Carhartt winner fishes with Lee brothers

For the second year Carhartt offered a video contest available to college anglers with an all-inclusive two-day fishing trip with Bassmaster Elite Series pro Jordan and Matt Lee.

This yearâs Grand Prize trip was held on Lake St. Clair immediately following the Autozone Auto Parts Bassmaster Elite Series event.

Jacob and Miller met their day 1 boat guide and reigning Bassmaster Classic champion Jordan Lee for breakfast. Carhartt employee Brendan Lokes also joined after dropping off a bag of new Carhartt gear to the college anglers.

After breakfast Jacob and Miller joined Jordan for some last minute tackle preparations. Drop-shots helped both Lee brothers notch top five finishes on Lake St. Clair and would be relied on heavily the next two days.

With the threat of wind and rain later in the afternoon, the college anglers were encouraged to become familiar with their new Carhartt Shoreline Angler rain suits.

Finally the anglers jumped in Jordanâs boat and headed out on Lake St. Clair. Stopping first to pitch a drop shot on a few buoys. A small largemouth bass was the only takerâ¦

Jordan then made a move out to the area he notched a fourth place finish on. It didnât take Jordan long to hook up after arriving to his primary area.

The Carhartt pro grins as he coaxes this smallmouth to the boat to start the day. Jordan caught over 80-lbs of smallmouth from this area over the 4-day Elite Series event, including the biggest of his life a 6.13-pound behemoth.

Grand Prize winner Jacob Smith was the next to hook up. After a quick assessment, Lee confirmed Smith had hooked a good-sized smallmouth.

Smith eased the fish around the boat and went to the driverâs seat to land his fish.

Smith had his first St. Clair smallmouth in his hands shortly afterâ¦

College fishing partner Miller Spivey captured the action on Bassmasterâs SnapChat account.

While I switched SD cards Spivey hooked and caught his first smallmouth â Smith took over SnapChat duties during the battle.

Jacob kept the flurry going and fought yet another solid smallmouth to the boat. Meanwhile, Jordan Lee bowed up on a fish of his own.

Smith playfully hit Lee with some smack talk, as his fish was a fat smallmouth and Leeâs fish ended up being a rock bass.

After a few minutes with no action, Lee fired up his Mercury outboard and proceeded to make the same drift over again.

After the move a light rain started. The anglers threw on their Carhartt rain suits and stayed focus. Smith kept the hot hand and hooked up again.

This feisty smallmouth put on a show as it danced out of Smithâs reach at the side of the boat. (J-Lee was doing a dance of his own.)

Smith finally gets his hand under the fishâs belly and scoops her in the boat, while J-Lee watches on in approval.

Spivey set the hook next and judging by the squealing drag, this was a big one. Jordan set down his rod in case he needed to provide a helping hand.

The fight was on and continued for several minutes. The rain picked up while the anglers hopes of this being a bass deflated. Miller gives a big grin after seeing this was a big, old catfish.

After the catfish chaos, Lee hooked up with another big fish. Although the way this fish fought confirmed it was a smallmouth.

Lee gets his hands on the beast and shows the college anglers a true St. Clair giant. âFive of these give you 25 pounds,â Lee said smiling.

Spivey looked to get a little redemption as he hooked up with another heavy fish. Much like Jordanâs last fish, this one felt like a smallmouth.

After a quick fight Spivey had his hands full of St. Clair smallmouth.

As the afternoon continued the anglers continued to catch fish. The wind picked up and the waves got larger but the fishing stayed steady.

With the threat of another approaching rainstorm the crew called it a day. They posed with a few of the best fish from today; Jacob and Miller said it was the best day of smallmouth fishing theyâd ever had.

Day 2 of their Grand Prize trip began with tackle prep, breakfast, and a rainbow with Bassmaster Elite Series pro Matt Lee.

The waves were a little bigger today and as the college anglers put it, âGave them the full St. Clair treatment,â as they drove to Mattâs starting spot.

The anglers quickly find signs of life, catching numerous perch and getting several short strikes.

After 30 minutes or so, Matt Lee broke the ice and set the hook into a good fish.

The anglers used a drop-shot tipped with either a Strike King Z-Too or a Dream Shot to get every one of their bites.

After several acrobatic jumps, Matt leaned over and scooped up the first smallmouth of the morning.

In the excitement Jacob Smith set the hook, fought, and boat flipped a smallmouth of his own â albeit slightly smaller than Leeâs.

The waves continued to build and tested the anglerâs balance.

What goes up must come downâ¦

After some impressive balance displays Miller Spivey hooked up with his first big St. Clair smallmouth of the day.

Lee quickly sat down and offered an assist in landing this feisty brown bass.

All smiles here.

Smith then joined the action when he bowed up on what appeared to be a good fish.

This smallmouth sent the anglers around the boat in circles until Matt finally scooped the fish for Smith. This spot produced several smallmouth this size and bigger during the Bassmaster Elite event, which helped Matt Lee notch his 4th top 12 of the 2017 season.

The anglers had found a little wad of active fish and Lee put on a show.

Lee hooked, played, and eventually landed this 5-lb class St. Clair smallmouth.

Landing scrappy smallmouth in big waves took an impressive combination of hand-eye-coordination and focus.

But they were no match for this trio.

The waves didnât let up and forced the anglers to Out Work Them All. The following series of photos captures one fish the anglers worked especially hard for.

Lee hooked another big smallmouth and fought it to the side of the boat, where he pinned the fish against the side of the boat to get a good grip.

Unfortunately, the fish came unhooked and tried to free itself from Leeâs grip as Jacob Smith looks on.

Matt Lee cried out, âGrab her!â and Smith went in for the assist.

The two played hot potato with the unhooked smallmouth until somehow Lee found his grip and scooped her into the boat.

Smith, Spivey and Lee were all letting out excited hoots and hollers.

Leeâs smile looked as if to say, âno wayâ.

High fives for the whole crew were in order.

All three anglers (and their camera man) were nothing but smiles after that wild catch.

Another severe storm was approaching the area so we took a photo with some of the dayâs best smallmouth and headed back to the ramp.