Wheeler Holds Off Tharp For Group B Triumph

By John Johnson
BassFan Senior Editor

Jacob Wheeler's second day of competition at the Lake Eufaula Bass Pro Tour wasn't nearly as spectacular as his first. He did just enough, however, to gain an early berth in Wednesday's Championship Round.

The reigning MLF World Champion managed just three keepers for 9-01 during the finale of Group B qualifying. That gave him a 51-06 total, and it proved to be enough to hold off a late charge by Randall Tharp.

"This was a day that left me scratching my head a lot of the time," said Wheeler, whose lead was up around the 15-pound mark before Tharp staged his final-period comeback. "I just feel very thankful and blessed that I had enough to move on to the Championship Round."

He figured that the offshore program that produced the bulk of his 42-pound-plus haul two days earlier would fizzle out today, and that assumption proved correct. He had some water in the back of a pocket that he'd been saving for just such an occurrence, but discovered that it was inundated with mud when he arrived.

"When I rolled up, I knew I was in trouble," he said. "I ran up shallow and did some cranking and I even pulled up on a school that had largemouths and (spotted bass) mixed together, but all I could catch were 1 3/4-pound spots."

Wheeler joined Group A winner Brian Thrift as early qualifiers for the finals. The other 38 competitors who finished among the top 20 in their respective groups will be back on the water for the Knockout Round on Tuesday, when weights will be zeroed. They'll be battling for eight spots in the Championship Round.

Tharp caught 23-01 on seven fish, primarily flipping around docks, to add a great deal of stress to the latter part of Wheeler's day. He came up a half-pound short with a 50-14 total.

Five of his fish came during the day's final 2 1/2-hour period.

"I was pretty far back and I knew (Wheeler had) caught a couple early, so it was really just a practice day for me," Tharp said. "Then I got on something in the third period in a place I'd fished years ago and it didn't take long to get a bite. With the water dropping, the fish had just moved out to the next available cover.

"When the water's high I've got something really good going on and I'll probably start in that area tomorrow and just feel it out. There's a lot of big fish swimming there – if I get a bite, it's a 4 1/2-pounder, at least."

Mike McClelland weighed 24-11 (six fish) to make his first Knockout Round – he was 0-for-8 in that department in 2019. He ended up 3rd with 42-01.

The key to his day was a move to a road bed at the back of a creek, where he got nine bites on a crankbait and boated five. He'd caught two good fish earlier on a ChatterBait.

"It feels great to get that monkey off my back; I've been fighting it," McClelland said. "I've been doing this long enough to know that you're going to have good and bad seasons, but last year was probably the roughest of my career. To come into the first event of the year and build my confidence back up and do well the way I'm comfortable fishing, it feels really good."

Ott DeFoe tallied day-best numbers of 25-07 on eight fish to claim the No. 4 position with a 39-01 aggregate. Bobby Lane (four fish for 13-02 on the day) completed the top 5 with 38-13.

Mike Iaconelli, one of two anglers to zero on Group B's first day on the lake, caught 23-03 to make the cut in 18th. His bag was topped by a 6-13 bruiser – the second-biggest fish of the day behind Ish Monroe's 7-02.

Jason Christie, the other angler without a keeper on the group's first day, surprisingly zeroed again to finish 40th in the group.

Bret Hite was the last angler to move inside the top 20 when he boated a 3-02 with about 3 minutes remaining to jump to 17th. As a result, Zack Birge became the first angler out of the cut.

Weather Forecast

> Tues., Feb. 11 – Scattered T-Storms - 77°/63°
- Wind: From the SW at 9 mph

> Weds., Feb. 12 – Cloudy - 78°/64°
- Wind: From the S at 11 mph

Group B – Qualifying Round 2

1. Jacob Wheeler -- 15, 42--05 -- 3, 9--01 -- 18, 51--06

2. Randall Tharp -- 6, 27--13 -- 7, 23--01 -- 13, 50--14

3. Mike McClelland -- 6, 17--06 -- 6, 24--11 -- 12, 42--01

4. Ott DeFoe -- 4, 13--10 -- 8, 25--07 -- 12, 39--01

5. Bobby Lane -- 9, 25--11 -- 4, 13--02 -- 13, 38--13

6. Wesley Strader -- 9, 32--06 -- 2, 6--03 -- 11, 38--09

7. James Watson -- 6, 21--12 -- 3, 9--13 -- 9, 31--09

8. David Dudley -- 6, 22--15 -- 3, 8--09 -- 9, 31--08

9. Michael Neal -- 5, 18--00 -- 4, 13--07 -- 9, 31--07

10. Adrian Avena -- 3, 13--08 -- 5, 16--10 -- 8, 30--02

11. Dustin Connell -- 6, 19--03 -- 3, 9--09 -- 9, 28--12

12. Fletcher Shryock -- 7, 21--04 -- 2, 7--00 -- 9, 28--04

13. Luke Clausen -- 5, 17--01 -- 3, 10--07 -- 8, 27--08

14. Kevin VanDam -- 4, 13--11 -- 4, 11--12 -- 8, 25--07

15. Justin Atkins -- 3, 13--04 -- 2, 10--07 -- 5, 23--11

16. Takahiro Omori -- 2, 7--02 -- 5, 16--06 -- 7, 23--08

17. Brett Hite -- 3, 7--02 -- 5, 16--01 -- 8, 23--03

18. Mike Iaconelli -- 0, 0--00 -- 5, 23--03 -- 5, 23--03

19. Edwin Evers -- 1, 2--06 -- 5, 20--06 -- 6, 22--12

20. Jesse Wiggins -- 4, 12--07 -- 3, 8--14 -- 7, 21--05

The following anglers did not advance to the Knockout Round.

21. Zack Birge -- 3, 8--08 -- 4, 12--01 -- 7, 20--09

22. Mark Davis -- 5, 16--00 -- 1, 4--05 -- 6, 20--05

23. Justin Lucas -- 1, 2--11 -- 4, 17--08 -- 5, 20--03

24. David Walker -- 1, 3--06 -- 6, 16--12 -- 7, 20--02

25. Dave Lefebre -- 4, 13--11 -- 1, 4--03 -- 5, 17--14

26. Casey Ashley -- 2, 6--08 -- 3, 9--05 -- 5, 15--13

27. Jason Lambert -- 1, 2--07 -- 4, 13--03 -- 5, 15--10

28. Fred Roumbanis -- 2, 6--03 -- 2, 8--15 -- 4, 15--02

29. Cody Meyer -- 4, 12--06 -- 1, 2--09 -- 5, 14--15

30. Kelly Jordon -- 1, 3--03 -- 4, 11--05 -- 5, 14--08

31. Skeet Reese -- 1, 2--01 -- 5, 12--06 -- 6, 14--07

32. Bradley Roy -- 3, 9--11 -- 2, 4--10 -- 5, 14--05

33. Cliff Crochet -- 1, 3--14 -- 3, 9--11 -- 4, 13--09

34. Ish Monroe -- 1, 2--14 -- 2, 10--08 -- 3, 13--06

35. Jonathon VanDam -- 4, 11--05 -- 0, 0--00 -- 4, 11--05

36. Russ Lane -- 1, 2--02 -- 3, 9--03 -- 4, 11--05

37. Gerald Spohrer -- 1, 2--14 -- 2, 7--11 -- 3, 10--09

38. Shaw Grigsby -- 1, 2--08 -- 1, 3--02 -- 2, 5--10

39. Keith Poche -- 1, 2--06 -- 0, 0--00 -- 1, 2--06

40. Jason Christie -- 0, 0--00 -- 0, 0--00 -- 0, 0--00