By BassFan Staff
Having already won the BFL All-American, Forrest Wood Cup and BASSFest, Jacob Wheeler had put together a stellar fishing résumé prior to joining the Bassmaster Elite Series this year. He added another big bullet point to that ledger Sunday by winning his initial event as a member of B.A.S.S.' top circuit.
The 26-year-old from Indiana caught an 18-03 stringer from Cherokee Lake in east Tennessee to finish with a 4-day total of 69-13. He held off a couple of determined rookies to triumph in the season opener – a tournament in which many of the circuit's biggest stars failed to crack the Top 50.
Wheeler finished with a 10-ounce margin over runner-up Jamie Hartman, an upstate New York native who's basically become a fishing vagabond in order to compete against the best in the sport. Hartman boxed 17-03 on day 4 for a 69-03 total.
Another 3 ounces back was first-year Alabama pro Jesse Wiggins, who led after days 2 and 3. A two-time Bassmaster Open winner over the past 10 months and the only angler qualified for both the 2017 and 2018 Classics, he finished with a 69-00 aggregate with a final-day haul of 16-03.
Seth Feider, who's posted a single-digit finish in each of his past three Elite events dating back to last season, ended up 4th with 65-13 (15-05 on day 4). Paul Mueller, whose 18-00 final-day bag was exceeded only by Wheeler's catch, moved up five places to complete the Top 5 with 65-00.
Here are the totals for the remainder of the Top 12:
6. Josh Bertrand: 64-14
7. David Mullins: 64-04
8. Randall Tharp: 64-01
9. Matt Herren: 62-12
10. Ott DeFoe: 62-01
11. Mike Iaconelli: 61-04
12. Brandon Palaniuk: 54-10
Wheeler's combined earnings total from B.A.S.S. and FLW now stands at nearly $1.4 million. He's competed amongst the Elite field twice and prevailed on both occasions, picking up $225,000 in the process.
Three of Wheeler's five weigh-in fish came during a 10-minute flurry.
The circuit takes this week off before resuming at an entirely different venue, Florida's Lake Okeechobee, Feb. 23-26. It'll be an entirely different scenario than Cherokee – the spinning rods that were so prevalent this week will be replaced by baitcasters spooled with heavy line and there will be no need for snowmobile suits on any of the competition days.
Special Win for Wheeler
> Day 4: 5, 18-03 (20, 69-13)
For Wheeler, the victory was the culmination of a "crazy freakin' weak." The nuttiest part was that he spent a portion of day 3 fishing alongside fellow competitor Dustin Connell from the latter's boat after the batteries on his boat had given out.
"To me, this was the coolest (win) I've had just because of all the stuff that went on and I was still able to make it happen," he said. "I've always felt like that when it's meant to be, it's meant to be, no matter what. Every tournament I've won there's been something stupid that happened.
"With just getting engaged (last week) and having all my family here and all the adversity, it was neat going through all that and still coming out on top. I had a lot of people that helped me this week."
Three of the fish that he took to the scale on the final day came during a furious 10-minute flurry. He idled across a place that had been fished hard all week by himself and others and discovered that it was loaded with quality smallmouths.
He then caught a 4-pounder in the final minutes that may have sealed the triumph.
Jamie Hartman thought his bag would register closer to 18 pounds than 17 when he brought it to the scale.
"I think I would've won without it, but I'm not sure. If I had, it would've been by like an ounce or 2."
His primary offering for the week was VMC Moon Eye Jighead with a 3-inch soft jerkbait (pearl white). He focused on the 20- to 30-foot depth range, dropping his bait down to fish that he spotted on his graph.
Full details of his winning pattern, as well as those of the other top finishers, will be published this week.
2nd: Hartman Lighter than He Thought
> Day 4: 4, 17-03 (20, 69-03)
Hartman figured he had about 18 pounds in his livewell when he returned to the launch and was a bit surprised when the scale registered less than 17 1/4.
"There's definitely some disappointment with the way today went down," he said. "I thought I had more weight than I did. I thought I had my biggest bag of the tournament (he'd boxed 17-10 on day 1), but apparently I didn't.
"On the other hand, it's nice to get a good paycheck to start the season, although entry fees (for the remainder of the campaign) are going to eat that up pretty good."
He had a limit within the first hour and then culled eight times over the course of the day to arrive at his final weight. He made his final upgrade at 2:30.
"Most of the big ones wouldn't eat real good today. They were very uncooperative."
3rd: Bittersweet Feeling for Wiggins
> Day 4: 5, 16-03 (20, 69-03)
If Wiggins had the final day to do over again, he can't think of anything he would've changed.
"I didn't do anything dumb," he said. "I didn't lose any fish, I didn't break any off and I didn't do anything else that hurt me, so I can lay my head down tonight and go to sleep easily.
"Everything went like it should have. I just needed one more good bite and I didn't get it."
Jesse Wiggins caught a solid limit during the first hour of day 4, but culled up only once throughout the remainder of the day.
He had a limit after about an hour of fishing, but he upgraded just once and that didn't occur until the final hour.
"I struggled for most of the day. I knew if I didn't catch them in the morning, it might not happen. I caught two this morning that were as big as any I've had, but I didn't catch the 3-pounders that were supposed to be in there with them."
4th: Feider's Roll Continues
> Day 4: 5, 15-05 (20, 65-13)
The last three Elite events (including last year's AOY Championship) have all taken place on smallmouth venues, and Minnesota resident Feider has taken full advantage.
"It's an awesome way to start the year," he said. "I'm a little disappointed with the last day, but I got some good points and made some money.
"I was in semi-contention for the win and I wanted to be a little bit closer at the end of the day. I had what I weighed early and then I camped on two spots where I'd caught some 4-pounders. I thought if I spent my time there I might be able to get five of them, but that didn't work out."
5th: Mueller Made Progress
> Day 4: 5, 18-00 (20, 65-00)
Mueller managed a Top-5 finish despite catching only 12-05 on day 1.
"Considering it wasn't looking good for me after the first day, it's definitely nice to rebound and move up a little bit," he said.
He caught quality fish throughout the final day. The biggest was a 4 1/2-pound largemouth – his bag contained two green fish that came from deep water, the only two he'd caught all week.
"I actually tried to fish to win today, to be honest with you. I knew it was possible if I got a good weight and then added a 6- or 7-pound bite.
"Anytime I get to Championship Sunday, I'm going to fish to win. Sometimes that backfires, but I was one big bite from getting close. I just needed a 7-pounder."
6th: Good Start for Bertrand
> Day 4: 5, 15-13 (20, 64-14)
Bertrand's finish was easily his best in a season opener – he'd fared no better than 39th in the first event of any of his previous four Elite campaigns.
"I'm not normally a very hot starter, so I'm thrilled by this," the Arizona resident said. "I've been looking forward to this tournament all off-season because, living out West my whole life, I've always fished vertically.
"This is just the start I wanted; momentum plays such a big part in fishing. It's awesome to get some points and get some momentum going early in the year."
He spent the event fishing in the 25- to 30-foot depth ranger with a Berkley Gulp! Minnow and a Berkley Twitchtail Minnow. He occasionally threw spoons or bladed baits in an effort to "fire up" schools of fish.
Notable
> Day 4 stats – 12 anglers, 11 limits, 1 four.
Final Standings
1. Jacob Wheeler -- Indianapolis, IN -- 20, 69-13 -- 110 -- $101,000
Day 1: 5, 17-10 -- Day 2: 5, 16-15 -- Day 3: 5, 17-01 -- Day 4: 5, 18-03
2. Jamie Hartman -- Newport, NY -- 20, 69-03 -- 109 -- $26,000
Day 1: 5, 17-10 -- Day 2: 5, 16-13 -- Day 3: 5, 17-09 -- Day 4: 5, 17-03
3. Jesse Wiggins -- Cullman, AL -- 20, 69-00 -- 108 -- $20,500
Day 1: 5, 19-01 -- Day 2: 5, 16-14 -- Day 3: 5, 16-14 -- Day 4: 5, 16-03
4. Seth Feider -- Bloomington, MN -- 20, 65-13 -- 107 -- $15,000
Day 1: 5, 18-10 -- Day 2: 5, 15-01 -- Day 3: 5, 16-13 -- Day 4: 5, 15-05
5. Paul Mueller -- Naugatuck, CT -- 20, 65-00 -- 106 -- $14,000
Day 1: 5, 12-05 -- Day 2: 5, 16-12 -- Day 3: 5, 17-15 -- Day 4: 5, 18-00
6. Josh Bertrand -- Gilbert, AZ -- 20, 64-14 -- 105 -- $13,500
Day 1: 5, 16-08 -- Day 2: 5, 15-00 -- Day 3: 5, 17-09 -- Day 4: 5, 15-13
7. David Mullins -- Mt Carmel, TN -- 20, 64-04 -- 104 -- $13,000
Day 1: 5, 16-12 -- Day 2: 5, 16-14 -- Day 3: 5, 14-10 -- Day 4: 5, 16-00
8. Randall Tharp -- Port St. Joe, FL -- 20, 64-01 -- 103 -- $14,000
Day 1: 5, 12-04 -- Day 2: 5, 20-11 -- Day 3: 5, 15-01 -- Day 4: 5, 16-01
9. Matt Herren -- Ashville, AL -- 20, 62-12 -- 102 -- $12,000
Day 1: 5, 15-11 -- Day 2: 5, 15-02 -- Day 3: 5, 15-10 -- Day 4: 5, 16-05
10. Ott DeFoe -- Knoxville, TN -- 20, 62-01 -- 101 -- $11,500
Day 1: 5, 15-02 -- Day 2: 5, 16-14 -- Day 3: 5, 15-04 -- Day 4: 5, 14-13
11. Michael Iaconelli -- Pitts Grove, NJ -- 20, 61-04 -- 100 -- $11,000
Day 1: 5, 16-00 -- Day 2: 5, 14-04 -- Day 3: 5, 18-00 -- Day 4: 5, 13-00
12. Brandon Palaniuk -- Hayden, ID -- 19, 54-10 -- 99 -- $10,500
Day 1: 5, 17-03 -- Day 2: 5, 15-04 -- Day 3: 5, 13-12 -- Day 4: 4, 08-07
