Justin Lucas' final practice day on Lake St. Clair

Alabama pro Justin Lucas is second in the Toyota Bassmaster Angler of the Year race behind Aaron Martens. Bassmaster.com heads out with Lucas for his final practice day for the Plano Bassmaster Elite on Lake St. Clair.

Lucas arrives early for the final practice day.

He heads out of a centralized boat ramp in order to limit his drive to the registration later in the day.

Lucas pays the launch fee.

Justin Lucas has proven his worth in his first two years on the Elite Series. In his short Bassmaster career he has only missed two paychecks. He missed the cut at Toledo Bend in 2014 and also at the St. Lawrence River just two events ago.

His Phoenix and Yamaha is rigged and ready for the rough terrain.

Instead of the standard Power Pole, he is equipped with drift paddles to help with the high winds and rough water on Lake St. Clair, Erie and Huron.

He isn’t afraid of the “banana in the boat” curse unlike a lot of fishermen.

His roommate Josh Bertrand shows up to the ramp.

Lucas kindly waits on Bertrand and takes him to his floating rig.

A beautiful sunrise greets the 107 Elite pros for Wednesday’s practice.

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Lucas makes a run to his first spot.

The vast water makes it hard to find fish at times, but when anglers do it is lights out at times.

Lucas tries multiple baits to start his morning.

Boats are spread throughout the three lakes, but they seem like small dots on the terrain.

Lucas hooks up with his first fish of his final practice day.

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Lucas gingerly fights the fish near the boat.

The ultra clear water in the Great Lakes provides a picturesque scene of smallmouth fighting near the surface.

One of the many decent smallmouth that reside in Michigan…

…but Lucas knows they need to be much bigger if he expects to gain points on Aaron Martens.

Martens leads Lucas by 69 points with two events remaining until the Angler of the Year award is decided. With Martens overcoming over a 30-point deficit to Edwin Evers a few years ago, there is certainly enough time to try and come back.

Lucas decides to gear up as it gets colder with the incoming wind.

Soon after Lucas hooks up with what seems like a good one…

…but it didn’t yield a bass. It was brown, but certainly wasn’t a smallmouth.

So Lucas makes a move to another area.

So many areas to choose from and rough water to overcome to get there.

The playing field this week has undoubtedly put anglers’ equipment and their bodies to the test.

Numerous casts in between fish for Lucas.

But once you hook up with a fish out here, normally multiple fish will bite in a short time period.

On the move again.

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Lucas hooks up after moving and fights his fish.

Lucas was extremely focused on the task at hand and the goals that are still in front of him.

With the rough waves, Lucas would sit down and check out his electronics while continuing to fish.

Lucas hooks up again.

This one tries to get away with a dive to the depths, but Lucas wrangles the keeper.

Electronics are a big part of this weeks event. Finding numerous groups of fish will be important with the changing wind directions and also the tight fishing at times with other anglers.

Next spot also yields a bite.

This wasn’t one of the giants that Lake St. Clair and Erie are known for, but kickers were spread throughout the average keeper bites.

Another hookup…

…and another quality smallmouth. The weights for this year should increase as St. Clair has made a bounce back in Lucas’ opinion and how well Huron and Erie produce normally.

Many pros think that 16 1/2 pounds will be enough to get a check while 18+ pounds should get you close to the Top 12.

Keepers are a good sign at every spot Lucas fishes, but quality is always the desired outcome.

So Lucas makes another move. He was always thinking and focusing on where he should head next.

Lucas fishes from the back deck while he lets his boat drift along a spot. He would frequently check his back graphs to be sure he was fishing the right spot.

Another hook up.

With how hard smallmouth fight it can be tough to decipher how big they are.

Another average smallmouth. St. Clair, Erie and Huron are loaded full of healthy smallmouth.

After making another move, Lucas hooks up immediately.

This one seems a little better.

…

A long and skinny smallmouth…

…that gets released back into the Michigan waters.

Weights should be very close this week so with every hook up in practice, Lucas puts another piece to the puzzle.

This was his best of the day, but it came off just after he saw it at the boat.

He re-rigs and makes a move.

He catches up with Josh Bertrand on his way to his next area.

His next bite is a jumper…

It’s almost time for Lucas to call it quits for the day, but he uses all of his available time to figure it out.

A quality fish to end his final practice day.

Time to head in for registration. Lucas knows that every bite will help him in the points race and learning on the fly this week is very important. Check out Bassmaster.com for constant Angler of the Year updates over the week and heading into the Sturgeon Bay AOY Championship.