Brandon Lester looked and sounded as relaxed as a man on vacation after weighing 23 pounds to take the Day 1 lead in the SiteOne Bassmaster Elite at the Harris Chain. This Florida tournament trip has been fun. The 33-year-old Fayetteville, Tenn., resident started the year with his first-ever B.A.S.S. win in the Southern Open earlier this month on Florida’s Lake Kissimmee. Then he finished 28th in the Elite Series opener last week on Florida’s St. Johns River.
“People call it momentum,” Lester said. “I think it’s more like you get into a good rhythm and a good pace. In tournament fishing sometimes you’re out there and it seems like the day just flies by. But right now, when I get out there, it’s just like I’ve got all the time in the world. Good things are happening out there right now. I’m having fun.”
Lester caught all his fish by pitching a 6-inch June bug-colored stick worm in shallow vegetation. He said only one came off a spawning bed. The big wave of bass moving to the bank to spawn hasn’t shown up yet, but 11 anglers weighed limits of 20 pounds or more. Pat Schlapper is only one ounce behind Lester, and Buddy Gross is third, only 4 ounces back.
Lester said he had his weight by 12:30 or 1:00 Thursday and went looking for bass on spawning beds afterwards.
“I’m seeing a lot of males,” he said. “I’m not seeing the females like I thought I would. It could be any day. You’ve got to keep checking it because if you’re the guy that misses out on that and they do show up, you’re going to look like a dummy.”