Wheeler Whacks 42-05 To Take Command Of Group B

By John Johnson
BassFan Senior Editor

Jacob Wheeler dominated his first day on the water at the Lake Eufaula Bass Pro Tour from a place that was far away from the banks. To win the event, however, he's fairly certain that he'll need to move much closer to dry land.

The reigning MLF World Champion tallied 42-05 on 15 keepers weighing 2 pounds or more to build an advantage that's just an ounce shy of 10 pounds in the first Group B qualifying round. He caught six more scorable bass than any of the other 39 competitors managed as the lake continued to be stingy in the wake of heavy rain in the middle of the week that's dirtied up the majority of the water.

"The thing about fishing offshore is that I didn't know for a fact how I could catch them, but I knew if I found one good place I'd be okay," he said. "Fortunately I was able to do that. It was a grind everywhere else, but the one time I had an opportunity to get on them and catch them, I got a substantial amount of weight from that one place."

He boated eight largemouths and seven spotted bass. His biggest fish was a 4 1/4-pounder and all but one of his best specimens were enticed by Rapala DT crankbaits (the other came on a jig).

"I'm definitely not going to be fishing out there exclusively because it's about to get good up shallow. I feel like I'll be able to keep mixing it in throughout the tournament, but I'm not all-in on it. I think it's going to be won shallow."

Wesley Strader grabbed the No. 2 position with a 32-06 haul on nine fish. He was followed by Randall Tharp (six fish, 27-13), Bobby Lane (nine, 25-11) and David Dudley (six, 22-15).

James Watson (six, 21-12) heads up the bottom half of the top 10, the remainder of which consists of Fletcher Shryock (seven, 21-04), Dustin Connell (six, 19-03), Michael Neal (six, 18-00) and Mike McClelland (six, 17-06).

Some big names landed at the other end of the standings sheet. Mike Iaconelli and Jason Christie both failed to catch a keeper, Skeet Reese boated just one for 2-01 and reigning Angler of the Year Edwin Evers had one for 2-06.

Strader fished the main Chattahoochee River channel at the lower end of the lake, throwing a ChatterBait and a spinnerbait and flipping a jig.

"I had a decent practice and I felt like I could catch some today, but the quality was a little better than I anticipated," he said. "I tried to find areas that wouldn't get muddy because I knew it was coming."

His biggest fish was just a couple ounces shy of 6 pounds. He said he got roughly the same number of bites during each of the three 2 1/2-hour periods.

"If the water would fall a little bit and clean up just a little, it'd get a lot better," he said.

With a lead that's just short of double digits, Wheeler won't need to catch a whole lot on Monday to earn the berth to the Championship Round that goes to the highest finisher from each group's qualifying rounds.

"I've got a pretty good cushion, but I'm going to fish as hard as I can to solidify it," he said. "I won't back off unless I get 25 or 30 pounds up on Wesley or whoever else is in 2nd.

"If you get on the right stretch of grass, you can get well real quick on this lake."

Weather Forecast

> Sun., Feb. 9 – Mostly Sunny - 66°/50°
- Wind: From the ESE at 6 mph

> Mon., Feb. 10 – P.M. Thunderstorms - 74°/62°
- Wind: From the S at 9 mph

> Tues., Feb. 11 – Thunderstorms - 76°/61°
- Wind: From the SW at 8 mph

> Weds., Feb. 12 – Showers - 74°/64°
- Wind: From the SSW at 7 mph

Group B – Qualifying Round 1

1. Jacob Wheeler -- 15, 42-05

2. Wesley Strader -- 9, 32-06

3. Randall Tharp -- 6, 27-13

4. Bobby Lane -- 9, 25-11

5. David Dudley -- 6, 22-15

6. James Watson -- 6, 21-12

7. Fletcher Shryock -- 7, 21-04

8. Dustin Connell -- 6, 19-03

9. Michael Neal -- 5, 18-00

10. Mike McClelland -- 6, 17-06

11. Luke Clausen -- 5, 17-01

12. Mark Davis -- 5, 16-00

13. Kevin VanDam -- 4, 13-11

14. Dave Lefebre -- 4, 13-11

15. Ott DeFoe -- 4, 13-10

16. Adrian Avena -- 3, 13-08

17. Justin Atkins -- 3, 13-04

18. Jesse Wiggins -- 4, 12-07

19. Cody Meyer -- 4, 12-06

20. Jonathon VanDam -- 4, 11-05

21. Bradley Roy -- 3, 9-11

22. Zack Birge -- 3, 8-08

23. Brett Hite -- 3, 7-02

24. Takahiro Omori -- 2, 7-02

25. Casey Ashley -- 2, 6-08

26. Fred Roumbanis -- 2, 6-03

27. Cliff Crochet -- 1, 3-14

28. David Walker -- 1, 3-06

29. Kelly Jordon -- 1, 3-03

30. Gerald Spohrer -- 1, 2-14

31. Ish Monroe -- 1, 2-14

32. Justin Lucas -- 1, 2-11

33. Shaw Grigsby -- 1, 2-08

34. Jason Lambert -- 1, 2-07

35. Keith Poche -- 1, 2-06

36. Edwin Evers -- 1, 2-06

37. Russ Lane -- 1, 2-02

38. Skeet Reese -- 1, 2-01

39. Jason Christie -- 0, 0-00

39. Mike Iaconelli -- 0, 0-00