Lee Wins Heavy Hitters Qualifier on the Kissimmee Chain of Lakes

KISSIMMEE, Fla. (May 21, 2023) – Despite locking up a spot in the Knockout Round of Heavy Hitters 2024 at the Kissimmee Chain of Lakes during his first day on the water, pro Jordan Lee of Guntersville, Alabama, used every minute of the second qualifying day for Group B to his advantage. Lee hauled his biggest bass of Tuesday, a 6-pound, 7-ounce specimen, over the gunwale just seconds before the end of competition. The buzzer-beater anchored his tally of 19-6 on six scorable bass, which was more than enough to maintain his spot atop the standings. His two-day total of 82-10 topped legendary pro Kevin VanDam of Kalamazoo, Michigan – competing in his final event – by 21-11.

While Lee and the other anglers who started the day near the top of SCORETRACKER® spent much of the day in what he called “search mode,” pro Mark Rose of Wynne, Arkansas, provided the most entertaining action. Rose, who started the day in 14th place, blasted 37-13 on seven bass, including a 7-9, which earned him $10,000 as the day’s biggest catch.

Like Brandon Coulter a day prior, Lee’s objective Tuesday wasn’t to catch as much weight as he could. Instead, he used the day to prepare for Wednesday’s Knockout Round with a little bit of offense and a little bit of defense. Lee spent much of the day exploring new water, looking for more schools of bass living in the matted hydrilla on Lake Toho. He’s optimistic he found a few spots that could produce if the bite falters in his Day 1 area, including the one that produced his 6-pounder just before lines out.

“I had three bites here in about five minutes,” Lee said of the spot. “So, maybe I’ll have a little something up here to myself. I don’t really know. It looks good, but we’ll see tomorrow.”

Lee will hope he never has to turn to the backup plan. He did his best to make sure the zone that produced the bulk of his 63-4 on Sunday — a mark no other angler eclipsed across two days of qualifying combined — can carry him through the rest of the tournament, chasing off at least one other angler who stumbled upon the spot.

While Lee almost certainly will have company there tomorrow, he’s all-in on his frog bite, throwing a Berkley Swamp Lord on his signature 7-6, heavy Jordan Lee casting rod from Abu Garcia. The 2020 Heavy Hitters champion said he’s been waiting for a tournament that could be won frogging mats like he does during the fall on Lake Guntersville in his home state of Alabama. Given that he and Coulter both used the technique to lead their respective groups through qualifying, this looks like his chance.

“I feel like tomorrow is going to be fun,” he said. “I’ve got some areas I feel like I can put the trolling motor down and (Power-Pole) down and frog, and that’s what we’re going to do. I feel like you can get right in a hurry, for sure.”

The top eight pros from Qualifying Group B that now advance to Wednesday’s Knockout Round on the Kissimmee Chain are:

1st:        Jordan Lee, Cullman, Ala., 24 bass, 82-10
2nd:       Kevin VanDam, Kalamazoo, Mich., 20 bass, 60-15
3rd:       Todd Faircloth, Jasper, Texas, 20 bass, 56-2
4th:        Takahiro Omori, Tokyo, Japan, 17 bass, 55-15
5th:        Ott DeFoe, Blaine, Tenn., 15 bass, 45-15
6th:        Mark Rose, Wynne, Ark., nine bass, 42-7
7th:        Keith Poche, Pike Road, Ala., 13 bass, 36-1
8th:        Jeff Sprague, Wills Point, Texas, 11 bass, 33-9

Group B anglers finishing the event in 9th through 15th place are:

9th:        Andy Montgomery, Blacksburg, S.C., nine bass, 31-15
10th:     Randall Tharp, Port St. Joe, Fla., 10 bass, 28-8
11th:     Chris Lane, Guntersville, Ala., eight bass, 26-2
12th:     Dylan Hays, Hot Springs, Ark., seven bass, 22-10
13th:     Britt Myers, Lake Wylie, S.C., eight bass, 21-9
14th:     Anthony Gagliardi, Prosperity, S.C., seven bass, 21-3
15th:     Gerald Spohrer, Gonzales, La., six bass, 17-7

Full results can be found at MajorLeagueFishing.com.

Overall, there were 78 bass weighing 252 pounds, 2 ounces caught by the 15 pros on Tuesday, which included one 7-pounder, three 6-pounders and four 5-pounders caught from the Kissimmee Chain of Lakes.