Lee Tops Group B As Knockout Round Set

Tuesday, May 21, 2024

Photo: MLF/Tyler Brinks

Jordan Lee finished more than 20 pounds ahead of the rest of Group B in the Qualifying Round at Heavy Hitters.

By MLF Communications Staff

KISSIMMEE, Fla. – Despite locking up a spot in the Knockout Round of Heavy Hitters 2024 at the Kissimmee Chain of Lakes during his first day on the water, pro Jordan Lee of Guntersville, Alabama, used every minute of the second qualifying day for Group B to his advantage.

Lee hauled his biggest bass of Tuesday, a 6-pound, 7-ounce specimen, over the gunwale just seconds before the end of competition. The buzzer-beater anchored his tally of 19-6 on six scorable bass, which was more than enough to maintain his spot atop the standings. His two-day total of 82-10 topped legendary pro Kevin VanDam – competing in his final event – by 21-11.

While Lee and the other anglers who started the day near the top of ScoreTracker spent much of the day in what he called “search mode,” Mark Rose of Wynne provided the most entertaining action. Rose, who started the day in 14th place, blasted 37-13 on seven bass, including a 7-9, which earned him $10,000 as the day’s biggest catch.

Like Brandon Coulter a day prior, Lee’s objective Tuesday wasn’t to catch as much weight as he could. Instead, he used the day to prepare for Wednesday’s Knockout Round with a little bit of offense and a little bit of defense.

Lee spent much of the day exploring new water, looking for more schools of bass living in the matted hydrilla on Lake Toho. He’s optimistic he found a few spots that could produce if the bite falters in his Day 1 area, including the one that produced his 6 1/2-pounder just before lines out.

“I had three bites here in about five minutes,” Lee said of the spot. “So, maybe I’ll have a little something up here to myself. I don’t really know. It looks good, but we’ll see tomorrow.”

Lee will hope he never has to turn to the backup plan. He did his best to make sure the zone that produced the bulk of his 63-4 on Sunday — a mark no other angler eclipsed across two days of qualifying combined — can carry him through the rest of the tournament, chasing off at least one other angler who stumbled upon the spot.

While Lee almost certainly will have company there tomorrow, he’s all-in on his frog bite, throwing a Berkley Swamp Lord on his signature 7-foot-6 heavy-action Jordan Lee casting rod from Abu Garcia. The 2020 Heavy Hitters champion told MLFNOW! viewers that he’s been waiting for a tournament that could be won frogging mats like he does during the fall on Lake Guntersville in his home state of Alabama. Given that he and Coulter both used the technique to lead their respective groups through qualifying, this looks like his chance.

“I feel like tomorrow is going to be fun,” he said. “I’ve got some areas I feel like I can put the trolling motor down and (Power-Pole) down and frog, and that’s what we’re going to do. I feel like you can get right in a hurry, for sure.”

The tournament features the MLF catch, weigh, immediate-release format, in which anglers catch as much weight as they can each day while also feeling the pressure and intensity of the ScoreTracker leaderboard. A bass must meet the 2-pound minimum weight requirement to be deemed scorable in the Qualifying and Knockout Rounds, but for the final day Championship Round a bass must weigh at least 3 pounds to be deemed scorable.

With the two-day Qualifying Rounds complete, the Top 8 anglers from each group advance to Wednesday’s Knockout Round. In the Knockout Round, weights are zeroed, and the remaining 16 anglers compete to finish in the Top 10 to advance to the Championship Round, where weights are again zeroed and the highest one-day total wins the top prize of $100,000.

In addition to the tournament, Big Bass Bonuses are awarded in each round of competition with payouts of $10,000, $30,000 and $100,000 awarded to the single biggest fish in the Group A and B Qualifying, Knockout and Championship rounds.

Anglers launch each day at 7:30 a.m. ET from Big Toho Marina, located at 69 Lakeview Drive in Kissimmee. Each day’s takeout will be held at the park beginning at 4 p.m.

To qualify for Heavy Hitters, the weight of an angler’s single largest bass from each event of the seven 2023 Bass Pro Tour events was recorded. The 30 anglers with the heaviest total from those seven bass earned the right to compete.

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

Qualifying Group B – Day 2

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

1. Jordan Lee -- 63-04 (18) -- 19-06 (6) -- 82-10 (24) -- 6-07

2. Kevin VanDam -- 40-08 (13) -- 20-07 (7) -- 60-15 (20) -- 4-13

3. Todd Faircloth -- 26-13 (10) -- 29-05 (10) -- 56-02 (20) -- 4-02

4. Takahiro Omori -- 40-06 (13) -- 15-09 (4) -- 55-15 (17) -- 5-10

5. Ott DeFoe -- 32-13 (11) -- 13-02 (4) -- 45-15 (15) -- 3-13

6. Mark Rose -- 4-10 (2) -- 37-13 (7) -- 42-07 (9) -- 7-09

7. Keith Poche -- 18-09 (6) -- 17-08 (7) -- 36-01 (13) -- 3-01

8. Jeff Sprague -- 24-09 (8) -- 9-00 (3) -- 33-09 (11) -- 3-14

The following anglers did not make the cut and will not advance to the Knockout Round

9. Andy Montgomery -- 13-04 (3) -- 18-11 (6) -- 31-15 (9) -- 4-13