Jacob Wheeler Wins MLF-PBT Lake Eufaula

The majority of the competitors at the Lake Eufaula Bass Pro Tour were convinced that the 2020 season-opening event would be won from close proximity to the shoreline. Jacob Wheeler was among that contingent - even after dominating his initial qualifying round offshore. The prevailing theory was that extremely muddy water, which most of Eufaula contained due to heavy rain in the days leading up to the event, wasn't conducive to an offshore program; it breaks up the schools of fish and sends them in all directions. Shallow-water patterns are usually more reliable under such conditions.

To Wheeler's surprise, he had a second spectacular day out in the open water - this time in the Championship Round. From about halfway through the second 2 1/2-hour period until midway through the third, he used a spinnerbait to wreak havoc on a huge congregation of 2- to 4 1/2-pound largemouths that were holding on an underwater point in 8-12 feet of water. "I was shocked because I didn't think that was going to be the deal toward the end," he said. "I think what ended up happening was that a lot of those fish got used to the water color changing and they didn't leave - they just stayed out there."

He ended up catching 24 scoreable fish for 68 pounds even in the Championship Round. Only runner-up Bryan Thrift (13 for 40-11) caught even half of Wheeler's keeper total and only Thrift and 3rd-place Ott Defoe (10 for 34-09) amassed more than half of his weight. He became the first angler to win two BPT events (he triumphed last year in the second outing at Table Rock Lake). It was his second Major League Victory at Eufaula - he also won the 2017 Challenge Cup there.

Set Stage Early:

Wheeler caught 15 fish for 42-05 in the first Group B qualifying round, which was about 10 pounds more than anybody on the water with him that day managed. Two days later, he added three fish for 9-01 to claim the group victory and its accompanying berth in the Championship Round (group winners this year bypass the Knockout Round and go straight to the finals). He focused his efforts on the lower portion of the lake - from Barbour Creek on down. That end contains fewer tributaries, which translated into less mud. He pinpointed several locales (brush piles, points, rocks, etc.) during the 2-day practice session that were serving as staging areas for pre-spawn fish. Cranking and casting a jig were his go-to tactics early on once competition got under way. By his second day on the water, however, the fish began to show disdain for those offerings; thus his extremely light haul in that round.

Midway through the Championship Round, he pulled up on a large underwater point and was thrilled to see his graphs (he has five on his boat made by three different manufacturers) light up with fish icons. He estimated there were at least 150 of them there. "I'd visited that place several times earlier and never weighed a fish, but there were more of them than I saw on any other day," he said. "I think I said to the camera, 'If we can make them bite, we could win this thing,' but what I was really thinking, even though I didn't want to say it at that time, was that I just won this tournament. "It was a really good place for them to set up in the pre-spawn. They had lots of places nearby to go up and spawn here in a month or so."

As soon as he tried a 1-ounce spinnerbait on them, the rout was on. "I threw out there on my second cast and they were fighting for it on the fall. There was 4 inches of visibility, so they couldn't have been coming that far to get it, so that proved how many of them were in there. It was unbelievable. "On one cast I got four different bites. I'd hook one and it'd come off, then another one would get it." He took the lead early in the third period and then just kept extending. He went past the 50-pound mark, which was more than he needed to win, with well over an hour left in the day and surpassed 60 pounds about 20 minutes later. "I certainly couldn't ask for a better start to the season. Now I'm pumped up and excited to get to Okeechobee."

Winning Gear:

Spinnerbait gear - 7' medium-heavy Duckett Fishing Jacob Wheeler Signature Series rod, Duckett Fishing 320 casting reel (6.3:1 ratio), 20-pound Sufix Advance fluorocarbon line, 1-ounce Accent Ole Big spinnerbait (spot remover), 3.8-inch Googan Baits Saucy Swimbait trailer (white pearl shad).

He said the slower gear ratio on the reel was critical because he had to keep the bait low in the water column. "The strike zone got very small as the water got dirtier," he said.

Cranking gear - 7'11" medium-heavy Duckett Fishing Micro Magic Pro rod, Duckett Fishing 360 casting reel (5:1 ratio), 12-pound Sufix Advance fluorocarbon, Rapala DT14 or DT16 (Caribbean shad).

Jig gear - 7'6" Duckett Fishing Jacob Wheeler Signature Series rod, Duckett Fishing Paradigm casting reel (8.3:1 ratio), 17-pound Sufix Adavance fluorocarbon, 9/16-ounce ER Lures jig (black/blue or brown/pink), Googan Baits Bandito Bug trailer (black/blue).

MLF BPT Tour Lake Eufaula Winning Pattern - BassFan 2/14/20 (John Johnson)

It didn't take Bryan Thrift long to make his presence known on the MLF Bass Pro Tour. The longtime FLW standout and reigning Forrest Wood Cup champion came up just one position shy of winning his maiden BPT event at Alabama's Lake Eufaula. He won his qualifying group with 17 fish for 54-01 over two days to advance directly to the finals (bypassing the Knockout Round) and briefly held the lead in the Championship Round before Jacob Wheeler's epic flurry left Thrift and the other eight finalists far back in his wake. Thrift thoroughly enjoyed his initial experience under the new format.

"I had a ball," he said. "I think what I liked the most is you get a full day of fishing; you don't have to factor in the (running) time from blast-off or how much time you're going to need to make it back to check-in. It's a true 7 1/2 hours of fishing and that's awesome." Thrift, whose 40-11 haul in the Championship Round left him a little more than 27 pounds short of Wheeler's mark, had two patterns going at Eufaula (where he won an FLW Tour event in 2015) Ð isolated rockpiles and docks. He caught his fish on a large-bladed prototype Z-Man ChatterBait, a crankbait and a jig. "I think the biggest thing for me was just being comfortable on Eufaula; it's a lake that I jive well with. Everywhere I go I feel like the next cast could be a 5-pounder. Even if I've had a terrible practice and I don't have anything figured out, I still feel like I have a chance because there's so many big ones in there.

"I only practiced one day and got three or four bites that were over 2 pounds, but I knew the rain was going to change everything and I'd have to figure out something during the event. I'd have to see what got real muddy and what didn't. I finally ran around enough on the first (competition) day that I figured out a little deal." He began the derby by throwing the ChatterBait and crankbait in rocks that were covered by 2 to 4 feet of water and sat perhaps 30 to 40 yards offshore. He eventually started working those same areas with a jig when the conditions slicked off. That was the bait he also used on the docks.

Gear:

Bladed jig gear: 7'3" medium-heavy Fitzgerald Stunner rod, Abu Garcia Revo STX casting reel (8:1 ratio), 20-pound P-Line Tactical fluorocarbon line, prototype 1/2-ounce Z-Man ChatterBait (white/chartreuse), generic fluke-style trailer (chartreuse/pearl).

Cranking gear: 7' medium-heavy Fitzgerald Bryan Thrift Signature Series Squarebill rod, Abu Garcia Revo Winch casting reel (5.4:1 ratio), 12-pound P-Line Tactical fluorocarbon line, Damiki BTC 60 (blueback duck or red craw).

Jig gear: 6'9" heavy-action Fitzgerald Skipping rod, Abu Garcia Revo STX casting reel (7.3:1 ratio), 20-pound P-Line Tactical fluorocarbon line, 1/2-ounce Shooter Lures jig (black/brown), generic chunk trailer (green-pumpkin/blue).

MLF BPT Tour Lake Eufaula 2-5 Pattern - BassFan 2/18/20 (John Johnson)

Ott DeFoe's program was comprised almost entirely of cranking as the reigning Bassmaster Classic champion employed two DT models and a new flat-sided bait with a circuit-board bill called the Slim. He finished 3rd in both the Knockout and Championship rounds with daily totals of 35-13 (11 fish) and 34-09 (10). "It was what I wanted to do," he said. "I'd been there in March a couple times before, and the first time I was ever there (for a 2004 EverStart), I made the top 10 by cranking.

"I didn't expect the bite to be fast and furious and I knew a zero was a possibility. Running enough water and timing were a couple of big things, and my Humminbird 360 (fish-finder) was the most critical tool on my boat. I could pull up on the waypoints where I'd marked brushpiles and immediately see where I needed to be throwing. "Catching one in the first 10 minutes (of his initial qualifying round) was a huge relief Ð I knew I wasn't going to zero." His fish were holding in depths ranging from 5 to 12 feet and he utilized woody cover almost exclusively. Out of his 100-plus waypoints, about half a dozen were consistent producers.

Gear:

Cranking gear: 7' or 7'6" medium-heavy Crankin' Stick, casting reel (6.8:1 ratio), 10-, 12- or 14-pound fluorocarbon line, Rapala DT6 (red craw), Rapala DT10 (pumpkinseed) or Rapala Slim (penguin).

MLF BPT Tour Lake Eufaula 2-5 Pattern - BassFan 2/18/20 (John Johnson)

Beginning his fourth season as a tour-level pro, Alton Jones Jr. recorded his best-ever finish with a third-period rally in the championship round that moved him up five places from 9th. He caught nine fish for 26-12 in the finals. Throwing a jerkbait on bridge pilings allowed him to advance out of his qualifying group. "There was one bridge in particular that, when the water fell really hard, created a good constriction point in the back of a creek," he said. "A lot of bass funneled to it."

"I caught seven off that bridge (in qualifying) and five more right off the bat (in the Knockout Round). It died after that, but without those five I wouldn't have made the Championship Round." He moved to a shallow locale late in the Knockout Round where he'd gotten some bites in practice, but which had muddied up too badly in qualifying. With it having cleared up considerably, he caught fish on a spinnerbait from the back ends of docks and from around stands of water willows. "The key to the whole week was fishing with an open mind. I had to do something a little different every day, and in different areas, because the conditions had changed drastically."

Gear:

Jerkbait gear: 6'9" medium-heavy Kistler Magnesium 2 rod, Abu Garcia Revo STX casting reel (7:1 ratio), 15-pound Seaguar InvizX fluorocarbon line, unnamed 110-size jerkbait (pearl).

"Fifteen-pound line is a little heavier than I'd ordinarily use with a jerkbait, but the water was so dirty that I could get away with it," he said.

Spinnerbait gear: 7'1" medium-heavy Kistler Helium 3 rod, same reel, 17-pound Seaguar InvizX fluorocarbon, 3/8- or 1/2-ounce Booyah Covert Series spinnerbait (blue chartreuse), 3 1/2-inch YUM Pulse trailer (phantom shad).

He primarily threw a bait with double Indiana blades, but used one with a single Colorado blade in water that was especially dirty.

MLF BPT Tour Lake Eufaula 2-5 Pattern - BassFan 2/18/20 (John Johnson)