Alabama’s Jordan Lee Leads Top Ten to Championship Round at MLF General Tire Stage Six

Cullman Pro Catches Five-Bass-Limit Weighing 24-9 to Lead Knockout Round on Lake St. Clair, Final 10 Anglers Set for Championship Thursday in the Competition for $100,000

HARRISON TOWNSHIP, Mich. (June 28, 2023) – Berkley pro Jordan Lee of Cullman, Alabama caught 23 scorable bass Wednesday – his best five weighing 24 pounds, 9 ounces – to lead the Knockout Round and advance with the final 10 anglers to the final day of competition at the Major League Fishing (MLF) Bass Pro Tour General Tire Stage Six at Lake St. Clair Presented by John Deere Utility Vehicles.

Lee quickly rose to the top of the leaderboard early in Period 1 and never looked back. His five-fish limit weighing 24-9 gives him a 1-pound, 7-ounce cushion over pro Alton Jones Jr. of Waco, Texas, who ended the day with a five-bass-limit weighing 23-2, good for second place. General Tire pro Mark Rose of Wynne, Arkansas, sits in third place with a limit weighing 22-14, while Texas pro Gary Klein finished the day in fourth with 22-11. Reigning Bally Bet Angler of the Year (AOY) Jacob Wheeler of Harrison, Tennessee, weighed in five bass totaling 22 pounds, 2 ounces to round out the top five.

Link to Hi-Res Photo of Knockout Round Winner Jordan Lee
Link to HD Video – Fish-Catch Highlights of Knockout Round on Lake St. Clair
Link to Photo Gallery of Knockout Round Highlights

Wednesday’s Knockout Round was the closest Knockout Round finish in the history of the Bass Pro Tour, featuring six moves in and out of the top 10 in the final hour and ending with a three-way tie on either side of the Toro Cutline, in ninth, tenth and eleventh place. The tiebreaker is decided by each angler’s heaviest bass of the day.

Berkley pro Josh Bertrand of Queen Creek, Arizona made the biggest move on the leaderboard in the final minutes of Period 3, catching a clutch 5-11 smallmouth that moved him from 19^th place into the top 10, to finish the day in seventh. Five-pound smallies were key in the Knockout Round, with nine of the top 10 pros finishing the day with at least one 5-pound kicker in their five-fish limit.  

The final 10 anglers are now set, and competition resumes Thursday morning with the Championship Round. In the Championship Round, weight carries over from the Knockout Round and the angler with the heaviest two-day total will win the top prize of $100,000.

Lee has been atop the leaderboard every day he’s competed in the event thus far, and it seems he is on the hunt for his first Bass Pro Tour win since 2020.

“We put ourselves in good position today, we just need a big bag tomorrow,” said Lee. “I stopped where I thought the bass were going to be first thing this morning, and they were stacked up. I was throwing a drop-shot rig with a 5-inch Berkley PowerBait MaxScent Flatnose Jerk Shad at a depth of 17 feet. I’ve noticed the fish have been spitting up big perch all day long, so that’s what I’m trying to mimic with this bait, and it’s worked really well.”

Lee said he is targeting smallmouth bass and grassy edges in the mid-section of Lake St. Clair, using his Lowrance ActiveTarget.

“I’m just looking for grass edges and fish, then throwing my bait in that direction,” said Lee. “Once it gets to the bottom, they’re eating it up.”

For the third time in three days of competition during this event, Lee captured Berkley Big Bass honors, with a 6-pound, 7-ounce smallmouth – the biggest bass of the event thus far – on a drop-shot rig in the second period.

“I mixed it up a little today by throwing a 3/8-ounce Ned Head with a Berkley PowerBait MaxScent Lil’ General and that’s what I caught the 6-7 on,” Lee said. “That fish was definitely one of the top five best smallmouth I’ve ever caught.”

The brown fish weighing 6-7 earned Lee Wednesday’s $1,000 Berkley Big Bass Award and is the first time in Bass Pro Tour history that an angler has won the award in both days of the Qualifying Round and in the Knockout Round. Berkley awards $1,000 to the angler who weighs the heaviest bass each day, and another $3,000 bonus to the angler who weighs the heaviest bass of the tournament.

“I’m just going to keep trying to find the right fish,” said Lee. “That’s the key on Lake St. Clair, getting around a little better quality, bigger than average fish, and we’ve got to do that one more day.”

The top 10 pros from Wednesday’s Knockout Round that now advance to Thursday’s Championship Round on Lake St. Clair are:

1^st:           Jordan Lee, Cullman, Ala., five bass, 24-9
2^nd:          Alton Jones, Jr., Waco, Texas, five bass, 23-2
3^rd:          Mark Rose, Wynne, Ark., five bass, 22-14
4^th:           Gary Klein, Mingus, Texas, five bass, 22-11
5^th:           Jacob Wheeler, Harrison, Tenn., five bass, 22-2
6^th:           Mark Daniels Jr., Tuskegee, Ala., five bass, 21-14
7^th:           Josh Bertrand, Queen Creek, Ariz., five bass, 21-10
8^th:           Jesse Wiggins, Addison, Ala., five bass, 21-8
9^th:           Terry Scroggins, San Mateo, Fla., five bass, 21-4
10^th:        John Hunter, Shelbyville, Ky., five bass, 21-4

Finishing in 11^th through 40^th place are:

11^th:        Justin Lucas, Guntersville, Ala., five bass, 21-4
12^th:        Dustin Connell, Clanton, Ala., five bass, 21-3
13^th:        Scott Suggs, Alexander, Ark., five bass, 21-0
14^th:        Bryan Thrift, Shelby, N.C., five bass, 20-11
15^th:        Spencer Shuffield, Hot Springs, Ark., five bass, 20-2
16^th:        Jonathon VanDam, Kalamazoo, Mich., five bass, 19-13
17^th:        Matt Becker, Ten Mile, Tenn., five bass, 19-12
18^th:        Gerald Spohrer, Gonzales, La., five bass, 19-7
19^th:        Bradley Roy, Lancaster, Ky., five bass, 19-7
20^th:        Cole Floyd, Leesburg, Ohio, five bass, 19-4
21^st:        Kevin VanDam, Kalamazoo, Mich., five bass, 18-7
22^nd:       Greg Vinson, Wetumpka, Ala., five bass, 18-7
23^rd:       Jeremy Lawyer, Sarcoxie, Mo., five bass, 18-5
24^th:        Michael Neal, Dayton, Tenn., five bass, 18-2
25^th:        Mark Davis, Mount Ida, Ark., five bass, 17-13
26^th:        Jeff Sprague, Wills Point, Texs, five bass, 17-12
27^th:        Cliff Pace, Petal, Miss., five bass, 17-12
28^th:        David Dudley, Lynchburg, Va., five bass, 17-9
29^th:        Dylan Hays, Hot Springs, Ark., five bass, 17-3
30^th:        Dean Rojas, Lake Havasu City, Ariz., five bass, 17-2
31^st:        Marty Robinson, Lyman, S.C., five bass, 16-5
32^nd:       Jacob Wall, New Hope, Ala., five bass, 16-4
33^rd:       Cody Meyer, Star, Idaho, five bass, 16-3
34^th:        Ryan Salzman, Huntsville, Ala., five bass, 16-2
35^th:        Adrian Avena, Vineland, N.J., five bass, 15-8
36^th:        James Watson, Lampe, Mo., five bass, 15-0
37^th:        Brent Chapman, Lake Quivira, Kan., five bass, 14-8
38^th:        Fred Roumbanis, Russellville, Ark., five bass, 14-5
39^th:        Brett Hite, Phoenix, Ariz., five bass, 14-4
40^th:        Andy Morgan, Dayton, Tenn., five bass, 11-11

A complete list of results can be found at MajorLeagueFishing.com.

The six-day event, hosted by the Detroit Sports Commission, Macomb County and Lake St. Clair Metroparks, showcases 80 of the top professional anglers in the world, competing for a purse of more than $805,000, including a top payout of $100,000 and valuable Angler of the Year (AOY) points in hopes of qualifying for the General Tire Heavy Hitters All-Star event and REDCREST 2024, the Bass Pro Tour championship.

The 40 Anglers in Group A competed in their two-day qualifying round on Saturday and Monday – the 40 anglers in Group B on Sunday and Tuesday. The top 20 anglers from each group advanced to Wednesday’s Knockout Round, where weights were zeroed, and the remaining 40 anglers competed to finish in the top 10 and advance to the Championship Round. In Thursday’s Championship Round, weight carries over from the Knockout Round and the angler with the heaviest two-day total wins the top prize of $100,000.

The final 10 anglers will launch Thursday at 7:20 a.m. ET from Lake St. Clair Metropark, located at 31300 Metro Parkway in Harrison Township. The General Tire Takeout will be held at the Metropark, beginning at 4 p.m. Fans are welcome to attend all launch and takeout events and also encouraged to follow the event online throughout the day on the MLFNOW!® live stream and SCORETRACKER® coverage at MajorLeagueFishing.com.

On Championship Thursday, June 29, from 1 p.m. to 6 p.m., MLF will welcome fans of all ages to celebrate the top 10 and crown the General Tire Stage Six at Lake St. Clair Champion at the Watch Party and Trophy Presentation. The final 10 Championship Round Bass Pro Tour anglers will be on hand at the trophy celebration to meet and greet fans, sign autographs and take selfies. The celebration will take place at the Cabela’s, located at 45959 Towne Center Blvd., in Chesterfield, Michigan.

The General Tire Stage Six at Lake St. Clair Presented by John Deere Utility Vehicles features anglers competing using the MLF catch, weigh, immediate-release format, with each angler’s five (5) heaviest bass per day tallied as their day’s weight. Anglers strive to catch their heaviest five fish each day, while also feeling the pressure and intensity of the live scoring SCORETRACKER® leaderboard. Minimum weights are determined individually for each competition waters that the Bass Pro Tour visits, based on the productivity, bass population and anticipated average size of fish in each fishery.

The 2023 MLF Bass Pro Tour features a field of 80 of the top professional anglers in the world competing across seven regular-season tournaments around the country, fishing for millions of dollars and valuable points to qualify for the annual General Tire Heavy Hitters all-star event and REDCREST 2024, the Bass Pro Tour championship, held March 13-17, 2024, on Lay Lake in Birmingham, Alabama.  

The MLFNOW!® broadcast team of Chad McKee, Marty Stone and J.T. Kenney will break down the extended action live on Championship Thursday from 7:45 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. ET. MLFNOW!®  will be live streamed on MajorLeagueFishing.com  and the MyOutdoorTV (MOTV) app.

Television coverage of the General Tire Stage Six at Lake St. Clair Presented by John Deere Utility Vehicles Championship Round will air as a two-hour episode starting at 7 a.m. ET, on Saturday, November 4 on the Discovery Channel. New MLF episodes premiere each Saturday morning on Discovery, with re-airings on the Outdoor Channel.

Proud sponsors of the 2023 MLF Bass Pro Tour include: 13 Fishing, Abu Garcia, Ark Fishing, ATG by Wrangler, B&W Trailer Hitches, Bally Bet, Bass Cat Boats, Bass Pro Shops, Berkley, Black Rifle Coffee, Daiwa, Epic Baits, Favorite Fishing, Ferguson, Fox Rent A Car, General Tire, Grundéns, Humminbird, Lowrance, Minn Kota, Mercury, Mossy Oak, Onyx, Power-Pole, Rapala, Star tron, T-H Marine, TORO, Toyota, U.S. Air Force, Yellowstone Bourbon, Yo-Zuri and Zoom Baits.

For complete details and updated information on Major League Fishing and the Bass Pro Tour, visit MajorLeagueFishing.com. For regular updates, photos, tournament news and more, follow MLF’s social media outlets at Facebook, Twitter,  Instagram and YouTube.