LIVE BLOG: Into the Final Period on Sturgeon Bay

The Sturgeon Bay smallies are lighting up SCORETRACKER® heading into Period 3.

July 11, 2020 • MLF Field Crew • Bass Pro Tour

STURGEON BAY, Wis. — Mike Iaconelli said it best to start the third period, as he released his 13th scorable smallmouth of the day: “Look at the size of that thing, like a brick. A Lake Michigan brick.”

The “brick” was a 3-1, one of a multitude of chunky smallmouth that have hit SCORETRACKER® on Day 2.

A handful of anglers have taken turns going on mini-runs that have shot them up the standings – current leader Keith Poche, Alton Jones, Jr., Jordan Lee, to name a few – and it’s safe to say that there will be more of the same over the final 2 1/2 hours.

3:55 p.m. CT — There were three anglers over the 100-pound mark on the first day of competition and now Keith Poche has joined them. He has 43 bass for 110-7 in his first day of fishing. He will begin his second day with a sizable lead on the rest of the field for the right to move on straight to the Championship Round.

3:16 p.m. CT — Skeet Reese has been rocketing up SCORETRACKER® this afternoon. He has gone from outside the Top 20 to sixth place. The California pro has 17 bass for 53 pounds. He began the day in 44th place in the points standings and needs at least a Knockout Round berth to secure a spot in 2021 REDCREST.

2:54 p.m. CT — Ott DeFoe has fallen outside of the Top 20 in Period 3. DeFoe needs to make the Knockout Round if he wants a chance at catching Jordan Lee for the Points Championship. DeFoe is currently in 23rd place with 32-14, 6-10 behind Stephen Browning for the final spot in the Top 20. The good news: DeFoe still has another full day of fishing ahead of him on Monday to try and get back into the Top 20.

2:37 p.m. CT — Keith Poche is up to 83 pounds of bass and has hauled in 33 bass in total. He’s more than 15 pounds ahead of second-place Alton Jones Jr.

2:07 p.m. CT — While Jordan Lee battles for the lead, his brother Matt is now into the Top 20. Matt added a 5-1 smallmouth to his total weight to move him to 11th place with 40-7.

1:46 p.m. CT — Jordan Lee has moved into second place behind Keith Poche with 19 bass for 57-7. Poche has 25 bass for 62-8 for the lead. If Lee is able to win the Qualifying Round for Group B, you can go ahead and hand him the trophy for the Points Championship. With a seven-point lead over Fletcher Shryock, a Championship Round berth could be all Lee needs to cement his Points Championship win.

A bearded Zack Birge lands a 4-11 in Period 3.

12:45 p.m. CT — While Keith Poche has kept his pace up, Jordan Lee is right in lock-step with him. Lee is now in third place and 8-11 behind Poche for the lead. In between the two of them is Cody Meyer in second place with 50-5.

Stephen Browning adds a 5-pounder to his total.

12:01 p.m. CT — As the clock rolls over to the afternoon, the bite has started to pick up. We may not see any anglers crack the 100-pound mark, but there are still impressive numbers being caught. Keith Poche and Bobby Lane are both over 40 pounds caught today.

Zack Birge moves into the Top 10 after catching a 4-7.

11:32 a.m. CT — Mike McClelland is on SCORETRACKER® for the first time today with a 5-pounder. It is important for McClelland to have a good showing in Stage Five if he wants to make 2021 REDCREST. McClelland enters the final event of the season in 41st place in points, the last man out of the Top 40 that qualify.

Mike McClelland holds up a 5-pounder for his first bass of the day.

Leader Keith Poche adds a 4-3 to his total weight.

James Watson with a 4-4 he caught in Period 2.

11:15 a.m. CT — Keith Poche is the new leader on top of SCORETRACKER® with more than 21 pounds caught in less than 30 minutes into Period 2. Poche has moved from seventh place to first in Period 2 and he has 14 bass for 35-9.

Brent Ehrler brings in a 4-5 on Sturgeon Bay.

10:25 a.m. CT — Adrian Avena now has our Berkley Big Bass of the Day, adding a 5-9 for his first bass of the day. Bobby Lane has taken over the lead from Mike Iaconelli with eight bass for 27-13, 3-4 ahead of Iaconelli.

Stephen Browning lands a 3-9 smallmouth.

Cody Meyer hooks into a 4-7 towards the end of Period 1.

Bobby Lane catches a 4-9 and shows off the bait he used to catch it.

10:06 a.m. CT — Ask and you shall receive. Jordan Lee has now moved into the Top 20 after catching four bass for 11-4 in the last 30 minutes. Ott DeFoe is also inside the Top 20 with 10-14. Mike Iaconelli is the leader with 24-9.

9:33 a.m. CT — There are still 10 anglers who haven’t registered a scorable bass today, one of them being the points leader Jordan Lee. Lee is trying to hold off Fletcher Shryock, Ott DeFoe, and Jacob Wheeler for the Points Championship. Lee will most likely need to make the Knockout Round to keep his hopes alive, but with zero scorable bass so far, he’ll need to pick it up in a hurry.

Chris Lane has the biggest bass of the day at 4-10.

8:56 a.m. CT — Mike Iaconelli is back in first place, using his drop-shot in somewhat shallow water. He has five bass for 13-14 and his biggest is a 3-2.

Alton Jones Jr. picks up a 3-8 in Period 1.

Russ Lane adds a 4-7 to take an early lead on Sturgeon Bay.

8:16 a.m. CT — Mike Iaconelli has jumped out to first place with two bass for 5-6. Iaconelli is going to need better than just a Top-10 finish to move on to REDCREST.

Ish Monroe lands a 3-5 for his first bass of the day.

8:03 a.m. CT — Rob Newell gave an on-the-water update this morning and mentioned how he believes that there won’t be a single largemouth caught again. He talked to two anglers who are predominantly largemouth fishermen–Zack Birge and Ish Monroe–and both of them said they spent an entire day of practice looking for a largemouth and never found one. It’s a smallmouth Saturday up north.