LeBrun realized
that fact, but saw opportunity.
With the final day slated to be the
hottest of the event, with temperatures
creeping into the upper 90s, and only
the top 10 anglers vying for the
$100,000 payday, LeBrun found him-
self relishing the moment. As the heat
and pressure mounted, he was mental-
ly prepared to make the final day count
the most by becoming even more
aggressive with his crankbait. Every
cast and retrieve was delivered with a
substanti