LIVE BLOG: Jordan Lee Leads on SCORETRACKER® and in Big Bass Race
KISSIMMEE, Fla. — Five full days of fishing are in the books with only one more remaining. The 10 anglers head out on the Kissimmee Chain of Lakes for the final time, this time for $100,000 and the right to call yourself the only Heavy Hitters champion.
Winning the round obviously nets you $100,000, but there’s another way to win big bucks. The angler that walks away with the biggest bass of the day will earn another $100,000. The scorable bass weight increases from 2 pounds to 3 today, a new wrinkle in the format that may throw some guys for a loop.
2:21 p.m. ET — Go ahead and put an exclamation point on Jordan Lee’s Heavy Hitters championship. Lee just brought in a 5-15 to increase his lead to 26-1. Lee has dominated from the start of the day, and he hasn’t slowed down.
1:51 p.m. ET — Jordan Lee may have first place all but locked up, but there are still thousands of dollars at stake for the anglers fighting for position below him. Mark Rose has shot up to third place behind Bryan Thrift.
1:09 p.m. ET — Adrian Avena has his first scorable bass of the day–a 4-8. Mark Rose also just brought in a 5-1 for his biggest bass of the day. The bite may be starting to pick up in central Florida.
12:39 p.m. ET — With only one period remaining, now is usually the time that we see the bite start to pick up on the Kissimmee Chain. In the previous days of competition, there have been plenty of movers and countless sizable bass in Period 3. That seems to be when the bass are most active in their feeding. It’s just up to the anglers to find them.
12:19 p.m. ET — Mark Rose just went in after a 3-5 right before the end of Period 2 to get on SCORETRACKER®. It was quite the sight to see Rose jump into the dark waters during alligator mating season.
Here’s where the 10 pros stand after two periods on the Kissimmee Chain:
- Jordan Lee 43-8
- Bryan Thrift 23-3
- Justin Lucas 19-15
- Skeet Reese 17-12
- Dustin Connell 10-11
- Zack Birge 6-7
- Mark Rose 3-5
- Adrian Avena 0-0
- Gary Klein 0-0
- Jacob Wheeler 0-0
12:04 p.m. ET — We haven’t seen a bass hit SCORETRACKER® in more than 40 minutes since Thrift’s 6-2. We’ve seen a couple of 2-15 and mid-2-pound bass, but other than that the bite has been tough.
11:26 a.m. ET — Bryan Thrift just added the second biggest bass of the day, a 6-2. He moved into second place behind Lee, 17-2 back of his total weight of 40-5. There are still four anglers without a scorable bass today.
10:43 a.m. ET — Jordan Lee just increased his lead with a crankbait. Three scorable bass in less than 15 minutes has Lee out in front of Just Lucas by 12-8. The 2019 Stage One champion added a 3-5, 3-7 and 4-10 in quick succession to put some distance between himself and the rest of the field.
10:18 a.m. ET — Skeet Reese just broke down his strategy for the day with the MLF NOW! crew. He said that he’s about to leave Shingle Creek and maybe go hunting for that one big bite to knock Jordan Lee off the top spot. Reese says that he thinks he can find a 9-pounder if he really looks hard enough.
10:05 a.m. ET — It’s been a slow start to Period 2. There’s only been one bass caught in 20 minutes of fishing. Justin Lucas and Bryan Thrift seem like the two most likely anglers who have a shot at catching Lee. Lucas is working near a lock while Thrift is search offshore patches of vegetation.
9:33 a.m. ET — We are through Period 1 and here’s where we stand on the Kissimmee Chain:
- Jordan Lee 21-1
- Justin Lucas 19-15
- Bryan Thrift 17-1
- Dustin Connell 10-11
- Skeet Reese 10-4
- Zack Birge 3-1
- Adrian Avena 0-0
- Gary Klein 0-0
- Jacob Wheeler 0-0
- Mark Rose 0-0
Jordan Lee is the leader for the Berkley Big Bass of the Day with a 7-4 in Period 1. If he holds onto his lead and the big bass, Lee will walk away with $200,000.
8:48 a.m. ET — Justin Lucas has closed the gap on Jordan Lee. Lucas is only 1-12 behind Lee as Skeet Reese just move up to 3-9 behind Lee. There are five anglers still without a scorable bass today. Zack Birge, Adrian Avena, Mark Rose, Gary Klein and Jacob Wheeler have yet to found a 3-pounder.
8:26 a.m. ET — We heard the analysts talk yesterday about the possibility of the current bite not being a sustainable pattern when the scorable bass weight moves to 3 pounds. So far, only one of the three anglers that was really benefitting from the current bite–Zack Birge, Adrian Avena, Skeet Reese–has put a scorable bass onto SCORETRACKER®, Skeet Reese.
7:53 a.m. ET — Nearly an hour into the period and Lee has increased his lead to 9 pounds, 11 ounces over Justin Lucas. Lee has a swimbait tied on and his at the place he calls, “Thump City”. He coined the term during the Qualifying Rounds.
7:28 a.m. ET — Jordan Lee’s quality bass have not dried up from his magic brush pile. He just caught a 6-4, or as he referred to it, “straight meat.” He now not only leads on SCORETRACKER®, but also in the hunt for the biggest bass. If I were a betting man, I would guess that we haven’t seen the biggest bass of the day, yet.
7:16 a.m. ET — Jordan Lee was the first man on the board this morning with a 3-6 but he was quickly followed up by Justin Lucas with a 4-2. Lucas is competing in his first-ever Championship Round.