LIVE BLOG: Jacob Wheeler Wins Stage Seven Championship
BRANSON, Mo. — After five days of fishing, we have our Top 10 anglers who are competing today on Table Rock Lake for the Bad Boy Mowers Stage Seven Presented by Covercraft Championship and a $100,000 check. Ott DeFoe, Kevin VanDam, Fred Roumbanis, Cody Meyer, Jesse Wiggins, Jacob Wheeler, Dustin Connell, Adrian Avena, Scott Suggs and Brandon Palaniuk are duking it out this morning and into the afternoon to be the one at the top of SCORETRACKER® when all is said and done.
3:09 p.m. CT – The inevitable is now the certain: Jacob Wheeler is the Stage Seven champion. Wheeler dominated over the final two periods and ended the Championship Round with 56 bass for 84 pounds. Brandon Palaniuk finished in second place with 39 bass for 69-2. Congratulations to Jacob Wheeler on his first win on the Bass Pro Tour.
1:51 p.m. CT – Brandon Palaniuk is attempting to make a run at Jacob Wheeler. Palaniuk is 10-11 behind Wheeler with a little over an hour to go. We have seen Palaniuk’s ability to catch a plethora of bass in a short amount of time, but can he keep pace with Wheeler with the afternoon bite.
1:10 p.m. CT – It looks like it’s Jacob Wheeler’s championship to lose at this point. The Indiana pro is now 13-3 up on second-place Cody Meyer with less than two hours to go.
12:35 p.m. CT – Rob Newell just interviewed Dustin Connell on the water and asked him if he was able to find some good spots to fish when he gained a big lead during the Elimination Round. Connell said he found three good spots with large schools in them, and he was sitting on one of them at that moment. Connell is 12-13 behind Wheeler for the lead.
12:19 p.m. CT – After two periods here is where we stand for the Stage Seven championship:
- Jacob Wheeler 60-15
- Dustin Connell 51-06
- Cody Meyer 48-05
- Brandon Palaniuk 46-09
- Scott Suggs 40-00
- Fred Roumbanis 36-11
- Ott DeFoe 26-14
- Adrian Avena 26-04
- Jesse Wiggins 22-04
- Kevin VanDam 11-12
11:45 a.m. CT – Jacob Wheeler has extended his lead to now 2-5 over roommate Dustin Connell. It seems to be a four-horse race for the championship right now with Brandon Palaniuk and Cody Meyer in the hunt. The remaining six anglers are no closer than 15 pounds to Wheeler.
10:21 a.m. CT – Cody Meyer is fighting to hold off Jacob Wheeler for the top spot. Meyer has 39 pounds while Wheeler is right behind him with 37-15. As the day goes along and the afternoon bite begins, watch for Wheeler to make a big move. He smashed records during his first two days of competition thanks to a flourishing afternoon bite.
9:25 a.m. CT – Brandon Palaniuk started off his morning pretty slow considering how well he has done in Stage Seven. Palaniuk only caught one scoreable bass in the first 40 minutes of competition, but since then he has been able to work his way to the second-place position behind Cody Meyer.
9:07 a.m. CT – Cody Meyer is now on top of SCORETRACKER™ with 15 bass for 24-2. He is having success with a combination of topwater tactics and swimbait skills. Meyer has landed seven of his bass in the last 40 minutes to bolt up the board and take the top spot from Fred Roumbanis.
8:20 a.m. CT – Jacob Wheeler still remains in the lead and now every angler has a scoreable bass on SCORETRACKER®. Jesse Wiggins was the last pro to get on the board. Brandon Palaniuk has now jumped into third behind Wheeler and Roumbanis.
8:02 a.m. CT – After one hour of fishing, Jacob Wheeler is your leader with eight bass for 15 pounds, 6 ounces. Fred Roumbanis is close behind in second place with 14-8. Wheeler has had success flipping a jig around some boat docks, perhaps taking advantage of the early-morning shad spawn that has been absent all week because of the noon start time.