CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. — Justin Lucas’ Day 1 lead at O’Reilly Auto Parts Stage 4 Presented by OPTIMA Batteries got a few early challenges, but for just about all of the first two periods Friday on Lake Chickamauga, the Alabama pro retained the top spot on SCORETRACKER®. When he added a 4-pound, 12-ounce largemouth to his total late in Period 2 to extend his lead to 19 pounds, the Qualifying Round win and automatic berth to the Championship Round that comes with it looked to be safely in his grasp.
Less than an hour of competition time later, Lucas found himself trailing Jake Lawrence. The Tennessee native had rocketed from 21st place at the start of the day – an even 33 pounds behind Lucas – all the way to the top of the leaderboard. He wound up stacking up 91-11 on 28 scorable bass, easily the best day of any angler during the event.
However, while Lawrence’s bite went dry late, Lucas stayed steady. He added seven scorable bass during the final frame to bring his Day 2 tally to 62-13, which pushed his total an even 127 pounds and edged Lawrence by 4-2 in one of the most dramatic Qualifying Rounds in recent memory.
Claiming the top spot will allow Lucas to sit out while the rest of the Top 20 heads one reservoir down the Tennessee River to Nickajack Lake for Saturday’s Knockout Round. He will join the top nine finishers there on Sunday for the Championship Round, where $150,000 will be on the line.
Full results can be found here.
Versatility, clutch decisions pay off for Lucas
Lucas stacked up most of his Day 1 weight by targeting schools of postspawn bass offshore. So, he figured his ability to win the Qualifying Round would depend on those fish regrouping overnight.
When he arrived at his most productive spot Friday morning, however, he caught just one non-scorable bass. So, he turned to Plan B, another offshore ledge where he’d plucked a few fish the day prior. He wound up recording an even better start, catching 11 bass for 37-1 during the opening period.
In addition to his spot switch, Lucas’ key adjustment was swapping from a Neko rig and deep-diving crankbait, his main tools on Day 1, for a jighead minnow, as the fish weren’t relating as closely to the bottom.
“I just think it was conditions,” he said. “It was calm, no wind. The fish were up in the water column chasing bait, and so anything on the bottom, they weren’t real interested. There’s no current, and when there’s no current, the fish are suspended. And that was the deal.”
After utilizing his forward-facing sonar in Period 1, Lucas went shallow in search of bass on beds, as he’d done a day prior. Once again, he found the fish less willing to cooperate – he only caught one bass during Period 2, the aforementioned 4-12. With Lawrence closing hard, he decided to return to his best offshore spots even though he wouldn’t have forward-facing sonar at his disposal.
The action wasn’t as fast and furious as it had been in the morning, but Lucas added six fish for 18-11, including a 5-1 that put him back in the lead. He then capped the afternoon with one last savvy decision, running back to the shallows and catching a 2-5 on a Berkley Bullet Pop in the final 10 minutes before lines out.
While it turned out Lucas didn’t need that last fish to win the round, it represented his favorite catch of the day. He designed the Bullet Pop, and while doing so, he used an early prototype to finish 11th at a BASS Open on Chickamauga in 2017.
“I first caught fish on that bait as a 3D printed bait here in 2017, and I caught some really nice fish on it around laydowns just like I caught that one this evening,” Lucas said. “So, it was just kind of icing on the cake.”
Initially unsure about the strategy of skipping a day on Nickajack, Lucas couldn’t pass up an automatic Top 10, which will be his 15th in Bass Pro Tour competition. He spent a day scouting Nickajack more than a month ago, before it went off-limits, but never ventured there during official practice this week. His plan for the Championship Round is to “try and figure it out on the fly.”
After his Qualifying Round performance, he can at least take confidence from his decision making.
“It’s just a totally different lake, totally different body of water,” Lucas said. “So, I have no idea what to expect down there.”
Lawrence’s huge rally falls just short
Even though his Day 1 total of 31-3 had him just 5 ounces outside the elimination line, Lawrence emerged from Thursday frustrated. The former guide on Kentucky Lake and Pickwick should have been in his element targeting bass on offshore ledges, but he said a lack of current killed his bite.
“Yesterday was so frustrating – it was the only time on the TVA chain that I believe I have ever seen the current generation at 0,” Lawrence said. “Like zero – not 2,000 (cubic feet per second), not 4,000. For a couple hours yesterday, it was at absolute zero. And that really just messed me up. A lot of schools broke apart, disappeared. The ones that were there wouldn’t act right.”
With a bit more current rolling through his prime stretches Friday, Lawrence showed why he’s earned a reputation as one of the best on the Tennessee River system. Rotating between about 10 different offshore schools, he racked up 30-10 in Period 1, then 30-14 in Period 2. He blistered 28-1 in the first 45 minutes of Period 3 to take the lead before a school of white bass moved in and hurt his bite.
“We made it count today,” he said. “We had just enough current to kind of keep those fish together and get them competitive. So, I had a blast.”
Lawrence turned his forward-facing sonar on during Period 3, but he never used it to target individual fish, just to better line up his casts. He did most of his damage on either a Bill Lewis MR-12 crankbait or a soft swimbait.
“The way that the wind blew was kind of opposite of where I wanted to set up, so I was really throwing over the back of the boat, over the Mercury, for the majority of the day,” Lawrence said.
While Lawrence fell short of winning the round, his huge day continued a banner rookie season on the Bass Pro Tour. Including REDCREST on Lake Guntersville last month, where he finished fifth, he’s logged three Top 10s in his first four events of 2025. He’ll have a chance to make it five-for-six this weekend.
What’s next at Stage 4
As noted above, Lucas will advance straight to the Championship Round, while the rest of the Top 20 will duke it out on Nickajack for the remaining nine spots in Saturday’s Knockout Round.
Quite a bit smaller than Chickamauga, Nickajack offers fewer backwaters and shallow flats. However, it’s full of submerged vegetation, which Lawrence thinks will actually keep more bass shallow there than we’ve seen through the first two days of action.
“They all seem to be cruising shallow,” he said. “There will be some guys that catch them around the tailrace, but for the most part, I think the majority of the population is chasing bluegill on beds and just kind of cruising around up shallow in general. So, it’ll be a different bite.”
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Other notes:
Stage 4 shouldn’t result in a major shakeup to the Fishing Clash Angler of the Year standings. Five of the top six contenders qualified for the Knockout Round – Jacob Wheeler, Drew Gill, Matt Becker, Alton Jones Jr. and Lawrence. However, with Gill just 6 points back of Wheeler’s lead, the top spot could still change hands.
Ron Nelson caught the Berkley Big Bass of the day, and he did so at an opportune time. Midway through the third period, Nelson found himself on the wrong side of the elimination line when an 8-8 lunker ate his worm. That was the biggest of 11 bass weighing 6 pounds or more to hit SCORETRACKER® on the day and helped Nelson finish as the last angler inside the cut.
While Lawrence’s rally was certainly the most dramatic, he wasn’t the only angler who started the day outside the Top 20 to earn a Knockout Round berth. Nelson, Michael Neal, Jared Lintner and Brent Ehrler also did so. Ehrler’s comeback was keyed by an epic morning flurry that saw him total 27-10 on six bass in the first 17 minutes after lines in.