Wheeler Seals 2nd Straight AOY

By MLF Communications Staff

Alton Jones, Sr., of Lorena, Texas, caught 12 scorable smallmouth bass weighing 47 pounds, 15 ounces to cruise to an easy Qualifying Round win for Group B at the MLF Bass Pro Tour regular-season finale on Mille Lacs Lake in Onamia, Minn. Jones’ two-day total of 37 scorable bass weighing 140 pounds, 12 ounces earned him the Qualifying Round victory by a 35-15 margin over Cliff Pace of Petal, Miss.

The reigning BPT Angler of the Year (AOY), Jacob Wheeler of Harrison, Tenn., clinched his second-consecutive points title Tuesday after finishing the Qualifying Round in 6th place. Wheeler now becomes the first BPT competitor to earn multiple AOY titles, and for his accomplishment the 32-year-old earned a $100,000 payday from Bally Bet.

“It has been an incredible year,” Wheeler said. “Typically, you can sort of look back and reflect on the season and you can remember those times you’ve stumbled, and this year I’ve just been blessed.

"I haven’t won a tournament, but I’ve been able to remain very consistent. Every year, it always seems like there is one hiccup, but fortunately there wasn’t this season and I am so excited to hoist this trophy for the second year in a row.”

Pace caught a two-day total of 27 bass weighing 104-13 ounces to end the round in 2nd place, while Dustin Connell of Clanton, Ala., finished the round in 3rd place with a two-day total of 27 bass weighing 100-08. Tulsa, Oklahoma’s James Elam ended the round in 4th place with a two-day total of 28 bass for 100-06. Rounding out the Top 5 was Michigan’s Kevin VanDam , who caught 26 bass for 94-01.

The remaining 38 anglers – 19 from each group – now advance to Wednesday’s Knockout Round, where weights are zeroed and the anglers compete to finish in the Top 8 to advance to the Championship Round on Thursday. The Championship Round will feature Group A winner Mark Daniels, Jr., Group B winner Jones and the eight survivors from the Knockout Round competing in a final-day shootout for the top prize of $100,000.

“I’m so thankful to be going straight to the Championship Round,” an excited Jones said in his post-game interview. “That was my goal coming into this event and I worked really hard during practice and in pre-fishing before the cutoff. I had all my eggs in one basket, which was a little bit risky, but I’ve spent my practice and even time during this event idling, graphing and targeting isolated boulders.

“I’m from the South and one of my favorite things to do is use my Garmin LiveScope to find isolated brush piles, but here in the North the brush piles are boulders,” Jones continued. “I’m just trying to find and fish as many different boulders as I can.”

With his lead never really in jeopardy throughout the day, Jones said he was able to do a little more scouting during the third period.

“Fortunately, during the last period today I was able to do some more idling and graphing and I think I marked another seven or eight boulders,” Jones went on to say. “I’ve probably got another 15 to 20 that I have not fished yet that should be out of the wind, so I’m really excited to get back out there and do what I can to win this thing.”

Pace won the $1,000 Berkley Big Bass Award Tuesday with a smallmouth weighing 5-13. Pace caught the fish in the first period, throwing a dropshot rig. Berkley awards $1,000 to the angler who weighs the heaviest bass each day and a $3,000 bonus to the angler who weighs the heaviest bass of the tournament.

Anglers launch each day at 7:30 a.m. CT from Eddy’s Resort, located at 41334 Shakopee Lake Road in Onamia. Each day’s takeout is held at the Resort, beginning at 4 p.m. Fans are welcome to attend all launch and takeout events and also encouraged to follow the event online throughout the day on the MLF NOW! livestream and ScoreTracker coverage at MajorLeagueFishing.com.

The tournament features anglers competing with a 2-pound minimum weight requirement for a bass to be deemed scorable. Minimum weights are determined individually for each competition waters that the Bass Pro Tour visits based on the productivity, bass population and anticipated average size of fish in each fishery.

The MLF NOW! broadcast team of Chad McKee, Marty Stone and J.T. Kenney break down the extended action on each day of competition from 7:45 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. CT. MLF NOW! is livestreamed on MajorLeagueFishing.com and the MyOutdoorTV (MOTV) app.

Group B Qualifying Round – Day 2

(Figure at far right indicates weight of angler's heaviest fish for the round)

1. Alton Jones -- 92-13 (25) -- 47-15 (12) -- 140-12 (37) -- 5-05

2. Cliff Pace -- 52-02 (14) -- 52-11 (13) -- 104-13 (27) -- 5-13

3. Dustin Connell -- 65-13 (17) -- 34-11 (10) -- 100-08 (27) -- 4-11

4. James Elam -- 45-11 (13) -- 54-11 (15) -- 100-06 (28) -- 4-15

5. Kevin VanDam -- 43-06 (13) -- 50-11 (13) -- 94-01 (26) -- 5-12

6. Jacob Wheeler -- 58-13 (17) -- 32-09 (9) -- 91-06 (26) -- 5-00

7. Alton Jones Jr. -- 47-13 (15) -- 41-00 (11) -- 88-13 (26) -- 4-07

8. Shin Fukae -- 42-07 (14) -- 44-14 (14) -- 87-05 (28) -- 5-04

9. Gerald Spohrer -- 41-03 (11) -- 39-04 (11) -- 80-07 (22) -- 4-09

10. Ryan Salzman -- 46-11 (14) -- 32-08 (9) -- 79-03 (23) -- 5-03

11. Justin Lucas -- 57-04 (16) -- 21-13 (6) -- 79-01 (22) -- 4-05

12. Jeremy Lawyer -- 39-12 (12) -- 34-06 (10) -- 74-02 (22) -- 4-12

13. Wesley Strader -- 42-12 (12) -- 30-12 (10) -- 73-08 (22) -- 3-10

14. Casey Ashley -- 39-08 (12) -- 32-15 (10) -- 72-07 (22) -- 4-10

15. Jared Lintner -- 46-07 (16) -- 23-10 (9) -- 70-01 (25) -- 3-06

16. Bryan Thrift -- 30-06 (9) -- 35-14 (10) -- 66-04 (19) -- 5-01

17. Adrian Avena -- 53-04 (15) -- 12-02 (4) -- 65-06 (19) -- 3-14

18. Ott DeFoe -- 32-13 (10) -- 28-00 (8) -- 60-13 (18) -- 4-15

19. Randy Howell -- 26-02 (6) -- 32-00 (9) -- 58-02 (15) -- 4-11

20. Jason Lambert -- 23-09 (8) -- 33-13 (10) -- 57-06 (18) -- 3-12

The following anglers did not make the cut and will not advance to the Knockout Round.

21. Bobby Lane -- 33-15 (11) -- 18-15 (8) -- 52-14 (19) -- 2-13

22. Brett Hite -- 17-12 (5) -- 33-12 (9) -- 51-08 (14) -- 5-03

23. Mark Davis -- 6-10 (2) -- 43-00 (12) -- 49-10 (14) -- 4-08

24. Brandon Coulter -- 13-15 (4) -- 34-10 (9) -- 48-09 (13) -- 4-08

25. Kelly Jordon -- 30-08 (9) -- 17-00 (5) -- 47-08 (14) -- 4-11

26. Dean Rojas -- 14-00 (5) -- 31-07 (9) -- 45-07 (14) -- 5-05

27. Russ Lane -- 20-07 (6) -- 23-15 (7) -- 44-06 (13) -- 4-02

28. Jeff Sprague -- 24-03 (8) -- 20-02 (7) -- 44-05 (15) -- 4-10

29. Terry Scroggins -- 35-05 (12) -- 8-11 (3) -- 44-00 (15) -- 3-09

30. Cliff Crochet -- 19-00 (5) -- 23-10 (7) -- 42-10 (12) -- 4-01

31. Clabion Johns -- 15-14 (5) -- 24-04 (7) -- 40-02 (12) -- 4-08

32. Randall Tharp -- 33-08 (11) -- 5-09 (2) -- 39-01 (13) -- 3-04

33. Cody Meyer -- 16-02 (6) -- 21-00 (7) -- 37-02 (13) -- 4-06

34. Shaw Grigsby -- 22-00 (6) -- 10-00 (3) -- 32-00 (9) -- 4-01

35. Skeet Reese -- 17-07 (6) -- 14-06 (4) -- 31-13 (10) -- 4-14

36. John Murray -- 6-07 (2) -- 19-05 (6) -- 25-12 (8) -- 4-05

37. Bradley Roy -- 4-00 (1) -- 21-02 (7) -- 25-02 (8) -- 4-06

38. Timmy Horton -- 10-05 (3) -- 13-14 (4) -- 24-03 (7) -- 4-12

39. Britt Myers -- 16-15 (6) -- 6-07 (2) -- 23-06 (8) -- 3-10

40. Keith Poche -- 0-00 (0) -- 3-02 (1) -- 3-02 (1) -- 3-02