Lefebre's Take On The 2011 FLW Tour Venues : When B.A.S.S. launched its Elite Series a half-decade ago, it made scheduling a priority. The idea was to visit the best lakes at the very best times, and since then, the Elite Series has hit some record-breaking bites. The FLW Tour lagged seriously behind in its scheduling. The Tour fell into a pattern of visiting the same fisheries at inopportune times, all of which led to a pejorative nickname – the shakey-head tour.
But FLW Outdoors reversed several years of thinking with its 2011 schedule. New venues, peak bites and a schedule (with the new Opens) that stretches from February through October. One angler who's amped about the 2011 schedule is Pennsylvania pro Dave Lefebre. He loves the choice of venues and dates, as well as the fact that potentially difficult transition bites in fall still bring Tour competitors to some of the nation's best fisheries.
Below is a list of the 10-event Tour schedule next year. Each date includes a few notes from Lefebre.
Okeechobee FLW Tour Open: Feb. 3-6 (Florida)
Lefebre: "Obviously, this is one of those where we'll have to wait and see until we get there. It's definitely around the spawn and there'll be at least some fish spawning no matter what. But we won't know what's going on until we get down there because everything's so weather-dependent. I haven't heard too much about lake levels or anything else, but even when the lake's wide-open, it still fishes small. You never have fish to yourself, so that makes it challenging. But unless weather takes a wrong turn, we should hit it perfectly. I'm excited to be going back. We haven't been there in a while."
Beaver Lake FLW Tour Major (Walmart Open): March 3-6 (Arkansas)
"I don't hate Beaver as much as I used to. It really used to have my number. And we'll be going a lot earlier than we normally do, so I don't know if we'll hit the front end of the spawn or not. It'll definitely be the earliest I've been there, so that's exciting. It's something different and a good change. I don't think the weights will be as low as they've been in the past. The pre-spawn fish should be on jerkbaits and Storm Wiggle Warts."
Hartwell FLW Tour Major: March 24-27 (South Carolina)
"I've never been there, but it seems like it's a jig lake. It should be pre-spawn, and what I like about the date is that the blueback spawn should be in play. Usually we go to blueback lakes at the wrong time, like the middle of the summer, and we never get on that Sebile bite with spawning bluebacks. We should hit it just about right."
Chickamauga FLW Tour Major: April 14-17 (Tennessee)
"This is another lake I've never been to, but my record's really good on the Tennessee River system. It should be close to the spawn – locals would know a lot more than me – but like Hartwell, it's a new stop that a lot of people won't have experience on. We usually get one of those every 2 or 3 years, so this is a real treat. The fish should be shallow and current-related and the middle of April is a great time to fish no matter where you are in the country."Table Rock FLW Tour Major: May 5-8 (Missouri)
"Every time we go to Table Rock we wind up breaking ice, but this is another date that really lines up with a peak bite. It looks to me like it's going to be a slugfest. It's going to be right around the spawn and there's going to be a lot going on. It should be a really good event. They should be past the jerkbait thing and I'd expect it to be a sight-fishing or spawning event. It should be hammer time and it could probably be won multiple different ways."Red River FLW Tour Major: May 19-22 (Louisiana)
"Technically this should be a spawn event too, but I don't want to say that. Locals again would know much better. But the Red River's a really unique place that doesn't really fit into a category. It's a river, but it's so different than a lot of the controlled rivers we fish. It reminds me a lot of the upper Mississippi because there are so many backwaters. Floods roll through and create new places all the time. It's definitely one of those 'committal' type places. That's not really my style – I like to run and gun and just be a crazy man. But at the Red, you find fish and it might take an hour just to idle your way back to them. I'm looking forward to it though. Last year I felt like I might have had a chance to win, but it was canceled. What's so exciting is that it'll probably be won fishing really shallow, and we're basically extending our practice from last year. It'll be like an 8-day practice."Potomac River FLW Tour Open: June 2-5 (Maryland)
"I've been to the Potomac a million times, and just like the rest of the events, this is a good one – the perfect time to be there. The grass should be fully developed and because the grass changes every year, we won't know where the hydrilla and milfoil is until we get there. But that's perfect. It doesn't get any better than that. It should be mostly post-spawn with the fish all schooled up in the grass and starting to get on the edges in deeper water. Some fish will still be in the creeks. It'll be all power-fishing. You won't need anything less than 15-pound test, unless you're Iaconelli."Kentucky Lake FLW Tour Major: June 16-19 (Kentucky)
"Again, can you believe how perfect the scheduling is? This is a huge, huge lake so everyone will be spread out and it'll be a post-spawn deal. There'll still be enough fish in the shallow bushes to exploit, but they'll be grouped up out deep for sure. It's perfect timing for deep-cranking, deep-jigging, swimbaits and big worms."Champlain FLW Tour Open: Sept 15-18 (New York)
"Anytime is hammer time at Champlain, but this one could go either way depending on weather. There's definitely a lull at some point in September as the fish get into that weird transition phase, so it could fish a little stingy. But it has the potential to be pretty good too. Personally, I like tougher bites – I tend to do better – but we won't know if the fish are grouped up or scattered until we get there."Guntersville FLW Tour Open: October 20-23 (Alabama)
"It's always exciting to go to Guntersville. There are so many fish and so many huge fish there. Like Champlain though, this tournament could go either way depending on the fall transition. I think it's going to be a little tougher because of that. But man, if you have to fish a tougher bite in the fall, where would you rather be than Champlain or Guntersville?"Notable
BassFan will walk through the 2011 FLW Tour schedule again with a different pro from a different geographic region to see if his predictions are similar.
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