How Jacob Wheeler won the Kentucky Lake MLF BPT

How good are you when no one is surprised when you win a pro bass tournament? It’s an ultra-small club and no doubt Wheeler is the president of it right now. Here’s how he got it done this time.

Going in and practice

> “In practice, a lot of people didn’t really know what to expect. I hadn’t been to KY Lake for an offshore tournament in almost a decade. I think the last one I fished was in the 2016 timeframe maybe.

> “Obviously the Asian carp population had boomed and the bass population was really hurting. So it was just this unknown…are those fish gonna act like they used to.

> “…do a little research…seemed like the smallmouth population really boomed….

> “So…I just didn’t really know. Of course I would hope to fish offshore – that’s sort of my strength.

> “So I went into it with the mindset that I’m going to go offshore…if I find 2 places, 10 places or 100 places. Because to me, TN River offshore bass fishing is one thing I feel like I have an advantage on…and I’m going to focus my energy there.

> “The 1st day of practice I’m running some old-school places I’ve caught them in the past, and I figured out really quickly there was a lot of current. You hear that you need a lot of current in the TN River for the fishing to be good, and that’s true. But when they run current around the clock, it changes the way the bass position.

> “…when you have [2 regular current periods in a day], there’s a key feeding period when the fish gang up and eat. But there’s been so much rain the current has been running consistently around the clock at [a high level]. That gives the fish no time to rest…so it changes the places they’re gonna position on, and that’s a really important piece of the puzzle.

> “Typically that means secondary places where they can get out of the main channel. Secondary places were the key….

> “The 1st day of practice I found a few places – small groups of bass, 10 fish, 8 fish, some places had a few more. But it wasn’t like, Oh my gosh KY lake is back, we’re going to catch the heck out of them this week.

> “The 2nd day…the later half of the day I found 12 more places and really got dialed into what those fish wanted to be on. That was really important. So I felt good about it, but I just didn’t know how the tournament was going to play out.

> “Tons of anglers were out there idling offshore [day 1 of practice] but day 2 way less. It wasn’t easy offshore…. So I’m assuming some anglers went to do other things.

> “I rated my practice a 6. There’s so many variables in offshore tournament bass fishing, especially on the TVA. It’s so much more difficult. I’ve had tournaments where I’ve had 40 places and couldn’t get on 1, so I didn’t know how this one would play out.”

Tournament

Day 1

> “Day 1 of the the tournament I started on a place I never caught a fish on in practice, but I saw quite a few on my Lowrance graphs. My first cast with a [Rapala] DT16 I caught one, got them fired up, caught a few more, then picked up a Freeloader and caught a bunch – without FFS.

> “I caught 19 scoreables off my first stop that morning. That really shocked me…I did not anticipate it being as good as it was. The cool thing about ScoreTracker is you know. Michael [Neal], [Justin] Lucas, Jake Lawrence – they really started off strong. …it’s pretty good here and they’re definitely biting.

> “[He caught caught 95 lbs by 11:30] and I felt pretty good about it. [So then] I was able to run around and check some places. [Some had] boats on them and were getting pressured, the places that were a little sneakier were not getting pressured. …I stopped fishing and went practicing.

> “I never caught another bass for another 3.5 hours because I never found another place. I graphed for 3.5 hours and never found a new spot. But I was still in the top 5 and only fished for a period and a half.”

Day 2

> “Michael asked me that morning, ‘Hey are you going to try to win’ [the auto-qualifier into the Championship Round]. I was like, ‘Probably not.’ I caught 1 the first period, Michael caught 1, Jake caught none. No one was trying to win the auto-qualifying round. [Because it usually is the kiss of death.]

> “At the break I Facetime my wife and kids all the time, rig a couple rods, decompress…. My wife, she was like, ‘Why aren’t you catching ’em? I didn’t marry a loser.’ I was laughing but…I had several places I hadn’t made a cast on, I had a FFS period left in my pocket….

> “I had no camera in my boat and I had 1 follow [spectator] boat – I had 20 at the start of the day. So I thought I might be able to sneak in and bust ’em without giving away the juice.

> “Obviously everything I do is very strategic, not emotion-based. So in this scenario I knew the next day would be Saturday, I knew I would have boats on me – a lot more than I had [Fri]. And the TN River is just known for when you leave a spot, someone might be following you…one guy that sits there and catches your fish. It’s just an unfortunate part of your job.

> “So if I can get away with not showing my hand to 20-30 boats, it probably makes sense not to do it….”

He busted ’em pretty quick in one general zone and ended up getting the free pass to the Championship Round. He also got to practice some more and found 2-3 places that ended up being key the last day.

Championship Day

> “Not being on the water, you still lose a little bit of touch on the lake with knowing exactly what went down.

> “I knew it could potentially take 140 lbs to win…obviously a ton of weight but I had a feeling that might happen. And the only way I was gonna beat Jake, who I felt like would be my toughest competitor, was to maximize my community schools closer to takeoff. Then I’d go up the lake to my sneakier stuff later in the day….

> “I ran to a community hole to start on, no one’s there and a group of fish are there…my FFS period. I hoped to catch 30-40 lbs on the community holes…did not happen. I caught 11 lbs….

> “The wind was blowing really hard, I couldn’t position…and I was losing ground very quickly. …I gotta run to my sneakier stuff…if I can run down south, it’s the only chance I have to win this tournament, to get away from these fish that are pressured.

> “…my FFS period, I ran 45 minutes, shut down and caught them cranking the first place, Then I catch them on a football jig and ended up being within 15 lbs of Jake after that period. So I saved that period….

> “…I didn’t know Jake had used FFS the same period. I think he had 45 lbs that period. So I was assuming that was the pace…I had have to have 50 lbs [each of] the next 2 periods to have a chance to win.

> “…starting that 2nd period I caught some fish on a football jig – I started snapping that football jig with a [CrushCity] Cleanup Craw and started catching fish. [He hadn’t used the jig much til then but] with the wind blowing and the fish getting pressure, I had to show them something different.

> “I start dialing it in a little more and a little more, and was able to make up ground…and I passed Jake by 5-10 lbs. Not a lot, but it’s a completely different deal than being behind….”

What “dialing it in” meant:

> “When you have FFS and 360 and all that stuff, you have a way better understanding to where to position better relative to the fish. I was old-school bass fishing…where the fish are, how I’m setting up, where the current flow is. It took me a bit…just old school triangulating on the bank.

> “It’s a skill set I haven’t used for a long time so it took a little while to get back in the groove…dial in the fish and angles. Angles are everything on a school. Several times I changed the angle on a group of fish and was able to catch 2-3 more…. Understanding those key, subtle details is everything, especially when you’re talking about every single fish counting.

> “The last period…I’m sitting there catching them pretty consistently…20 lbs [over] Jake and he’s battling back.

> “…the last tournament, fishing head to head against Jake and losing on the last cast of the day, was a heartbreaker. All I could think was, I cannot miss a single opportunity in this last period. I have to put every bit of effort I have into this final period and close this thing out. I have to keep pushing…do not let off.

> “So I kept pushing, pushing, pushing. To be honest, I was fighting off tears – I could tell my dad was looking down on me…just had this calming peace at the same point in time…finish this, be done with it.

> “When I was up 30 lbs in the last 5 minutes, I could sit back and a lot of that emotion started to come through. It was special.”

Baits

> “The first couple days I fished a DT16 in ‘citrus shad’ (“if smallmouth were in the group or the water was dirtier or if it was a little cloudier or early in the morning”) and ‘big shad’ (“when the fish were a little bit pressured”). If you could fire up a school up on a crankbait, it’s the fastest way to catch them and you catch the biggest one too. …jump up that leaderboard fast….”

> Crankbait gear: 12-lb Sufix Advantage Fluoro, Duckett Paradigm Reel (6.2), 7′ 6″ MH Duckett JW Signature Cranking Rod (from the discontinued OG series).

> Bigger jig ‘n minnow: 5.25″ Rapala CrushCity Freeloader (gizzard shad – new bigger size not out yet) on a 5/16-oz VMC Hybrid Swimbait Jighead (“I felt like a little heavier head was key in generating more bites – keeping it in the strike zone more”).

> 8-lb Sufix Revolve Braid to a 6′ 12-lb Sufix Advance Fluoro leader, Shimano Stradic c3000 XG, 7′ 1″ M Duckett JW Select Spin Rod. (“It has a little more power, and with those bigger minnows and larger head you want a little more backbone. It still has a fast action but more backbone to it.”

> Smaller jig ‘n minnow: “The 4.25 Freeloader (electric shad) was for places where I felt like smallmouth were there heavy. I felt like they ate it better.” He fished that on a 1/4-oz VMC Hybrid Swimbait Jighead, 8-lb Sufix Revolve Braid to 10-lb Sufix Advance Fluoro leader, Shimano Vanford Spin Reel (2500), 7′ M Duckett JW 2.0 Series Spin Rod.

> Neko rig: Rapala CrushCity Janitor (mostly gp magic and also plum), 4mm VMC Crossover Ring, #2 VMC RedLine Neko Hook, 3/16-oz VMC Half Moon Wacky Weight, same rod, reel and line as for the smaller jig ‘n minnow.

> “If I could not get them to bite anything, I could drag it around and get a couple bites even from the most pressured schools.”

> Football jig: 3/4-oz Jewel Football Jig (gp purple) with a Rapala CrushCity Cleanup Craw (gp colors, gp magic later in the day). “I trimmed the skirt up a little bit, a little tighter for a little faster fall when I was snapping it. I took off about 1/4 of the Craw to make it more compact. One jig I trimmed the weedguard completely out, and I had one jig with the weedguard in it” [depend on what was on the bottom].

> “…higher frequency Cleanup Craw, that quick tail and kick action.”

> 14 lb Sufix Advance Fluoro, Shimano Curado XG 150 Reel, 7′ 3″ H Duckett JW 2.0 Series Rod.

> “In the morning I caught some fish dragging the jig but they kept missing it. They would thump it and I would miss them – I could tell I had to make them react. The current was running at such a fast pace, the fish were really stuck to the bottom….

> “My cadence on that was snap, let it fall, snap, let it fall – not stroking a jig, snapping a jig. A lot of people stroke jigs because the fish will suspend.

> “That small snap made those fish react. It seemed like I could go to places where the schools were busted up and catch fish that I might not be able to do on other techniques – especially not having FFS to be able to dial in small little groups.

> “I had no FFS so I had to imagine where my cast was and where the fish were. You had to make a very precise cast but were basically covering water.

Electronics

> [Lowrance] C-Maps are a really big deal on the TN river.

> “Humminbird side imaging was big, deal having that Apex 13 in the back. The fish were super tight to the bottom.

> “We’re only allowed to have 2 forward-looking transducers…. I had 2 ActiveTarget 2s on my boat and [before KY Lake] swapped out one to a [Humminbird] 360 and that was a huge deal. To be able to Spot Lock on a spot and see fish on the bottom, and not having to move my forward around…being more efficient….

> “…using a Precision 9 [Lowrance compass] for my heading…a higher-end heading sensor. It’s pretty expensive but it’s such a fine-tuned deal. I was using it in non-FFS periods where I had to figure out the precise cast…. Rather than me thinking I’m 10-15′ away from my target, I’m within a foot….”

Shoutouts

> “…my wife. People don’t realize it’s a team. It’s really important to have somebody at home that is pushing you to perform at a higher level.

> “It’s funny – my wife has a screen grab on her computer: ‘What would Sherry VanDam do?’ It’s hilarious but she looks up to Sherry and I look up to Kevin. And the same things Sherry did for Kevin, Alicia’s doing for me…pushes me to be better every day…on the water, being a dad, being a husband.”