By Todd Ceisner
BassFan Editor


Matt Lee spent a good portion of the time between the end of the Elite Series season and now wondering if his name would be on the 2017 Elite Series roster. It wasn’t a comfortable position, not knowing if his fishing career was about to take a detour back to the Bassmaster Opens or possibly elsewhere.

He tried to crunch the numbers himself. He asked friends to try to figure out where he ranked in the pecking order. He asked B.A.S.S. about his status. It wasn’t until last Wednesday that he got a clear answer.

He’s in.

Now, the uncertainty and angst can be replaced by excitement and anticipation as he looks forward to his third season on B.A.S.S.’s top circuit.

On paper, Lee didn’t get the results he’d hoped for over his first two seasons. He cashed checks in seven of 17 tournaments with his best finish (21st) coming at the Mississippi River this year. He finished 65th in points as a rookie and 82nd this past season. Finishing outside the top 70 meant he wasn’t guaranteed a spot in next year’s field. Based on the criteria B.A.S.S. uses to rank anglers – those outside the top 70 are stacked according to average annual Elite Series points finish, minus the worst season – Lee found himself well down the list.

He’d started to contemplate his options for 2017. He didn’t know how not fishing the Elite Series would affect sponsor support. Could he move to the FLW Tour? Would he fish all of the Opens? All sorts of questions dashed through his mind. When Elite Series tournament director Trip Weldon called with word that he was basically the last man in, Lee was caught off guard.

“It was just relief,” Lee said. “I had the whole mindset that whatever happens is meant to happen. If I didn’t re-qualify, it’s fair game. The rules are there for a reason. It’s tough for young guys to get started, but if you catch them better you don’t have to worry about that.”

He tried to keep a positive outlook through the whole ordeal. After returning home from the season finale in Wisconsin, he printed out the 2017 Elite Series schedule and started marking up a calendar with when he could make scouting trips to some of the venues. It wound up paying off with what feels like a second chance.

“It does,” he said. “I’m not one of those guys that says ‘I’m going to put it to ‘em and try really hard next year.’ I try hard every time out there. I just need to learn from mistakes and be better prepared and know it’s all about the decisions you make during the days. It feels like you have a new life to know for sure you’re back in. Now, you have to go catch ‘em or win one and no one will remember all of this.”

No Sibling Rivarly

For Matt, the older of the two Lee brothers competing on the Elite Series, it’s been a joy having a sibling among his competitors. He and Jordan Lee travel together, stay together on the road and share information at each event.

It’s only natural that people compare Matt and Jordan’s results. He gets it. He doesn’t begrudge his younger brother for the success he has had (six top-12s, only three missed cuts) in his first two years on the circuit. He pulls for Jordan just the same as Jordan pulls for him, but they’re wired differently. Jordan has a knack for letting things roll off his shoulders while Matt is much more analytical in his approach.

“It doesn’t surprise me the success Jordan has had,” Matt said. “What I am surprised at is how we share every bit of info and I end up where I do and he ends up where he does. I live without regrets, though. I try my best every day. The competitor in you wants to beat him, but we’re still best friends. He’s just a different angler than me.”

Matt says he’s tried to apply some things to his thought process that have worked for Jordan, but he’s yet to see the results.

“What if you had a brother that you knew would finish in the top 12 every other event and he’s telling you what’s he’s doing? Are you going to not listen to him?” Matt said.

Few will forget the Lee brothers’ introduction to the national bass fishing stage. In 2012, Matt and Jordan wound up squaring off in the finals of the Bassmaster College Series after a grueling event across several lakes in central Arkansas. A berth in the 2013 Bassmaster Classic was at stake and Matt defeated Jordan in the head-to-head title match. It tore Matt up to accomplish such a feat at his brother’s expense, but Jordan bounced back the following year to win the College Series and sew up a berth in the ’14 Classic.

“My first emotion was how much it stunk for my brother,” Matt said of the 2012 win. “I wanted it for both of us and wanted to support him. Then when he won, it was like, ‘Alright, I can breathe now.’

“The way it turned out, I always look back on it … I’m a firm believer in having a purpose in life and God put you on this planet to do something.”

That something turned out to be not putting his engineering degree to use right out of Auburn. Instead, he and Jordan competed in the Bassmaster Opens in 2014 and both qualified for the Elite Series with Matt finishing 4th in points in the Central Division. Then reality set in that they’d both be pursuing careers as pro anglers.

“Carhartt stuck with me, which was a big help for me,” Matt said. “It was just the way it fell. Otherwise, I’d be looking for a job.”

Now, he’s looking to make improvements on the water. He’s still figuring out the best way to break down a new lake or river in just three days of practice.

“It’s a never-ending learning process,” he said. “Everybody always wants to know what one I feel like I’m going to win and I’ve always felt it’s the ones you don’t know much about are the ones you do the best at. As far as next year’s schedule, I like it from the standpoint of I’ve been to some of them already and I feel like I know what to expect a little better.”

Fishy Neighborhood

Lee wakes up every morning roughly 60 yards away from where the 2016 Elite Series AOY lays his head every night. He says being neighbors with Gerald Swindle at the Blue Heron RV Resort in Guntersville, Ala., has been a great experience as he’s been able to pick the brain of the veteran pro on all things fishing. The best part has been Swindle’s willingness to take him under his wing to an extent.

“We both work with Dynamic (Sponsorships) and we both went to the same events even when he didn’t know who I was,” Lee said. “I always tried to soak up as much as I can from him. It’s good to see things through his perspective.”

Having spent time around Swindle has allowed Lee to gain a better understanding of what has made him so successful over the years and especially this season. One thing Lee hopes to be better at is committing to an area and riding out the lulls rather than picking up and leaving.

“It’s too easy to abandon something instead of going to an area and just learning it,” he said. “Gerald told me he thinks he’s just around where most fish live and he’s just around them more.

“I trust my instincts to find the fish. It all comes down to how I fish the event. I watch (Greg) Hackney and how he trusts his ability to go out and figure them out. Something I’ve realized is I have to trust myself to go out and catch them because somebody always catches them from one end to the other.

"It’s just the roller-coaster of tournament life. Every one of us goes through the same thing, just on different levels. If you let it bother you it’ll eat you alive.”