Jacob Wheeler’s masterpiece at Lowrance Stage 5 Presented by Mercury on Kentucky Lake didn’t just net him his ninth career Bass Pro Tour trophy. He also took a commanding lead in the Fishing Clash Angler of the Year standings in his quest to win his fourth points title in the past five years.
Wheeler’s two closest pursuers entering the event, Drew Gill and Matt Becker, wound up 30th and 38th, respectively. That allowed Bass Pro Tour rookie Jake Lawrence to move from fourth place into second with his runner-up finish – but he’s still 38 points back of Wheeler. Gill is 3 points behind Lawrence, then there’s a 22-point gap to Alton Jones Jr. in fourth.
As a result, all Wheeler has to do to virtually assure that he will win the title and $100,000 paycheck that comes with it is make the Knockout Round at the final two events of the year. If he does that, he can’t be caught – as long as Lawrence doesn’t win both events while Wheeler finishes 20th.
On one hand, that seems like a safe bet. Wheeler has made the Knockout Round in more than 75% of his starts – an astounding 44 times in 57 career BPT events. On the other, he failed to do so at both REDCREST and Heavy Hitters this year, so it’s not inconceivable that he could slip up. Plus, the Potomac River, host of Zenni Stage 6 Presented by Athletic Brewing Company later this month, hasn’t been very kind to him in the past.
Potomac a question mark for top contenders
It’s been a while since Wheeler competed on the Potomac, but he likely won’t arrive with warm, fuzzy memories.
Wheeler fished two FLW Tour events on the river, and he missed the Day 3 cut both times, finishing 54th in 2012 and 65th in 2015. Of course, that was before Wheeler turned into the Bass Pro Tour terminator; and he’s had better recent success on the James River, which is another tidal, cover-filled fishery. He won his group’s Qualifying Round when the BPT visited last season before finishing 11th. Still, it feels fair to say the Potomac isn’t exactly his wheelhouse.
The same can be said for the anglers trying to track him down, though. Lawrence has never competed on the Potomac, and it’s a pretty stark departure from the Southeastern reservoirs where he’s had so much success of late. Gill has fished the Potomac once as a pro, when he finished 48th in a 2023 Tackle Warehouse Invitationals event. He got off to a strong start in that event, sacking up more than 17 pounds on Day 1 to start in fourth place, but mustered just 11-1 on Day 2 and 9-2 on Day 3.
To find anglers who have notched past Top 10s on the Potomac, you have to go all the way down to Brent Ehrler and Justin Cooper, who are currently fifth and sixth in the points. Both are more than 75 points back of Wheeler, so they’d need him to finish the year with two straight bombs to even have a chance at climbing to the top spot.
The season finale on Saginaw Bay will be similarly mysterious. Wheeler fared well there when the Bass Pro Tour visited at the same time of year in 2023, finishing eighth. However, that event featured a best-five-fish format, allowing Wheeler to fish his strengths and target offshore smallmouth throughout the event. With the BPT back to every-fish-counts scoring, the consensus seems to be that the abundant population of shallow largemouth will be tough to beat. Meanwhile, neither Lawrence nor Gill has fished a professional event on Saginaw Bay.
Wheeler setting historic pace
If Wheeler can overcome the hurdles presented by the Potomac River and Saginaw Bay, he would become just the third angler ever to win four national tour-level AOY titles in a five-year span, joining Hall of Famers Roland Martin and Kevin VanDam. He also has a chance to better one of his own Bass Pro Tour records.
Through five events, Wheeler is averaging a finish of 3.2. That’s well on pace to top the previous best average finish for a full season, which Wheeler set when he won his second AOY title in 2022. That year, he averaged a finish of 5.4 and only missed one Top 10, when he finished 11th.
Lawrence the best BPT rookie yet?
Tracking down Wheeler will of course be a tall task. But even if he doesn’t pull it off, Lawrence could be putting together the best season we’ve ever seen from a Bass Pro Tour first-timer.
Some impressive rookies have taken the BPT by storm in recent years; most notably, Matt Becker won AOY in 2023, then Gill finished second to Wheeler a season ago. While the fact that Becker actually took home the AOY title makes his debut tough to top, Lawrence is currently averaging a better finish (10.8) than both Becker in 2023 (15.1) and Gill in 2024 (12.1). Including REDCREST, Lawrence has five Top 10s and a win in his first six BPT starts, which already equals Gill’s totals from his rookie year and is one Top 10 more than Becker.
Fishing Clash Angler of the Year Top 10 through Stage 5:
- Jacob Wheeler – 389 points
- Jake Lawrence – 351
- Drew Gill – 348
- Alton Jones Jr. – 326
- Brent Ehrler – 322
- Justin Cooper – 318
- Ron Nelson – 317
- Matt Becker – 316
- Justin Lucas – 316
- Cole Floyd – 312