By Tyler Brinks – July 15, 2020
STURGEON BAY, Wis. – The 10 anglers in today’s Championship Round of the Covercraft Stage Five Presented by Abu Garcia were a great mix.
The group included a newly crowned Points Champion, three Bass Pro Tour Stage winners, and four past Bassmaster Classic Champions.
Lucas had a record-breaking event on Sturgeon Bay. Photo by Garrick Dixon
It was a solid mix of both seasoned veterans and first-time Championship Round anglers. Whoever ended up winning would have to earn it as this field was stacked from top to bottom.
For most of the day, it was a three-horse race between Justin Lucas, Mark Daniels Jr., and Josh Bertrand. They traded blows to hop each other in the standings for much of the day. Alton Jones also made a run, but for the most part, it appeared it would be one of the three anglers with West Coast roots bringing home the win.
“Today, I caught them all on black but used a bunch of different colors this week,” Lucas said.
Lucas had cruised all week long, setting weight records in Group A’s Qualifying Round and earning an automatic Championship Round for winning his group. Today, he led after both Periods 1 and 2. The only thing that could stop him was a weather delay. After rain and lightning forced a stoppage, Lucas went cold and didn’t score a keeper for nearly an hour.
That made things interesting, but Lucas caught fire when it counted late in the day and was able to pull off the win with 38 bass for 110 pounds, 5 ounces.
Berkley pro Justin Lucas won the final Bass Pro Tour event of 2020 on Sturgeon Bay. Photo by Phoenix Moore
Lucas Claims Hard-Fought Victory
Lucas admittedly had a rough start to his Bass Pro Tour career and let his emotions show as time expired on MLF NOW!
“It took me a while to get used to fishing a tournament in this format. It’s so freaking cool to win one of these,” he said.
All week long, he relied on a drop-shot rig with a Berkley PowerBait MaxScent Flat Worm in a variety of colors. On the final day, he had seven identical 7-foot medium Abu Garcia Fantasista rods rigged up for the technique.
“Today, I caught them all on black but used a bunch of different colors this week,” Lucas said.
He utilized a variety of Abu Garcia reels, all spooled with 8-pound Berkley X5 braid in the Crystal color with a leader of 8-pound Berkley Trilene 100% fluorocarbon. He rounded out the package with a size 2 drop-shot hook and a 3/8-ounce weight.
