By John Johnson
BassFan Senior Editor

The start of the final round at the Lake Chickamauga FLW Pro Circuit Super Tournament was delayed more than two hours by fog. That couldn't stop the sizzling-hot Jacob Wheeler from catching yet another 20-plus-pound stringer and winning the first-of-its-kind event by a double-digit margin.

Wheeler weighed a 21-06 bag that included an 8-pounder to finish with a four-day total of 93-12 on his adopted home lake. It was his third victory of 2020 on as many circuits – he'd prevailed at Lake Eufaula on the Bass Pro Tour in January and at Pickwick Lake on the FLW Series last month.

It's the sixth tour-level win of his career and second at Chickamauga. He won the 2014 BASSFest derby there while still a resident of Indiana (he relocated to east Tennessee three years ago).

"It was fun; I enjoyed it quite a bit," he said. "There were multiple things that made it such a special victory. For one, I'd never won a regular-season event on the FLW Tour and I really wanted to do that. I was able to reconnect with all the people who watched me grow up from when I was 20 years old at the (BFL) All-American and I didn't even know how to talk.

"On top of that, it was at the lake that I transplanted to. I came down and put a lot of time and effort into fishing it and today I had my wife, my little one (daughter) and a lot of my friends there. The combination of it all made it really significant."

He finished 11-13 ahead of the runner-up, rookie Cole Floyd, who boxed 19-12 on day 4 for an 81-15 total. Day-2 leader Jason Reyes managed just 9-03 for the round and ended up 3rd with a 76-12 aggregate.

Cody Meyer was 4th with 72-13 (15-12 on day 4) and Alex Davis was 5th with 72-12 (18-01). The bottom half of the top 10 was made up of Miles Burghoff with 71-03 (15-13), John Cox with 70-01 (15-00), Joshua Weaver with 65-10 (12-08), David Williams with 65-00 (13-01) and Alton Jones with 61-04 (9-06).

Wheeler spent most of the tournament bouncing between offshore locales that are less well-known that some of the lake's renowned "community holes." He said he was nervous for much of the day, but that was alleviated when he caught an 8-pounder toward the end.

Deep-diving crankbaits produced about half of his weigh-in fish for the event, with the others coming on a hair jig, a worm and a Scrounger-type bait. Details of his winning pattern, as well as those of the other top finishers, will be published in the coming days.



FLW/Jody White
Photo: FLW/Jody White

Rookie Cole Floyd has bounced back hard from two triple-digit finishes to begin his pro career.

"Running in, I knew I had enough to win, but I checked (with other competitors at the dock) to make sure," he said. "At that point I kind of teared up a little because it meant a heck of a lot."

The event that started with 150 Pro Circuit regulars and 54 of his fellow BPT competitors featured a top prize of $125,000.

"The money's nice," he said, "but it's more about the win."

Floyd started his initial pro campaign with a pair of triple-digit finishes before notching a 23rd at Lake Martin. His 2nd-place showing moved him up to 47th in the Angler of the Year race and into contention to make the TITLE Championship with two regular-season events remaining (the top 40 will qualify).

"I can't complain at all; this one really couldn't have gone any better for me," he said. "After the long break we had, coming back and making a top 10 is pretty nice."

He had only about 10 pounds in his livewell when the final afternoon rolled around before moving to a place where he'd gotten some bites in practice but hadn't fished during the tournament.

"That ended up being a good decision because I caught almost 20 pounds in 45 minutes," he said.

Reyes hustled home to Texas right after the final weigh-in to attend his daughter's high school graduation on Saturday. His finish equaled his second-best in 14 seasons at FLW's top level – he was 2nd at Beaver Lake in 2017.

"To win it would've been nice, but I would've needed another mega-bag (like the 27-04 he caught on day 2)," he said. "I'd pounded those little stretches I had for three days and I caught two real quick when I got there today, but that kind of died.

"In the end, it was a good week. This helps me get back in the points race (he's up to 43rd) and that's important."

Meyer spent 10 years fishing the FLW Tour before transferring to the BPT in 2019 and treated the event as a homecoming of sorts.

"I'm really excited to have the opportunity to fish these (it was the first of three Super Tournaments) and overall the event went great," he said. "I basically just fished community holes all week and I never had a secret spot. I caught fish everywhere I went and just squeaked it out."

Davis' only gripes were two big bites that he didn't capitalize on – one that broke him off on day 3 and another that missed his bait right at the boat in the final round.

"This is my favorite lake in the whole country because you have a chance to catch a giant every time you go," he said. "You've always got the potential to catch a 10-pounder."

Notable

> Day 4 stats – 10 anglers, 10 limits.

Day 4 (Final) Standings

1. Jacob Wheeler -- Harrison, Tn -- 24-9 (5) -- 22-1 (5) -- 25-12 (5) -- 21-6 (5) -- 93-12 (20) -- $125,000

2. Cole Floyd -- Leesburg, Oh -- 17-12 (5) -- 26-2 (5) -- 18-5 (5) -- 19-12 (5) -- 81-15 (20) -- $35,500

3. Jason Reyes -- Huffman, Tx -- 22-10 (5) -- 27-4 (5) -- 17-11 (5) -- 9-3 (5) -- 76-12 (20) -- $30,000

4. Cody Meyer -- Auburn, Ca -- 16-14 (5) -- 21-4 (5) -- 18-15 (5) -- 15-12 (5) -- 72-13 (20) -- $25,000

5. Alex Davis -- Albertville, Al -- 14-4 (5) -- 20-13 (5) -- 19-10 (5) -- 18-1 (5) -- 72-12 (20) -- $22,000

6. Miles Burghoff -- Soddy-Daisy, Tn -- 18-4 (5) -- 17-0 (5) -- 20-2 (5) -- 15-13 (5) -- 71-3 (20) -- $21,000

7. John Cox -- Debary, Fl -- 23-6 (5) -- 18-6 (5) -- 13-5 (5) -- 15-0 (5) -- 70-1 (20) -- $19,000

8. Joshua Weaver -- Macon, Ga -- 19-14 (5) -- 15-2 (5) -- 18-2 (5) -- 12-8 (5) -- 65-10 (20) -- $18,000

9. David Williams -- Maiden, NC -- 16-8 (5) -- 18-8 (5) -- 16-15 (5) -- 13-1 (5) -- 65-0 (20) -- $17,000

10. Alton Jones -- Lorena, Tx -- 14-6 (5) -- 18-6 (5) -- 19-2 (5) -- 9-6 (5) -- 61-4 (20) -- $16,200