Daniels Dominates on Mille Lacs to Earn Championship Bid; Lee Stays Alive in AOY Hunt

ONAMIA, Minn. – What started as a day focused on making the cut quickly turned into a mission to clinch a berth in the Championship Round for Mark Daniels Jr. The Alabama pro rocketed up SCORETRACKER® on Monday, passing Josh Bertrand in the third period and earning a spot in Thursday’s Championship Round of the Bally Bet Stage Seven Presented by Minn Kota on Mille Lakes Lake.

Daniels Gets It Done with a Big Day

Daniels began his second day of competition on Monday in seventh place on SCORETRACKER® with 43 pounds, 14 ounces. Because of his position on the leaderboard and near-46-pound deficit behind leader Bertrand, Daniels’ main focus coming into the day was to secure a spot inside the Top 20 and then go practice.

“I knew I needed to catch a few bass to ensure I made the Knockout Round,” Daniels said. “I caught a few pretty quick this morning, but 5-pounders add up on your score really quick. Next thing I knew I was 30 pounds back, but I still thought it was quite a bit of distance.”

Daniels had seven bass for 27-14 in the first period, enough to pull him closer to Bertrand, but not by much. In his second period, the Googan Baits pro caught six more bass for 24-4 while Bertrand only caught one bass for 3-6. At the beginning of the third period, Daniels could smell blood in the water.

“Once I heard that I was only 15 pounds back of the lead, I knew that I could make that up,” Daniels recalled. “I circled back through a few areas that I was saving for the Knockout Round that I knew fish were living in and used them up today. I maximized my fishing time and it paid off with a win.”

Daniels added 20 bass for 79-10 on Monday and ended with a two-day total of 123-10, 11-13 ahead of Bertrand for the round win and the right to move straight to the Championship Round. It will be Daniels’ second Championship Round appearance in the 2022 season — his first since finishing in sixth place at Stage One in Louisiana.

Eyes on Bally Bet AOY

Jordan Lee will hold off the Jacob Wheeler Bally Bet Angler of the Year celebration for at least one more day. Lee finished Monday in fourth place in Group A to qualify for the Knockout Round.

Wheeler would have to miss out on qualifying for the Knockout Round, and also finish near the bottom of SCORETRACKER® for Lee to have a chance at stealing the title.

Wheeler currently sits in third place heading into his second day of competition for Group B with a 26-pound cushion over the Toro Cut Line.

Who Moved in and Moved out on Monday

Twenty anglers are moving on in Group A. Here’s who moved above the Toro Cut Line on Monday after beginning the day below the cut:

• Ish Monroe (26^th to 18^th)
• Roy Hawk (37^th to 16^th)
• Todd Faircloth (33^rd to 15^th)
• Jonathon VanDam (25^th to 14^th)
• Dakota Ebare (23^rd to ninth)

Here’s who fell out of the Top 20 after beginning their day above the cut:

• Takahiro Omori (20^th to 34^th)
• Cole Floyd (18^th to 29^th)
• Zack Birge (16^th to 22^nd)
• Mike McClelland (15^th to 35^th)
• Anthony Gagliardi (11^th to 24^th)

Daily Leaders

• The Berkley Big Bass of the Day belongs to Stephen Browning with a 6-8 smallmouth.
• Mark Daniels Jr. had the most weight on SCORETRACKER® with 123-10.
• Daniels also caught the most scorable bass with 20.

What’s Next

The Bally Bet Stage Seven Presented by Minn Kota continues on Tuesday as Group B is back, vying to make the Knockout Round. All eyes will be on Jacob Wheeler to see if he can clinch a second-straight AOY title with a berth in the Knockout Round. Fans can watch it unfold on MLF NOW! beginning at 7:45 a.m. CT.