BACKLASH
Q&A
NICK L E BRUN
BOSSIER CITY, LOUISIANA
Which lakes are those?
The ones I’m most excited about
are Sam Rayburn and Grand Lake.
Rayburn is kind of, I don’t want to use
the term home lake — I live two hours
away — but I do spend a lot of time
there. It’s a place I’m definitely com-
fortable. I’ve fished two Costas and a
BFL at Grand, and I enjoy fishing there.
It sets up the way I like.
are you at all nervous or intimi-
dated about making the step up?
I wouldn’t use the term nervous,
but the thing I think about the most is
just being away from my wife, Jolene,
and my twin 2-year-old boys, Jaxson
and Jayce. It’s kind of hard to pull out
of the driveway knowing I’m going to
be gone a week or two. But as far as
intimidated by the Tour, I’m not that at
all. I kind of feel like I’ve been prepar-
ing for it for a while.
80
When you won the all-american,
you dedicated the tournament to
your late father, Billy. how did he
influence you as an angler?
My dad barely owned a fishing
pole, so he never really taught me
more than the basics. He was kind of
a bream, white perch and catfish type
fisherman. But he taught me a lot of
life lessons and work ethic and things
I could apply as an angler. He didn’t
really intend some lessons to be put
to use on the water, but that’s how I
ended up using them. I know he’s no
longer here on earth with us, but I
definitely feel like he’s
here in spirit with me a lot
of times, especially when I
catch a big one in an event.
ever run into a duck hunter
while you’re flipping duck blinds
on those louisiana lakes?
Yeah, you know, years ago me and
Randy (Deaver, All-American runner-
up) were fishing a team tournament,
one of the bigger tournaments around
here, and there was a school of Trap
fish that was kind of close to a duck
blind. We had been seeing the people
hunt it off and on leading up to the
tournament, and we knew that the day
of the tournament it was going to be
first come, first served. So we got up
extra early and got out there and
Power-Poled down next to their blind
so they knew “we were here first, and
you need to let us catch these fish
and then you can worry about hunt-
ing.” If you’re respectful of people
you’re going to be fine. For the most
part, hunters and Rat-L-Trap fisher-
men have a pretty good relationship
most of the time.
do you ever do any duck hunting?
doesn’t everyone in louisiana?
No, man. I’m committed to the
bass. That’s all I do. I couldn’t even tell
you who played in the last Super Bowl.
I try to stay laser focused on what will
help my career.
so there’s nothing else at all
you’re into?
The only thing else that I can really
have a long conversation about is
music. Growing up, I used to play the
drums a lot. I would tell people that I
can drum as good as I can fish. Years
ago, I kind of made a decision to put
the drums on the back burner and
really focus on my career and focus on
the bass. But I still love talking about
music and different bands and con-
certs and stuff.
how excited are you to kick off
your pro career on the 2019 flW
tour?
Man, it’s hard to put into words.
Super excited would be an under-
statement. It’s always been a dream of
mine to fish the Tour. To finally qualify
to get the opportunity and also have a
couple lakes on the schedule that I
feel comfortable with and I feel famil-
iar with is an added blessing.
By Curtis Niedermier
What kind of music did you play?
Mostly different variations of rock,
like a lot of stuff that’s really musician-
driven that’s underground that nobody
would really know because it’s all about
some drummer who’s one of the top 10
drummers in the world, and he put a lit-
tle super group together.
Being so focused, it makes me
wonder if you’ve ever studied
sports psychology or something.
No. I would say the biggest part of
my game right now is just staying in
the Word of God. Those tough days
out there, like at Lake Ouachita (for the
Cup), you’re only going to get a few
bites a day. Having strong faith in God,
that He’s going to be right there with
you and help you make the right deci-
sions – if I study anything it’s that.
What was your experience like
being on flW live at the cup?
Man, it was pretty awesome
because every time I would notice that
camera back there it would be a
reminder that, hey, this is the highest
level. This is the real deal. You gotta be
on your A-game. You gotta try to catch
every fish that bites. And if that cam-
eraman’s not there, that’s a reminder
that you’re not doing so good.
have any goals this rookie season?
I guess if I had one goal it would be
to gain the respect of other anglers
that’ve been doing it for a long time
and the guys I’ve looked up to. I want
those guys to know that it’s a blessing
and honor to compete with them. And
I’m sincere when I say that.
flWfIshInG.com I WInter 2019