Jordan Lee is no stranger to winning national-level bass tournaments. However, his recent victory on Michigan’s Lake St. Clair at General Tire Stage Six Presented by John Deere Utility Vehicles showed off a skillset few professional anglers have. Lee’s path to victory was paved by his willingness to adopt new technology during a unique practice, and his attentiveness to what St. Clair’s smallmouth were eating.
But Lee’s third career Bass Pro Tour win had more to do with following gut instinct than anything else.
Lee decided to focus solely on Canadian water, figuring it would have much less fishing pressure because fishing season for bass didn’t open until Day 1 of Stage Six. He leaned on his previous knowledge of Lake St. Clair as a foundation, but also took a gamble during practice to run water that he couldn’t even cast on until the competition started.
“I fished the Belle River area on the Canadian side of Lake St. Clair,” Lee said. “It’s not some unknown location. I fished about a 3- or 4-mile stretch. There weren’t bass everywhere, but I knew during the spawn there had to be thousands of them over there. I thought it would be a good place to start and hopefully find good fish.
“I found the spots I ended up fishing during practice, while I was running on pad over tall grass that started around 17 feet deep. I focused on the inside grassline. It was a distinct line, but not a hard line. I’d find a little void or opening here and there. I believe the bass like the openings so they can roam around easier. I dropped a camera down to see what the fish were. It was the first time I’d ever used one, but it really helped to confirm what I was looking at from the get-go.”
Lee based his tournament around postspawn smallies moving deeper to feed up.
“I knew it was probably going to be postspawn, and thought maybe a last wave of spawning fishing might be in the area,” he said. “Water temperatures were around 70 degrees, give or take. I thought the fish would be moving out, maybe a bit deeper.”
Bigger baits equaled bigger bites
Bigger baits translated into bigger fish overall for Lee. While many anglers had to weed through smaller smallmouth, Lee located larger-than-average bass, but in very small areas. Dropping his bigger bait seemed to make the difference.
“I found that the bass, at least where I was fishing, preferred a larger profile bait,” Lee said “I’m sure there are gobies and shad there, but what I mainly saw were perch. That’s what I think bass were primarily feeding on. So, I upped the size of my bait to a Berkley Flat Nose Jerk Shad on a drop-shot. Just seems like St. Clair bass in that area wanted bigger baits.”
Lee said his average bass weighed about 2 3/4 pounds while many other anglers were catching smaller bass. SCORETRACKER INSIDER® confirms those estimates; 14 of the 18 bass that Lee weighed during the Championship Round were 3 pounds or more.
According to Lee, his decision to gamble with Canada – even with practice limitations – is what ultimately led him to victory.
“I really went out on a limb,” he said. “I took a guess and I guessed right. It was definitely a roll of the dice. I didn’t make a cast during practice, and it’s tough to understand what’s going on without fishing. I just hoped it would be good. It was.
“The win was all about the area. I felt I was in the right area to catch bigger bass. I found one small area that had most of the fish, and I was fortunate to find it. I didn’t get as many bites, but they were the right ones.”