How Jacob Wheeler got his 10th MLF win and 4th MLF AOY at Saginaw Bay

What can you say about this guy that hasn’t been said already? It’s literally not a surprise when he wins a tournament or AOY, which is a mind-blowing statement. His bud Dustin Connell called it history in the making, and it is. Here’s how Thanos won this time in “Avengers: Endgame.” 😁

Going in and practice

> “I really came into it mindset-wise that I was gonna play the smallmouth-largemouth combo. First and foremost, my goal was to win AOY. If I made the top 20, I would automatically solidify AOY and I could go and have fun in the Knockout Round [which is the top 19].

> “Day 1 of practice I spent the whole time fishing for smallmouth. I knew it’d be a fairly calm day 1 of the tournament. So I found enough smallmouth where I thought in a period I could separate myself, where I could mix largemouth in day 2 and throughout the tournament….

> “Day 2 of practice [2 days only] I went for largemouth – it wasn’t that good. I caught a few fish and here and there.

> “I finally went into this area and I found a group of fish in some reeds, I found another group in some reeds – I found like 3-4 groups. Those were the winning fish.

> “To me, you don’t know what you’ve got til you actually hunker down. I had several bites the last afternoon of practice and I found several good zones. My mindset was the 1-2 punch for sure.

> “My day 1 plan was those [smallmouths] were really isolated and fairly deep. So my first goal was to go out in the 1st period and catch as much as I could, and then fish largemouth the rest of the day.”

Tournament

> “Day 1 I couldn’t have scripted it any better. I caught 50-some lbs of smallmouths and was in 2nd place after period 1.

> “Then I ran 45 minutes to 1 hour away where my best largemouth area was, and…ended up with 90-some lbs after the 1st day of competition. So I knew if I caught 20 lbs the next day I’d pretty much locked up AOY.

> “Day 2 I started on one of my top 2 stretches of largemouth – another competitor started there as well. I caught 18 lbs in 30 minutes and basically made the cut…basically locked up AOY.

> “So I just went practicing. I sort of milled around. I wanted to make sure…some of the areas I found that had been receiving pressure were just as good as had left them.

> “The 2nd period I sort of locked in and fished around. Midway through the 2nd period I put the boat on the trailer [which they were allowed to do in this one] and go check those smallmouth 1 more time because I’d already locked up AOY. And I had an FFS period left….

> “That 3rd period was really tough smallmouth fishing. I caught 3 or 4 and I realized that maybe the smallmouth were going away.

> “…the wind changed directions. …you had a lot more S, SW, SE in the tournament [it was the opposite in practice] which changes the way the smallmouth position on the Great Lakes big time. I never relocated them.

> “I still had in the back of my mind that I potentially might go out there…because it was flat calm.

> “The Knockout Round – gotta make the top 9. I locked in to fishing one stretch – one of my top largemouth stretches – and caught basically 90 lbs…. I stayed there the whole day…caught ’em frogging, caught some on a Bronco…90% of my bass came frogging. …locked up my top 9….

> “The last day I started on the [same largemouth] stretch. …it’d received a lot of pressure so I knew I could not win the tournament there. I figured I could get almost 1 good period out of it. I started on what I thought was the best stretch and caught 29 lbs…Todd Faircloth had 50 lbs [ish].

> “So I realized pretty quickly I wasn’t going to be able to win the tournament there. I went to a spot I was basically saving for the final day – I thought I could catch 40 lbs there the 2nd period. I could run into it, but it was a long way to get back out of it – a foot, foot and half of water everywhere. So once you got back there, you were really committed.

> “I go to one of the best stretches and had a 3.5-lber. It wasn’t as good as I thought it was. So at the end of the 1st period I had 30-something lbs and I was almost 20 lbs back….

> “I was actually contemplating – do I go back smallmouth fishing? Could I have a 50-lb period and get back in this thing? I had 2 more [largemouth] places I needed to check, but I was unsure how it was gonna play.

> “…started the 2nd period and fished the 2nd-best stretch…I caught 1 bass there. I’m like, Oh no I might be in trouble. So I made my move to my last stretch…and I catch 2. It was a place I hadn’t fished [in the tournament] and the wind was blowing – I thought the fish might have repositioned.

> “I cast out there and one bites my frog…cast out there again and catch another one…I relocated the school and where they were setting up. In that 2nd period I had 42 lbs and ended up being neck and and neck with Todd.

> “The 3rd period…I knew if I stay here for like 2 hours I won’t be able to get back out to another stretch out there. So I decided to leave that stretch…to let it rest.

> “…I started trolling on my way out to my next pod of fish, and by the time I got there I’m down like 7 lbs. I catch 12 lbs and I’m tied basically with Todd at this point. I have an hour and 15 minutes left. Edwin [Evers] is 3 lbs out, Todd is ounces out…we’re all within 3 lbs.

> “This is the reason why I left that stretch…let it rest. Now I’m going to go back in there and I’m putting all my chips in. That’s all I got. I go back in, set back up…had 10 bites while I’m Power-Poled down in that stretch. 6 fish in 10 bites.

> “Then I knew they had reloaded and had re-set back up. In the 2nd period I could see wolfpacks of fish swimming in and out of those reeds.

> “…it was no more than 14-16 inches deep and really clear water. You had to make long casts, and basically when you’d hook one it would spook 4-5 more bass in that area. So they needed to set back up and reposition so I could catch them again.

> “Then I started to gain a little bit, then a 5-lb lead, then a 7-lb lead, then I caught 1-2 more. And that was the end of the event.”

Baits

Largemouth

> Frog: SPRO Bronzeye 65 Frog (killer gill), 50-lb Sufix 832 Braid (low vis green), Shimano Curado MGL 150 Reel, 7′ 6″ Duckett JW 2.0 Rod.

> “All those frogs are not created equal. I have like 4 out of 50 in my tournament box – 4 special ones.” [He wouldn’t tell me what makes ’em special!]

> Flip rig: Rapala CrushCity Bronco Bug (gp blue), 4/0 VMC RedLine HD Flipping Hook, 5/8- and 3/8-oz VMC Tungsten Weights (“depending on the cover”), 50-lb Sufix 131 G-Core Braid (low-vis green – “that’s the best punching braid on the market, it’s really supple”), Duckett reel, 7′ 11″ XH discontinued Duckett Black Ice Rod.

> Toad (day 2 only): Unnamed toad (gp mostly, also black/red), 5/0 VMC Wide Gap Hook, 50-lb Sufix 832 Braid (low vis green), Shimano Curado 150 MGL Reel, 7′ 2″ MH Duckett JW 2.0  Rod.

> “[The toad was for] when fish were on the outside of the cover early. As the sun got up, the further into the cover they would go. Mornings they would sit a lot looser to the cover.”

> Wacky rig: Rapala CrushCity Pig Stick (gp magic), 1/0 VMC Weedless Neko Hook, 10-lb Sufix Revolve Braid (neon lime) to 10-lb Sufix Advance Fluoro, Shimano Stradic Reel, 7′ 1″ M Duckett JW Select Spin Rod.

> “I caught a couple on the Pig Stick…several key fish on it. When I got around fish I could see in open holes, I’d fish it wacky style in those areas.”

Smallmouth

> Dropshot: Rapala CrushCity Salted Ned Roll (gp and gp goby), #2 VMC RedLine Finesse Neko Hook, 1/2-oz VMC Teardrop Dropshot Weight, 8-lb Sufix Revolve Braid (high viz green) to 10-lb Sufix Advance Fluoro, Shimano Vanford Reel (2500), 7′ M Duckett JW 2.0 Spin Rod.

> “The big key with that was pitching it out there and letting it stay still – allowing the bait to wash in the current. Those fish would just go down, you could take your time and slowly pick up, they start easing off with it and you set the hook.

> “I really did not want to impart a lot of action. The water was really clear and I felt like less movement was better. If I did anything I would drag it. I wouldn’t shake it. To me I think smallmouth like more subtle movements.”

Electronics

> “Of course Lowrance ActiveTarget 2 was a huge player day 1. It never really played the rest of the tournament but…it gave me breathing room to be able to focus on largemouth the rest of the day. The 1st day really set me up for the whole week.

> “Lowrance C-Maps…had a lot of detail on the smallmouth stuff and super-good detail in the deeper stretches of water – even in backwaters – for the largemouth. It gave you a better understanding of #1 where the deeper reeds and the cover was, and #2 where you could get up on pad and be more efficient with your time.

> “…that Ultrex QUEST – that trolling motor is insane. To be able to roll through all those reeds – I’m not sponsored by Minn Kota but they make a really good trolling motor.

> “Power-Poles were a huge deal, especially the final day when the wind was blowing in the 20s. Locking into that 1-2′ of water, basically letting the boat float…stealthy as I possibly could. I’d inch up 20-30′ and drop the Poles, inch up 20-30′ and drop the Poles.

> “I think that Poles are the most underrated piece of equipment. We just take for granted how efficient we are now in shallow water and how inefficient we were back in the day.”

Shoutouts

> “The biggest shoutout is to my wife Alicia. She’s awesome. I asked her in the middle of the season because it’s a team effort…I didn’t have a goal set to really focus on AOY. She knows show much time goes into pre-practice when I get into this AOY mindset. So I straight up asked her…do you want me to win AOY or if it happens, it happens. She’s like, ‘We gotta win.’

> “…there’s a lot of sacrifices…like when summer vacation’s happening, that’s probably 2 extra weeks I wouldn’t [be there]. She understands that. So having someone at home who’s all in and pushes me to be better day in day out, I can’t describe how grateful I am for that.”