LIVE BLOG: Pace Earns Trip to Championship Round, DeFoe Last Man in Top 20

Terry Scroggins, Ish Monroe and Bobby Lane are all trying to move on to the Knockout Round.

July 13, 2020 • MLF Field Crew • Bass Pro Tour

STURGEON BAY, Wis. — Keith Poche starts Group B’s second day of competition in first place by a big margin. Poche is more than 23 pounds ahead of second-place Alton Jones Jr. to start and don’t expect Poche to slow down today. A win in Group B will have him moving on straight to the Championship Round to join Justin Lucas.

The Points Championship is starting to get interesting. With Fletcher Shryock missing the Knockout Round yesterday, it will be up to Jacob Wheeler and Ott DeFoe to catch leader Jordan Lee. Wheeler already secured his spot in the Knockout Round, but DeFoe will have some work to do.

The sun is shining and the smallmouth will definitely be biting in eastern Wisconsin today.

3:57 p.m. CT — It looks like Cliff Pace will walk away with first place in Group B and earn the automatic berth in the Championship Round with Justin Lucas.

Ott DeFoe remains ahead of Britt Myers for the last spot in the Top 20, but only by 2-9. There are 14 total anglers in Group B that have caught more than 100 pounds of fish.

3:40 p.m. CT — Cliff Pace has pushed out a little further from Keith Poche, his lead is now 6-1. Jordan Lee has faded a bit as he is more than 15 pounds behind Pace.

Ott DeFoe is holding strong at No. 20 but his lead is only 2-9 over Britt Myers. Chris Lane is 3-6 back while Zack Birge is 5-4 behind. There’s only 20 minutes left in Period 3.

3:02 p.m. CT — Down near the Elimination Line, it’s going to come down to the wire between a few anglers. Ott DeFoe holds the No. 20 spot right now with 80-15, but Zack Birge, Chris Lane, Brent Ehrler and Britt Myers are all within 10 pounds of catching him. With less than an hour remaining, there’s plenty of smallmouth in Sturgeon Bay for any one of these anglers to make a run.

2:50 p.m. CT — Keith Poche just caught back-to-back fish to move just 3-15 away from leader Cliff Pace. Jordan Lee is in second place and 2-2 behind Pace.

Ish Monroe is now in the Top 20 after starting his day in 33rd place. Ish has 67-4 today and is 8-15 above the Elimination Line.

2:17 p.m. CT — Brent Ehrler is holding on to 20th place on SCORETRACKER® with 73-2. Ish Monroe is close behind with 72-12 while Ott DeFoe remains in striking distance only 2-11 back of Ehrler.

Jared Lintner has come out of nowhere to move into the Top 20 in 12th place. He only had 12-13 coming into today but has since added 78-9. It seems as though you can go ahead and pencil Lintner’s name into the Knockout Round thanks to this run.

Stephen Browning hauls in a 5-pounder in Period 3.

1:42 p.m. CT — Ott DeFoe and Ish Monroe are going back and forth for the final spot in the Top 20. The two just traded 2-pounders on SCORETRACKER® and knocked each other out of the Top 20 in the process.

There are nine anglers who have crossed the 100-pound mark for a two-day total. Compared to Group A, there were only eight total anglers who hit 100 pounds. We will probably see at least two more pros cross 100 pounds today–Edwin Evers and Skeet Reese are both within 10 pounds of cracking 100.

1:15 p.m. CT — Period 2 is wrapped up and we have a new leader–Cliff Pace. The 2019 Stage Eight champion has caught 80 pounds of scorable bass in Period 2 to take the lead away from Jordan Lee. Pace must like Wisconsin fishing since his Stage Eight championship came in Neenah, Wisconsin about this time last year.

12:39 p.m. CT — Adrian Avena is the latest angler who started the day in the Top 20 and has since fallen out. The New Jersey pro started the day in 12th place but has only managed to catch 5-3 of bass today. He is 1-14 back of Greg Vinson for the final spot.

12:20 p.m. CT — Jordan Lee has pushed his lead over Keith Poche to 18 pounds. Cliff Pace has shot up into third place with 50-9 today, and now Poche is in danger of falling to third place behind Pace and Lee.

After struggling for much of Period 1, Cody Meyer has found some fish and has moved back into the Top 20 in 13th place.

A 4-3 smallmouth moves Ish Monroe into 23rd place.

11:50 a.m. CT — Andy Montgomery and Ish Monroe have both gained some ground on the Top 20 here on Day 2. They both began the day in 32nd and 33rd place. They both have moved up to 27th and 28th place thanks to solid second periods. Monroe is 13-4 back of the Elimination Line while Montgomery is a little closer at 10-5 back.

11:26 a.m. CT — Ott DeFoe is into the Top 20 with a total weight of 54-9. He is currently the last man in the Top 20 and only 2 ounces ahead of Chris Lane.

11:14 a.m. CT — Bad news for anyone trying to win a Points Championship other than Jordan Lee: he’s now in the lead in Group B. The Heavy Hitters champ is now in front of Keith Poche by 2 ounces thanks to more than 40 pounds of bass in the first two periods. A trip straight to the Championship Round doesn’t necessarily guarantee Lee a Points Championship, but it definitely increases his chances to near 90 percent.

Edwin Evers lands a 4-pounder in Period 2.

10:57 a.m. CT — There are now three anglers over the 100-pound mark on SCORETRACKER®. Keith Poche, Mike Iaconelli and now Jordan Lee are all over 100 pounds of smallmouth bass. Poche is still scoreless today as Ike and Lee continue to gain ground.

10:44 a.m. CT — As Period 2 is set to begin, Cody Meyer is going to need to make something happen. He is one of two anglers in the Top 20 that has not registered a scorable bass on SCORETRACKER® today. Meyer started the day in 10th place and has since fallen to 17th and only 8 pounds above the Elimination Line.

10:06 a.m. CT — Ott DeFoe is starting to make a run towards the Top 20. He has 18-10 in Period 1 and is 1-12 back of Russ Lane for the final spot in the Top 20. It looks like DeFoe is using a combination of either a Ned rig or a drop-shot with a vibrating jig to produce his bites this morning.

Mike McClelland lands a 4-6 smallmouth near the end of Period 1.

Jared Lintner adds a 4-2 to his total weight.

9:45 a.m. CT — Russ Lane and Matt Lee have fallen out of the Top 20 while Alton Jones and Stephen Browning have moved in. Keith Poche’s lead has disappeared as Mike Iaconelli has gained considerable ground. Poche’s lead is now down to only 7-12 as he has not caught a scorable bass today.

9:03 a.m. CT — Mike Iaconelli has them figured out again this morning. Ike was the leader for much of the day during Day 2 before Keith Poche took over. Today, he’s the only angler with more than 20 pounds of bass and he has jumped to third place. He is 23-5 behind Poche for the lead.

Ott DeFoe adds a much-needed 4-15 smallmouth.

8:35 a.m. CT — Ott DeFoe hasn’t caught a scorable bass today, but neither has Jordan Lee. The last thing that DeFoe and Wheeler need is Lee to win this qualifying round. If Lee moves on straight to the Championship Round, it would most likely be a wrap in the race for the Points Championship.

8:21 a.m. CT — Skeet Reese has found a nice little patch of fish this morning. He has three bass for 9-9 early in Period 1 and has moved into third place. Reese is 35-13 behind Poche for the lead but Poche has yet to register a scorable bass.

8:09 a.m. CT — Stephen Browning is doing his best to distance himself from the Elimination Line. He has two bass for 7-7 this morning, it’s moved him from 20th place to 14th.