By MLF Communications Staff

HARRISON TOWNSHIP, Mich. – Jordan Lee of Cullman, Ala. weighed in 12 scorable smallmouth bass, with his best five totaling 22 pounds, 8 ounces to grab the early in the MLF Bass Pro Tour event at Lake St. Clair. Spencer Shuffield of Hot Springs, Ark. sits 1 ounce behind Lee in second place with 22-07 and five other anglers topped the 20-pound mark.

The 40 anglers in Group A will now have an off day from competition Sunday, while the 40 anglers competing in Group B will begin their first day of competition. Group A will return to the water on Monday.

Lee started the day off with a bang, catching a 5-14 smallmouth – the biggest fish of the day – in the first 10 minutes of competition to catapult into the early lead.

“I honestly expected to find a lot more schooling fish on this Canada side of Lake St. Clair, but that has not been the case,” said Lee. “I’ve basically just been practicing all day since we couldn’t fish over here during practice. I know it’s all about finding a good area, so I’ve been running around all over, bouncing here and there. The size of fish is just a little bit better over here, though, which is what I was hoping for.

“When you get around them, you catch some smaller ones, but they look healthy – they aren’t paper-thin,” Lee continued. “I also caught a couple bigger fish (today), which is key.”

Lee said his Lowrance ActiveTarget was critical to his success, and he caught his bass on several different baits, including a hair jig and dropshot rig, a Berkley PowerBait MaxScent The General on a 3/8-ounce Ned Head and a Berkley PowerBait MaxScent Lil’ General.

“I’m not sure what to expect on Monday with the winds that are being forecast, but maybe the bite will be better,” said Lee. “I thought they would be a lot hungrier than they were because these fish haven’t seen a bait in a long time. The slick calm weather we’ve had today was great for being able to move around on the water, but it’s notorious for making fishing more difficult.

“If we get a little wind on Monday, I think the bite will pick up,” Lee continued. “They just weren’t firing today, but I’ll definitely take it. Maybe I can learn a little something and just take it day by day. Winning the first day doesn’t really mean a lot in the grand scheme of the tournament, but it feels great to get off to a good start.”

Lee’s 5-14 specimen earned him the first $1,000 Berkley Big Bass Award of the event. Berkley awards $1,000 to the angler who weighs the heaviest bass each day and another $3,000 bonus to the angler who weighs the heaviest bass of the tournament.

Anglers launch each day at 7:20 a.m. ET from the Lake St. Clair Metropark, located at 31300 Metro Parkway in Harrison Township. Each day’s takeout is held at the launch location beginning at 4 p.m. Fans are welcome to attend all launch and takeout events and also encouraged to follow the event online throughout the day on the MLFNOW! livestream and ScoreTracker coverage at MajorLeagueFishing.com.

The tournament features pros competing using the MLF catch, weigh, immediate-release format, with each angler’s five (5) heaviest bass per day tallied as their day’s weight. Anglers strive to catch their heaviest five fish each day while also feeling the pressure and intensity of the live ScoreTracker leaderboard.

After each group's two-day Qualifying Round is complete, the Top 20 anglers from each group advance to Wednesday’s Knockout Round. In the Knockout Round, weights are zeroed and the remaining 40 anglers compete to finish in the Top 10 to advance to the Championship Round,where weight carries over from the Knockout Round and the angler with the heaviest two-day total wins the top prize of $100,000.

The MLFNOW! broadcast team of Chad McKee, Marty Stone and J.T. Kenney break down the extended action live on all six days of competition from 7:45 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. ET. MLFNOW! will be livestreamed on MajorLeagueFishing.com and the MyOutdoorTV (MOTV) app.



Group A Qualifying Round – Day 1

(Figure at far right indicates weight of angler's heaviest fish for the round)

1. Jordan Lee -- 22-08 (5) -- 5-14

2. Spencer Shuffield -- 22-07 (5) -- 5-11

3. Alton Jones Jr. -- 21-05 (5) -- 4-15

4. Greg Vinson -- 20-12 (5) -- 5-02

5. Matt Becker -- 20-09 (5) -- 5-07

6. Ryan Salzman -- 20-09 (5) -- 4-06

7. Terry Scroggins -- 20-05 (5) -- 5-05

8. Cody Meyer -- 19-11 (5) -- 4-06

9. Michael Neal -- 19-06 (5) -- 4-04

10. David Dudley -- 19-04 (5) -- 4-10

11. Brent Chapman -- 19-04 (5) -- 4-07

12. Kelly Jordon -- 18-14 (5) -- 4-00

13. Fletcher Shryock -- 18-12 (5) -- 4-03

14. Andy Morgan -- 18-12 (5) -- 3-14

15. Boyd Duckett -- 18-09 (5) -- 4-02

16. James Watson -- 18-04 (5) -- 4-03

17. Mark Rose -- 17-13 (5) -- 4-01

18. Randall Tharp -- 17-12 (5) -- 4-02

19. Ott DeFoe -- 17-10 (5) -- 4-04

20. Dean Rojas -- 17-10 (5) -- 4-00

21. Marty Robinson -- 17-10 (5) -- 3-14

22. Cole Floyd -- 17-09 (5) -- 4-11

23. Josh Butler -- 17-08 (5) -- 4-11

24. Britt Myers -- 17-06 (5) -- 4-10

25. Andy Montgomery -- 17-02 (5) -- 5-08

26. Bryan Thrift -- 17-02 (5) -- 4-12

27. Jonathon VanDam -- 17-01 (5) -- 4-03

28. Takahiro Omori -- 17-00 (5) -- 4-14

29. Wesley Strader -- 16-03 (5) -- 3-10

30. Adrian Avena -- 16-00 (5) -- 3-12

31. Casey Ashley -- 15-12 (5) -- 3-13

32. Cliff Crochet -- 15-12 (5) -- 3-04

33. Anthony Gagliardi -- 15-02 (5) -- 3-07

34. Roy Hawk -- 14-11 (5) -- 3-05

35. David Walker -- 14-02 (5) -- 3-01

36. Timmy Horton -- 13-08 (5) -- 3-06

37. Mitch Crane -- 12-08 (5) -- 3-06

38. Chris Lane -- 11-13 (5) -- 3-02

39. Dave Lefebre -- 10-10 (4) -- 2-15

40. Randy Howell -- 8-10 (3) -- 4-01