By Todd Ceisner
BassFan Editor

It took a few months, but Jordan Lee finally found some time to give his boat a much-needed washing.

It was Monday afternoon and he was 2 days removed from a 4th-place finish at the Arkansas River Central Open, a tournament he likely won't forget, not so much for where he placed, but for the opportunity it created for him.

The 23-year-old former college fishing star at Auburn University joined the ranks of anglers chasing an Elite Series berth through the Opens this season. He dove in feet first as one of just a handful of competitors to register for all three Open divisions.

His quest through the Northern Opens fell short, but he cashed in through the Centrals. He posted a 5th at Lake Amistad back in early February, then took 39th at the Red River in April before collecting another Top-5 check at the Arkansas River. It all added up to a runner-up finish in points behind Elite Series pro Stephen Browning, meaning he will be one of five anglers from the Central Opens to receive an invitation to join the Elite Series in 2015.

Fishing against the top pros has been a dream of his since he got into fishing as a kid, but now that college is behind him he was able to focus all of his energy on it.

"That was the plan. I really wanted it to happen," he said. "You have one bad day with only three tournaments – just one off day – you can't make it up. You have to really have three strong tournaments and that's why I fished all three divisions – to give myself a better shot at it.

"Fishing one division, it's easy to slip up and have a bad day. I'm glad it worked out. It wasn't a guarantee."

Winning Feeling

Mark Tyler walked away from the Arkansas River with the trophy and winner's share of the purse last week, but Lee said achieving his goal of earning an Elite Series invitation felt like he was the one going home with the hardware.

"It feels like I won," he said. "I had a pretty tough first day, but on the second day I knew I needed to catch a good bag. I wasn’t thinking about the tournament itself. All I thought about was catching a big enough bag to qualify."

He followed up his four-fish, 9-15 effort on day 1 with a stout 15-03 to wiggle his way into 9th place after day 2. His work, more or less, was done since a Top-12 finish guaranteed he wouldn't fall out of contention for an Elite Series bid.

"It was a big relief," he said. "The tournament was a bonus, big-time. It was the icing on the cake. My practice was decent enough and I felt like I could do all right, but I had to change things up during the tournament so I didn't know I could do that well. You never know what you have in those types of tournaments. I fished off the seat of my pants. I didn't expect to be that close to winning."

He focused in practice on figuring out patterns for different parts of the day.

"In tournaments where I know it's going to be tough to get keeper bites, I like to focus on certain times of the day and try to find morning bites and places where I can catch them in the middle of the day," he said. "That's what I focused on in practice, but I knew if the weather would change it would be different from practice. I just had to go fishing and figure them out and go from there and that's what I did.

"Out there, you're focused on getting bites," he added. "I like tougher tournaments like that. If you figure out something at all, you can roll with it. It was a good place for me to go, knowing I didn't need a huge bag every day. It just set up good for me because I've always done better at tougher tournaments."

In nine B.A.S.S. events, Lee now has four Top-10 finishes – all coming this year – including a 6th-place showing at this year's Bassmaster Classic in his native Alabama.

What Lies Ahead

Lee knows the mountain he just summited is nothing compared to the ascent he's about to embark on in making the move to the Elite Series. He's forged relationships with some of the pros, most notably Justin Lucas, so he'll lean on those associations to help guide him through the journey ahead.

"It's all going to be a challenge for me," Lee said. "That'll be a good word for the next year – it's going to be a challenge. These guys are as good as it gets and there are more coming over (from FLW) that are just as good. I'm going to have to keep on working."

He said one of the keys to his success in transitioning to the pro side is the experiences he gained from his time fishing in college. He competed in many high-pressure situations – remember, he went head-to-head against his brother and lost with a Classic berth at stake in 2012 – at a variety of lakes throughout the year.

"Probably the biggest thing has been growing up (Alabama) where I've grown up and I owe a lot of it to college fishing," he said. "We fished a lot of different lakes in college in FLW and College B.A.S.S. and got a feel for different areas. A bass is pretty much the same from the South to the North.

"Over the last year, I've really gotten better with my electronics. I'm not Aaron Martens by any means, but I know how to use them pretty well. I relied on that to find fish at Amistad and Champlain, so that had a lot to do with it as well."

While he'll focus on gaining sponsor support over the coming months in an effort to offset the entry fees and expenses that go with being an Elite Series pro, Lee is taking a realistic approach to the goals he'll set for himself as a rookie.

"Obviously, I want to do well," he said. "It's going to be some tough competition, more so than the Opens, but that gives me confidence that I can do it for sure. Especially after the Classic – sure it was at Guntersville and I knew the lake – but I'm up for it. I know I have to work harder than I ever have."

Notable

> Jordan's older brother, Matt, is knocking on the Elite Series door as well. He's currently 6th in points in the Southern Opens with one tournament remaining (Lake Norman, Oct. 2-4). "He's got a shot at it," Jordan said. "We're both hoping to make it at the same time."