LEESBURG, Fla. — When Jacob Wheeler took the water for the second day of Suzuki Marine Stage 2 Presented by YETI on the Harris Chain of Lakes, his goal wasn’t necessarily to finish atop SCORETRACKER®.
Sure, the winner of the two-day Qualifying Round would earn a direct berth to Sunday’s Championship Round, and Wheeler started the day with a lead of nearly 11 pounds over his nearest pursuer. But he was more concerned with positioning himself to earn his ninth Bass Pro Tour victory than notching his 34th Top 10 (both far and away the highest marks among BPT anglers), and he didn’t want to handicap his chances by catching too many of the fish he’d found during practice.
Turns out, Wheeler achieved both objectives. He added 21 pounds, 6 ounces on six scorable bass, bringing his two-day total to 101-9. That was easily enough to retain his spot atop the leaderboard, 13-14 ahead of Takahiro Omori. As a result, he’ll take Saturday off, while finishers second through 20th contest the Knockout Round, then join the top nine from there in the winner-take-all Championship Round.
Full results can be found here.
Saving some juice for Championship Sunday
One of the leaders when it comes to tournament strategy, Wheeler didn’t decide to fish for the Qualifying Round win (rather than using all of Day 2 to scout new water) until he’d made the long run to Lake Apopka Friday morning.
Wheeler, who spent both days of practice as well as Day 1 in the southernmost lake on the Harris Chain, suddenly found himself with more company. As a result, he decided to return to the areas where he’d done most of his damage on Thursday. He figured they’d get fished hard by someone, so it might as well be him.
“Today, there was probably 30-plus local anglers and probably 25 or 30 of our guys that decided to move down (to Apopka), so it fished really small, and things got pressured a ton,” Wheeler explained. “And so, in that instance, you’ve got to start thinking through things and saying, alright, it’s not going to be as easy now as it would have been, because things are getting more pressure than I anticipated. Once I saw the pressure, I’m like, it’s not a guarantee I make the Top 10 (during the Knockout Round).”
Wheeler, who has amassed all his weight flipping a Rapala CrushCity Bronco Bug around reed clumps, also chose to ply a stretch that he figures will be unfishable during the Championship Round due to the strong southwest wind forecast for Sunday. The area yielded his biggest bass of the day, a 6-9. Through two days, he’s now boated seven bass of 5 pounds or bigger.
“I knew even if I fished the Championship Round, I would never be able to fish the fish that I caught midway through the second period, so I just caught them,” Wheeler said.
After pushing his lead back above 20 pounds, Wheeler used just about all of Period 3 to check out new water – “eliminating places” for the Championship Round, he said. The benefit of having spent his entire practice in Apopka – which much of the field initially avoided due to reports of a recent fish kill – is that he still has a few areas in his back pocket that he’s yet to visit during competition.
“There’s still areas that I have not visited that I will fish in the Championship Round,” Wheeler said. “There’s probably three different zones that I have not made a cast on.”
In some ways, Wheeler said, sitting out the Knockout Round could be a disadvantage. Those anglers who take the water will have a better idea which zones are getting pressured the hardest and have a better chance of finding fresh groups of spawners that might be more willing to bite. That said, he’s excited about the opportunity to spend a day with his 6-year-old daughter, Olivia, and 3-year-old son, Hudson, who made the trip to Florida to cheer him on.
Wheeler is confident he can put himself around the winning fish. The key to cementing victory No. 9 will be making the right adjustments to counter the changing weather and mounting fishing pressure – something he’s historically done better than any of his peers.
“I feel like the tournament will be won in Apopka,” Wheeler said. “Now, do I feel like there’s an outside chance that I turn on (forward-facing sonar) in the last period or something like that? There is. I’ll make a decision based on the conditions, and I’ll fish the conditions exclusively. The guy who makes the right decisions and makes adjustments will win this tournament on that final day. It’ll all come down to the adjustments made on that day, and that’s what is going to be fun about it.”
Major movements across Elimination Line
While Wheeler held the top spot on SCORETRACKER® all day, Friday brought plenty of movement around the Elimination Line. Seven anglers who started the day outside the Top 20 moved across the cut and qualified for the Knockout Round: Jacob Wall, Terry Scroggins, Zack Birge, Matt Becker, John Hunter, Edwin Evers and Justin Cooper.
Evers and Hunter made the most dramatic rallies. Both anglers found themselves on the wrong side of the Elimination Line with 30 minutes left in Period 3 but manufactured clutch flurries to make the cut. Hunter boated three scorable bass totaling 6-9 in the final 15 minutes, while Evers caught three for 6-1 in the last 22 minutes.
What’s next for Stage 2
Aside from Wheeler, the other 19 anglers in the Top 20 will take the water for Saturday’s Knockout Round in an attempt to join him in the Championship Round. Weights will zero overnight, then the top nine Knockout Round finishers will advance. Totals will then zero once again, and the angler who racks up the most weight on Sunday will take home the $150,000 first-place prize.
Catch all the action live on MLFNOW! from 7:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. ET each day through Sunday at MajorLeagueFishing.com, the MLF mobile app, MyOutdoorTV (MOTV) and the Major League Fishing channel on Rumble.
Other notes:
- With a Top-10 finish at Stage 2 now assured, Wheeler looks well positioned to take an early lead in the Fishing Clash Angler of the Year race. He’s looking to claim his fourth AOY crown in the past five years. Keep up with the standings throughout the season at MajorLeagueFishing.com.
- While the anglers who are making long runs from takeoff in Lake Harris have had to sacrifice some fishing time, it’s generally paid off. All but one of the 20 anglers who finished above the Elimination Line locked into either Lake Apopka or Lake Griffin at some point on Friday. The lone holdout: Todd Faircloth, who finished the Qualifying Round in 10th place and could have lots of water to himself on Saturday.
- Forward-facing sonar once again made minimal impact on Day 2. Only two of the Top-10 finishers (Wall and Michael Neal) even bothered to unlock their transducers for the one period per day they’re permitted to utilize the technology.
- David Dudley earned Berkley Big Bass honors on Day 2 with an 8-pound brute. That’s now three bass of 8 pounds or bigger boated through two days of competition.