LIVE BLOG: Justin Lucas Wins Stage Five Championship with 110-5 - Major League Fishing

LIVE BLOG: Justin Lucas Wins Stage Five Championship with 110-5

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Mark Daniels Jr., Josh Bertrand and Justin Lucas are neck and neck at the top of SCORETRACKER®.
July 15, 2020 • MLF Field Crew • Bass Pro Tour

STURGEON BAY, Wis. — Through one period on Sturgeon Bay and the numbers remain impressive. The lead continues to flip-flop between three different anglers–Mark Daniels Jr., Josh Bertrand and Justin Lucas. All three are looking for their first-ever win on the Bass Pro Tour and they seem to be the ones with the best shot heading towards the back half of the Championship Round.

Every angler has a scorable bass registered on SCORETRACKER®, so now it’s about who can consistently smash some smallmouth on Sturgeon Bay.

5:28 p.m. CT — It’s official: Justin Lucas is the Stage Five champion. He caught 38 bass for 110-5 on the final day of competition, an MLF record for most weight in a Championship Round. It is his first MLF win and his first win on any tour in four years. Congratulations to Lucas!

5:18 p.m. CT — With only 7 minutes left in the Championship Round, MDJ isn’t giving up without a fight. He is now just 7-10 behind Lucas for the lead. Both anglers have a fish hooked up…..

5:05 p.m. CT — Justin Lucas may have just clinched a Stage Five championship. He’s landed four bass for 11-7 in just 10 minutes to push his lead over MDJ to more than 16 pounds. Lucas let out a little burst of joyful emotion after catching his last fish, saying, “It’s been four years since I’ve won a tournament!” He has 20 minutes left until he can call that trophy his.

4:30 p.m. CT — Less than an hour remains and Justin Lucas’ lead has widened back to double-digits. Lucas leads MDJ and Bertrand by more than 11 pounds thanks to three 2-pounders in just 8 minutes. Lucas also has broken the MLF record for most weight totaled in a Championship Round.

4:00 p.m. CT — Here comes Mark Daniels Jr. Lucas hasn’t put a scorable bass on SCORETRACKER® since the restart and MDJ is within single digits of catching him. Daniels is now just 7-6 behind Lucas with less than 90 minutes to go.

3:34 p.m. CT — Josh Bertrand just gave us a breakdown of the area he’s in: it’s cloudy, there’s no wind, and no current. That’s not what you want according to Bertrand. He’s 15-1 back of Lucas for the lead right now with less than two hours to go.

3:22 p.m. CT — The rain continues to fall but the lightning has moved out of the area. Alton Jones is the first angler to catch a scorable bass since the restart. Jordan Lee followed him up shortly after that. No movement near the top yet, however.

3:00 p.m. CT — MLF officials have just announced that the restart time will be at 3:15 p.m. CT. The anglers have been notified of the restart and will all head back to the positions where they were when the stoppage took place.

1:48 p.m. CT — We will have a weather stoppage coming up shortly. The stop-fishing order has been given and the anglers will stop at 1:50 p.m. CT. MLF NOW! analyst Marty Stone just mentioned that he’s not 100 percent sure that the anglers will be able to restart their day once this weather stoppage begins. There is a hard stop at 6 p.m. CT, no matter how much time is remaining in Period 3. Here is where the Top 10 stand as we head into the delay:

  1. Justin Lucas 88-08
  2. Josh Bertrand 73-07
  3. Mark Daniels Jr. 71-11
  4. Alton Jones 62-11
  5. Andy Morgan 52-07
  6. Cliff Pace 48-04
  7. Mike Iaconelli 44-09
  8. Jordan Lee 35-02
  9. Ish Monroe 22-10
  10. Bradley Roy 19-09

1:15 p.m. CT — Justin Lucas exploded over the final hour of Period 2 to take firm control of first place. Here’s where the anglers stand after two periods on Sturgeon Bay.

  1. Justin Lucas 83-07
  2. Mark Daniels Jr. 68-13
  3. Josh Bertrand 68-00
  4. Alton Jones 57-04
  5. Andy Morgan 47-09
  6. Mike Iaconelli 44-09
  7. Cliff Pace 43-05
  8. Jordan Lee 35-02
  9. Ish Monroe 22-10
  10. Bradley Roy 17-03

12:58 p.m. CT — Justin Lucas is back in the lead with seven catches in the last 30 minutes. He has 25 bass for 74-11, 5-14 ahead of Mark Daniels Jr.

12:32 p.m. CT — It remains a three-horse race at the top of SCORETRACKER® with MDJ, Bertrand and Lucas. Bertrand is the leader with 65-5, but MDJ is just 5 ounces behind while Lucas is 2-9 back. Back and forth we go on Sturgeon Bay.

12:04 p.m. CT — Josh Bertrand is back in the lead after switching back to a Berkley Flat Worm. He said he has found a big boulder offshore that has a lot of fish on it. Three fish in the last 10 minutes moves him 2-3 ahead of MDJ.

11:41 a.m. CT — MDJ is back in the lead over Lucas and Bertrand. MDJ has 18 bass for 55-10, leading Bertrand by 3-9 and Lucas by 5-4. The Alabama pro added two 3-pounders in a 5-minute span that pushed him over the top.

11:26 a.m. CT — Be on the lookout for Jordan Lee. He began the period in eighth place with 14-14 but has now moved into fifth with 31-9. Lee has 16-11 in Period 2 alone and is 20-8 behind Bertrand for the lead.

10:52 a.m. CT — Jordan Lee just said that every angler besides him had caught a 4-pounder today. Well, that changed with a 4-4 just now. Although, Mike Iaconelli is truly the only angler without a 4-pounder now. His biggest is a 3-13 as he sits in sixth place with 20-10.

10:30 a.m. CT — Period 1 is wrapped up and here are the standings for the Stage Five championship:

  1. Justin Lucas 45-03
  2. Mark Daniels Jr. 42-15
  3. Josh Bertrand 40-06
  4. Alton Jones 34-00
  5. Andy Morgan 22-11
  6. Mike Iaconelli 20-10
  7. Cliff Pace 16-07
  8. Jordan Lee 14-14
  9. Ish Monroe 4-4
  10. Bradley Roy 0-0

Justin Lucas landed a 3-15 as time expired in Period 1 to move ahead of MDJ.

10:14 a.m. CT — While Mark Daniels Jr. has remained stagnant, Justin Lucas and Josh Bertrand are gaining considerable ground. Lucas is just 1-7 behind Daniels while Bertrand is 2-12 back. Lucas scored five bass in the final 30 minutes to move into second.

9:55 a.m. CT — Josh Bertrand is 9-13 back of Mark Daniels Jr. for the lead while Justin Lucas is 12-13 back.

9:32 a.m. CT — A run of seven scorable bass in 30 minutes has Mark Daniels Jr. in the lead over Josh Bertrand. Daniels’ seven bass totaled 21-10, bringing his total weight to 34-2. Daniels’ most recent bass was a 4-1, his biggest of the morning.

9:11 a.m. CT — Mike Iaconelli is starting to make a push towards the top. He has seven bass for 18-10 and is only 2-3 behind Bertrand for the lead. Ike has proven over the week that if he is in the right area, he’s going to catch them.

8:52 a.m. CT — Justin Lucas is now the new leader on top of SCORETRACKER®. Lucas has six bass for 17-1 and is 2-2 ahead of Bertrand. Lucas doesn’t seem to be slowing down from his impressive performance in the Qualifying Rounds where he shattered MLF records for most weight caught in a single period, single day and in a two-day span.

Ish Monroe lands a 4-4 for his first bass of the day.

8:35 a.m. CT — Mark Daniels Jr and Justin Lucas are both over 10 pounds of scorable bass now. Both are trying to chase down leader Josh Bertrand and Daniels is only 2-7 behind Bertrand for the lead.

Bradley Roy, Cliff Pace, Jordan Lee and Ish Monroe are all without a scorable bass so far.

8:16 a.m. CT — Josh Bertrand has found them this morning. He’s out to a pretty good lead with five bass for 14-15. Bertrand has a Berkley Flat Worm tied on–a bait that has worked for many different anglers all week long–and he’s working some deeper water not really any swells to speak of.

8:06 a.m. CT — Andy Morgan is the first angler on the board with a 3-12 smallmouth. He was quickly followed by Josh Bertrand and Justin Lucas. Both caught 2-pounders.