By Todd Ceisner
BassFan Editor

“That no good, stinkin’ treble hook.”

Short of a few other colorful adjectives he muttered, that pretty much summed up Matt Lee’s thoughts as time ticked away on the second day of competition at the Lake Norman Southern Open back in October.

That day, as it turned out, would mark the beginning of the next phase of his fishing career. The story, as he tells it, is an illustration of what can happen when one’s focus is so fiercely directed at one task – catching bass that are suddenly schooling near the surface at a lake that had been stingy, all in an effort to clinch a qualifying berth in the 2015 Elite Series field – that not paying heed to a minor peripheral detail can turn into a major headache and possibly a nightmare.

In short, it was a lesson learned, tucked away in his memory bank for future reference.

Lee’s story at Lake Norman, for his sake (and sanity), had a happy ending. He overcame a quarter-pound dead fish penalty (unbeknownst to him, a treble hook from the jerkbait he was using had come off and was lodged in the bass’ tongue and the fish eventually expired in his livewell) and wound up placing 56th in the tournament, which earned him enough points to finish 9th in the Southern Division.

He wasn’t certain 9th was high enough to earn an Elite Series invitation, something he and brother Jordan were keenly focused on after each took turns as the College B.A.S.S. representative in the Bassmaster Classic the last two years (Matt in 2013, Jordan in ’14). A few weeks prior to the Norman event, Jordan had clinched his Elite Series bid through the Central Opens. As bad as he’s ever wanted anything, Matt hoped to follow suit through the Southerns.

Ninth was, in fact, good enough – five of the anglers who finished ahead of him were already qualified for the Elites – meaning both Lees will be competing as rookies in 2015 on the Elite Series. They’ll join Chris and Bobby Lane and the only brother tandems on the circuit.

Now, about that treble hook.

’Sweating Bullets’

When asked to recall a day or a particular fish catch that he won’t soon forget from his year chasing the Open trail (he ultimately fished eight of the nine events) and Elite Series berth, Matt’s mind immediately shifted to day 2 at Norman.

“The story almost makes me sick to my stomach,” he says, recounting how it was his last chance to match Jordan’s Elite qualification. “I knew I had my last chance at Norman, but I wasn’t going to stress about it. I put in a lot of work beforehand and practiced a lot up there.”

He was in 41st after day 1 with 9-04, but found himself struggling on the morning of day 2.

“They came up schooling and I was throwing a jerkbait and I had two fish in the boat,” he said. “I caught a third one and boat-flipped it and let it flop around in the bottom of the boat. I picked up another jerkbait rod and threw back into the school and caught another one.”

A while after putting keepers 3 and 4 in the livewell, Lee noticed that the jerkbait he used to catch the first schooler was missing a treble hook. He eventually finished his limit and caught another that would allow him to cull. As he sorted through his fish, he realized the first schooling fish had a treble hook lodged in its tongue and “it was already pretty stiff,” he said. It also happened to be his smallest fish.

Complicating matters was the fish was coming up a fraction of an inch short of the 14-inch minimum on his ruler. While the penalty for a dead fish is 4 ounces, bringing in a short fish incurs a 2-pound deduction, plus he’d only be able to weigh four fish.

“It was the worst possible scenario on a fishery that tough,” Lee said. “It was a dead fish and short and the weight wouldn’t count. For the next 3 hours, I was about ready to throw up. My whole year was riding on this fish that I caught when they came up schooling. I remember it all so vividly. I remember seeing Chad Morgenthaler catching them on a buzzbait and I remember thinking I’d be watching the Elites next year from the sidelines.”

It so happened that his co-angler that day had brought his own ruler. When Lee put his borderline fish on the second ruler, it measured 14 inches on the nose, but it did little to allay his worries.

“I couldn’t get it out of my head what I’d just done,” he said. “I was sweating bullets in the bag line and when it came time to bump my fish, it wound up measuring.”

He wound up with 7-14 on day 2 after the quarter-pound dead fish penalty.

“If I'd had 5-14, there’s no telling where I would’ve fallen to in the standings,” he said. “I usually don’t get too stressed out. Even when I fished the Classic I was more pumped up than nervous, but that last day at Norman, that was intense. That’s your whole year. You drove 28,000 miles and fished all over the continent and it comes down to this little itty bitty bass.”

Good Start Helped

Lee knew embarking on his Elite Series quest was going to be a challenge and if he hit a few bumps early on, he may start to press and take chances he wouldn’t otherwise take. A 13th at the Lake Toho Southern Open and a 7th at the Lake Amistad Central Open in the span of 3 weeks to start the year put him in the right frame of mind that he could be competitor at that level.

“I was 2 minutes late on day 1 at Toho, otherwise I would’ve finished 6th,” he said. “Then to go to Amistad and finish 7th gave me the boost that I could do this.

“The biggest thing fishing the Opens is you need to understand how to fish grass lakes and read your graphs, whether you’re on a ledge or fishing a dropshot in 40 feet. Those first two tournaments were totally different in that aspect. Toho was all grass and at Amistad they were super deep. I feel like I know how to fish both ways – growing up in Alabama helped – so having success fishing two totally different techniques in two events gave me a lot of confidence.”

He said having spent the year fishing the Opens gave him a good feel for the pro tournament scene and just enough experience to get him ready for what’s to come. Prior to fishing the Classic in 2013, he hadn’t fished an Open and had fished one Rayovac Series event as a co-angler in 2011.

“When I fished the Classic it was like being thrown into the lion’s den,” he said. “Now, I’ve fished 12 Opens and it feels like a Tuesday night pot tournament. Next year is definitely going to be an interesting year. I can’t overthink it, though.

“I’m never cocky about anything but I felt like if I could go out and not worry about school or a job and focus on fishing, I felt like I could qualify. Some guys have other stuff to worry about and while I might be young and new at this, I trust my ability to do it.”

Awesome Opportunity

Lee is still waiting to hear back from some prospective title sponsors for next year, but one thing he’s not stressed about is finding a travel partner and roommate for his rookie year on the Elite Series. He’s excited to be able to share the experience with Jordan.

“It’s awesome. I can’t even put it into words,” Matt said. “Everything that’s happened has been a blessing from the get-go. We were going to Auburn to fish and have a good time and then for me to win (the College Classic) and then for him to win it and go to the Classic, and then fish all nine opens together this year and qualify for the Elites, it’s like a fairy tale. Now, I know I have a roommate and it’s not just some guy, it’s my brother. It’s an awesome opportunity for us just to be together.”

Whether it’s providing moral support or cluing the other in on a bait or technique that’s working, Matt hopes the brother dynamic works in both of their favor.

“We’re closer than best friends,” Matt said. “When we were younger, the competitors in us wanted to beat each other and that pushed us to be better. Now, if he kicks my tail on a dropshot, I want to go out and get better at it. But as you get older, you suck up some pride and realize it’ll be easier on the both of us if we work together.

"Just to have that ability to share what’s going on and how we’re catching them will be a big help because it can get pretty cutthroat out there. There are people who you think you can trust, but you can’t. I don’t have that.”