Lee Climbs To Top Of Group B After First-Day Blank

By John Johnson
BassFan Senior Editor

With weights so low after the initial qualifying rounds at the Lake Okeechobee Bass Pro Tour, even guys who zeroed during their first foray onto the big lake were still in the hunt to advance to Tuesday's Knockout Round.

Not only that, but one of the guys who blanked bounced back to win his group and advance directly to the finals.

Jordan Lee caught eight scoreable fish (2 pounds or heavier) for a tournament-best 32-10 to top the 40 anglers in Group B. He joins Group A winner Takahiro Omori as early advancers to the Championship Round on Wednesday.

At both the season opener at Lake Eufaula (where he finished 9th) and in this event, Lee has resorted to fishing places he hadn't visited in quite a few years. The moves have paid off handsomely both times.

This time, the area was a narrow canal that's mostly protected from the weather factors that the Big O had been experiencing. He pitched a soft stickbait to a variety of cover types and his biggest fish was just an ounce short of 6 1/2 pounds.

"It was a special day for me," he said. "It was a place I hadn't been to since college. There were some big fish biting, but I had to work for them.

"It was the right move. If your gut's telling you to do something, even if it seems like it's against the grain, that's probably what you should do because you never know what can happen."

Okeechobee appears to snapping out of the funk that enveloped it in previous days, brought on by a cold front featuring powerful winds that muddied up and moved a lot of the water. Several anglers noted that larger-than-average fish that appear to be eager to spawn are moving back into the areas they occupied prior to the arrival of the front.

Lee's haul eclipsed that of 2nd-place Dean Rojas by a little more than 5 pounds. Rojas, who led after the first qualifying day, caught just three fish for 7-03 in the second round.

Josh Bertrand was 3rd with a 25-07 aggregate, followed by Jacob Powroznik with 24-11 and Scott Suggs with 22-15. Their weights for the second round were 16-10, 13-06 and 16-04, respectively.

In addition to Lee, 7th-place Jeff Sprague (eight fish for 20-03) and 12th-place Stephen Browning (seven for 18-02) also advanced after going fishless in the opening round. Mark Daniels Jr. grabbed the final cut position (20th) with a two-day total of just 13-02 – his counterpart in Group A had 17-08.

Sprague, the runner-up to Edwin Evers in last year's points race, has now made the Knockout Round in nine of the 10 regular-season BPT events to date.

"It was a good day on the water," he said. "I got in an area where I was comfortable and I was able to make a few things happen. Some fish pulled back up toward the beds and I saw some riding high in the water to get some sunlight and I picked up a swimjig and did a little work for a couple hours. It was a lot of fun."

Two competitors (Greg Vinson and Marty Robinson) zeroed in both rounds. There were three double-blankers in Group A.

Weather Forecast

> Tues., Feb. 25 – Partly Cloudy - 86°/67°
- Wind: From the SSW at 13 mph

> Weds., Feb. 26 – Scattered T-Storms - 84°/56°
- Wind: From the SSW at 15 mph

Group B – Qualifying Round 2

(Weight of angler's largest bass from qualifying rounds in parentheses)

1. Jordan Lee -- 8, 32-10 -- (6-07)

2. Dean Rojas -- 10, 27-08 -- (3-13)

3. Josh Bertrand -- 9, 25-07 -- (6-03)

4. Jacob Powroznik -- 10, 24-11 -- (3-11)

5. Scott Suggs -- 6, 22-15 -- (6-11)

6. Anthony Gagliardi -- 5, 20-04 -- (6-09)

7. Jeff Sprague -- 8, 20-03 -- (3-07)

8. Andy Montgomery -- 5, 19-13 -- (6-06)

9. Todd Faircloth -- 7, 19-05 -- (5-07)

10. Britt Myers -- 5, 18-04 -- (5-12)

11. Greg Hackney -- 7, 18-03 -- (3-12)

12. Stephen Browning -- 7, 18-02 -- (3-14)

13. Mark Rose -- 7, 17-09 -- (3-07)

14. Brent Chapman -- 6, 16-12 -- (4-02)

15. Cliff Pace -- 6, 15-13 -- (3-09)

16. Andy Morgan -- 4, 15-00 -- (6-08)

17. Chris Lane -- 6, 14-00 -- (3-03)

18. James Elam -- 4, 13-15 -- (5-12)

19. Alton Jones -- 4, 13-10 -- (4-02)

20. Mark Daniels, Jr. -- 5, 13-02 -- (4-08)

The following anglers did not make the cut and will not advance to the Knockout Round.

21. Boyd Duckett -- 3, 12-14 -- (4-12)

22. Brent Ehrler -- 3, 12-12 -- (6-10)

23. John Murray -- 5, 12-06 -- (3-05)

24. Tommy Biffle -- 4, 12-02 -- (3-06)

25. Jared Lintner -- 5, 11-04 -- (2-08)

26. Alton Jones Jr. -- 3, 10-00 -- (4-06)

27. Aaron Martens -- 3, 9-02 -- (4-13)

28. Timmy Horton -- 2, 8-15 -- (6-05)

29. Terry Scroggins -- 3, 8-13 -- (3-12)

30. Roy Hawk -- 3, 8-09 -- (3-06)

31. Shin Fukae -- 3, 8-07 -- (3-01)

32. Randy Howell -- 3, 8-01 -- (2-14)

33. Gary Klein -- 3, 7-03 -- (2-15)

34. Paul Elias -- 3, 7-00 -- (2-14)

35. Bryan Thrift -- 2, 6-10 -- (4-00)

36. Brandon Coulter -- 2, 4-08 -- (2-04)

37. Jeff Kriet -- 1, 2-12 -- (2-12)

38. Matt Lee -- 1, 2-07 -- (2-07)

39. Greg Vinson -- 0, 0-00 -- (0-00)

40. Marty Robinson -- 0, 0-00 -- (0-00)