By MLF Communications Staff

RICHMOND, Va. – The last time Nick LeBrun visited the James River, he left with a trophy, winning and Pro Circuit event on the Virginia fishery in 2022 en route to qualifying for the Bass Pro Tour.

While that win remains a highlight of LeBrun’s fishing career, to say he picked up where he left off doesn’t do justice to how he started the BPT event Wednesday.

LeBrun wasted no time claiming the top spot on ScoreTracker and racing away from the rest of the field during Group B’s first day of the Qualifying Round. In the first hour and 45 minutes, the Louisiana native boated 22 scoreable bass totaling 51 pounds, 4 ounces. From there, he cruised to a 73-10 total, which has him more than 20 pounds clear of 2nd-place Terry Scroggins at the top of the leaderboard.

“I don’t know what else to say besides just praise the Lord,” LeBrun said. “It was just an incredible day. I’ll never forget it the rest of my life.”

While LeBrun’s first period alone (54-2) would have eclipsed everyone else’s total for the day, he was far from the only angler to find the bite just as hot as the weather during another blazing day on the James. For the second day in a row, it took more than 40 pounds to claim a spot in the Top 10, and 29 of the 39 anglers on the water topped 20 pounds on the day.

LeBrun knew he’d found some areas on the tidal river system during practice that would produce on a falling tide, which was the case for the entire first period Wednesday. However, he had no idea just how good they would be.

In fact, at one point he joked with his boat official that the two of them should jump into the water to cool off if he amassed 70 pounds on the day, not thinking he’d actually hit that mark. Once he got there early in the third period, though, he made good on his word.

“When the tide is right, I had a few places in practice where I just got a few bites and went on, and I didn’t really know what was there,” LeBrun said. “I knew that there were some fish there, but today, I got to see what was really there, and man, it was incredible.”

LeBrun didn’t want to share too many details about his approach but said he caught almost all his weight power-fishing — chunking and winding with his Temple Fork Outfitters baitcasting rods. Once low tide passed and the tide changed, that pattern waned, and LeBrun used the rest of the day to explore new water.

“When the tide gets low and it starts coming back in, my spots aren’t as productive,” he said. “So, I really used the last period to try to just go and figure out something new and caught a few fish here and there.”

The good news for LeBrun is that the field will fish an outgoing tide longer and longer as the event progresses. The concern, though, is that as low tide gets later each day, the heat might make the bass less active. After temperatures reached triple digits Wednesday, the weather is forecast to cool off a bit in the days to come, but not much, with highs in the upper 80s and low 90s.

“I think I could ride it a little bit longer,” LeBrun said of his starting pattern. “It’s definitely an outgoing tide-type of a thing, and so with these tidal days, the tide shifts about 30 minutes to an hour every day, and so if I whacked them in the first period, my bite might shift more toward the second period on Day 2. So, we’ll see.

“The heat is definitely not helping. In practice, when we had outgoing tide closer to daylight, it was really easy to get bites. But now that it’s so hot and the outgoing is getting pushed further in the morning and kind of midday, it’s making it more challenging.”

With a cushion of nearly 35 pounds over 11th place, LeBrun’s spot in the Knockout Round should be nearly secure. As a result, he plans to use the second day of qualifying as “a day of learning,” focusing especially on identifying a productive pattern around high tide.

While he knows he’ll need to make the right adjustments to have a shot at going back-to-back on the James, he made sure to soak in his special start. LeBrun called the day his most fun on the water in nearly two years on the BPT.

“This is a fun place,” LeBrun said. “I feel at home fishing here. It's a special place to me and my wife. And it would be real special to do well here again. I’m just really humbled, because the guys in my group and the guys on the Bass Pro Tour in general are such top-notch competitors, and man, to be leading the round is just really special to me, especially against this group of names. It’s really special to be competing against these guys and to be doing well, because they’re the best out there.”

The 39 anglers in Group B will now have an off day from competition Thursday, while the 39 anglers competing in Group A will wrap up their two-day Qualifying Round. Group B will finish their Qualifying Round on Friday.

Luke Clausen earned the $1,000 Berkley Big Bass award after a 7-6 largemouth bit his creature bait in Period 3. Berkley awards $1,000 to the angler who weighs the heaviest bass each day and another $3,000 bonus to the angler who weighs the heaviest bass of the tournament.

Fishing ClashAngler of the Year leader Jacob Wheeler threw down the gauntlet on Day 1, jumping out to a big lead in Group A with 78-8 and all but assuring himself a spot in the Knockout Round. Wednesday, his two closest pursuers showed they’re not going to let Wheeler run away with his third AOY award.

Alton Jones, Jr., who the tournament 14 points back of Wheeler in the season-long competition, currently sits 8th in Group B with 42-13, while Dustin Connell is 4th with 50-15. Connell arrived at the James in 3rd place, 24.5 points off Wheeler’s total. As of now, all three anglers are positioned to meet in the Knockout Round, although Connell and Jones still have some work to do to assure their spots in Saturday’s field.

Anglers launch at 7:30 a.m. ET each day from Osborne Landing, located at 9530 Osborne Turnpike in Richmond. Due to long boat runs, tides and high temperatures, MLF has enacted the Trailering Policy for the entirety of the event, meaning pros can trailer their boats and drive them to any ramp on the fishery closer to where they plan to start fishing. Pros taking advantage of the trailering policy will leave Osborne Landing at 6:45 a.m. ET daily and will begin fishing at 8 a.m. with the full field.

Takeouts are held at the landing, beginning at 4 p.m.

The MLFNOW! broadcast team of Chad McKee and J.T. Kenney will break down the extended action live on the final four days of competition from 7:45 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. ET. MLFNOW! will be livestreamed on MajorLeagueFishing.com and the MyOutdoorTV (MOTV) app.



Group B Qualifying – Day 1

(Figure at far right indicates weight of angler's heaviest fish for the day)

1. Nick LeBrun -- 73 -10 (32) -- 3 -15 -- 1 -10

2. Terry Scroggins -- 53 -02 (26) -- 2 -11 -- 2 -05

3. Jonathon VanDam -- 52 -12 (22) -- 5 -13 -- 1 -08

4. Dustin Connell -- 50 -15 (26) -- 3 -13 -- 1 -13

5. Dylan Hays -- 50 -08 (19) -- 5 -01 -- 1 -15

6. Spencer Shuffield -- 44 -04 (23) -- 2 -06 -- 1 -14

7. Greg Vinson -- 43 -01 (19) -- 6 -02 -- 6 -02

8. Alton Jones Jr. -- 42 -13 (20) -- 4 -01 -- 2 -04

9. Bryan Thrift -- 41 -00 (19) -- 2 -13 -- 1 -09

10. Justin Lucas -- 40 -15 (17) -- 5 -11 -- 3 -08

11. Luke Clausen -- 39 -00 (17) -- 7 -06 -- 3 -05

12. Scott Suggs -- 37 -06 (17) -- 5 -06 -- 2 -11

13. Brent Ehrler -- 34 -04 (14) -- 4 -07 -- 1 -12

14. David Dudley -- 34 -00 (16) -- 4 -05 -- 1 -12

15. Wesley Strader -- 33 -03 (16) -- 3 -08 -- 3 -08

16. Marty Robinson -- 32 -13 (17) -- 2 -07 -- 2 -07

17. Jacob Wall -- 29 -05 (14) -- 3 -01 -- 3 -00

18. Nick Hatfield -- 28 -13 (12) -- 4 -15 -- 2 -01

19. Stephen Browning -- 28 -09 (14) -- 3 -10 -- 1 -15

20. John Hunter -- 27 -15 (12) -- 4 -13 -- 1 -08

21. Boyd Duckett -- 26 -13 (13) -- 2 -15 -- 2 -03

22. Dave Lefebre -- 25 -12 (10) -- 4 -12 -- 2 -05

23. Chris Lane -- 25 -04 (10) -- 3 -09 -- 2 -04

24. Jesse Wiggins -- 25 -02 (10) -- 3 -10 -- 2 -11

25. Jeremy Lawyer -- 23 -09 (11) -- 3 -08 -- 1 -14

26. Mark Rose -- 23 -02 (12) -- 2 -12 -- 1 -09

27. Fred Roumbanis -- 21 -14 (10) -- 2 -15 -- 2 -06

28. Mark Davis -- 21 -06 (9) -- 4 -00 -- 1 -12

29. Jason Vance -- 20 -02 (10) -- 2 -11 -- 2 -04

30. Anthony Gagliardi -- 19 -13 (11) -- 2 -09 -- 1 -15

31. James Elam -- 18 -04 (9) -- 2 -12 -- 2 -04

32. Gary Klein -- 18 -03 (7) -- 4 -04 -- 1 -08

33. Matthew Stefan -- 17 -04 (8) -- 2 -13 -- 1 -10

34. Mark Daniels Jr. -- 17 -04 (8) -- 2 -13 -- 1 -10

35. John Murray -- 17 -01 (8) -- 3 -05 -- 3 -05

36. Bradley Roy -- 14 -13 (7) -- 3 -02 -- 2 -02

37. Colby Schrumpf -- 14 -03 (7) -- 2 -05 -- 2 -05

38. Martin Villa -- 13 -05 (6) -- 3 -05 -- 1 -12

39. Randy Howell -- 9 -14 (5) -- 2 -15 -- 1 -14