LEESBURG, Fla. (Feb. 14, 2025) – When Jacob Wheeler took the water for the second day of the Major League Fishing (MLF) Bass Pro Tour on the Harris Chain of Lakes, his goal wasn’t necessarily to finish atop SCORETRACKER®.
Sure, the winner of the two-day Qualifying Round would earn a direct berth to Sunday’s Championship Round, and Wheeler started the day with a lead of nearly 11 pounds over his nearest pursuer. But he was more concerned with positioning himself to earn his ninth Bass Pro Tour victory than notching his 34th Top 10 (both far and away the highest marks among BPT anglers), and he didn’t want to handicap his chances by catching too many of the fish he’d found during practice.
Turns out, Wheeler achieved both objectives. He added 21 pounds, 6 ounces on six scorable bass, bringing his two-day total to 101-9. That was easily enough to retain his spot atop the leaderboard, 13-14 ahead of Takahiro Omori. As a result, he’ll take Saturday off, while finishers 2 through 20 contest the Knockout Round, then join the top nine from there in the winner-take-all Championship Round.
One of the leaders when it comes to tournament strategy, Wheeler didn’t decide to fish for the Qualifying Round win (rather than using all of Day 2 to scout new water) until he’d made the long run to Lake Apopka Friday morning.
Wheeler, who spent both days of practice as well as Day 1 in the southernmost lake on the Harris Chain, suddenly found himself with more company. As a result, he decided to return to the areas where he’d done most of his damage on Thursday. He figured they’d get fished hard by someone, so it might as well be him.
“Today, there was probably 30-plus local anglers and probably 25 or 30 of our guys that decided to move down (to Apopka), so it fished really small, and things got pressured a ton,” Wheeler explained. “And so, in that instance, you’ve got to start thinking through things and saying, alright, it’s not going to be as easy now as it would have been, because things are getting more pressure than I anticipated. Once I saw the pressure, I’m like, it’s not a guarantee I make the Top 10 (during the Knockout Round).”
Wheeler, who has amassed all his weight flipping a Rapala CrushCity Bronco Bug around reed clumps, also chose to ply a stretch that he figures will be unfishable during the Championship Round due to the strong southwest wind forecast for Sunday. The area yielded his biggest bass of the day, a 6-9. Through two days, he’s now boated seven bass of 5 pounds or bigger.
“I knew even if I fished the Championship Round, I would never be able to fish the fish that I caught midway through the second period, so I just caught them,” Wheeler said.
After pushing his lead back above 20 pounds, Wheeler used just about all of Period 3 to check out new water – “eliminating places” for the Championship Round, he said. The benefit of having spent his entire practice in Apopka – which much of the field initially avoided due to reports of a recent fish kill – is that he still has a few areas in his back pocket that he’s yet to visit during competition.
“There’s still areas that I have not visited that I will fish in the Championship Round,” Wheeler said. “There’s probably three different zones that I have not made a cast on.”
In some ways, Wheeler said, sitting out the Knockout Round could be a disadvantage. Those anglers who take the water will have a better idea which zones are getting pressured the hardest and have a better chance of finding fresh groups of spawners that might be more willing to bite. That said, he’s excited about the opportunity to spend a day with his six-year-old daughter, Olivia, and three-year-old son, Hudson, who made the trip to Florida to cheer him on.
Wheeler is confident he can put himself around the winning fish. The key to cementing victory No. 9 will be making the right adjustments to counter the changing weather and mounting fishing pressure – something he’s historically done better than any of his peers.
“I feel like the tournament will be won in Apopka,” Wheeler said. “Now, do I feel like there’s an outside chance that I turn on (forward-facing sonar) in the last period or something like that? There is. I’ll make a decision based on the conditions, and I’ll fish the conditions exclusively. The guy who makes the right decisions and makes adjustments will win this tournament on that final day. It’ll all come down to the adjustments made on that day, and that’s what is going to be fun about it.”
While Wheeler held the top spot on SCORETRACKER® all day, Friday brought plenty of movement around the Elimination Line. Seven anglers who started the day outside the Top 20 moved across the cut and qualified for the Knockout Round: Jacob Wall, Terry Scroggins, Zack Birge, Matt Becker, John Hunter, Edwin Evers and Justin Cooper.
Evers and Hunter made the most dramatic rallies. Both anglers found themselves on the wrong side of the Elimination Line with 30 minutes left in Period 3 but manufactured clutch flurries to make the cut. Hunter boated three scorable bass totaling 6-9 in the final 15 minutes, while Evers caught three for 6-1 in the last 22 minutes.
The top 20 pros that now advance in competition on the Harris Chain of Lakes are:
1st: Jacob Wheeler, Harrison, Tenn., 32 bass, 101-9
2nd: Takahiro Omori, Tokyo, Japan, 32 bass, 87-11
3rd: Mark Davis, Mount Ida, Ark., 27 bass, 84-14
4th: Andy Morgan, Dayton, Tenn., 35 bass, 80-12
5th: Keith Poche, Pike Road, Ala., 34 bass, 80-9
6th: Michael Neal, Dayton, Tenn., 34 bass, 80-6
7th: Adrian Avena, Vineland, N.J., 29 bass, 68-9
8th: Jacob Wall, New Hope, Ala., 34 bass, 68-3
9th: Bobby Lane, Lakeland, Fla., 27 bass, 68-2
10th: Todd Faircloth, Jasper, Texas, 26 bass, 67-14
11th: Drew Gill, Mount Carmel, Ill., 23 bass, 66-0
12th: Fletcher Shryock, Guntersville, Ala., 24 bass, 64-8
13th: James Elam, Tulsa, Okla., 29 bass, 63-0
14th: Terry Scroggins, San Mateo, Fla., 22 bass, 62-8
15th: Zack Birge, Blanchard, Okla., 29 bass, 61-15
16th: Nick Hatfield, Greeneville, Tenn., 28 bass, 61-12
17th: Matt Becker, Ten Mile, Tenn., 23 bass, 57-13
18th: John Hunter, Shelbyville, Ky., 25 bass, 57-9
19th: Edwin Evers, Talala, Okla., 20 bass, 56-13
20th: Justin Cooper, Zwolle, La., 24 bass, 55-0
Wheeler earned the Day 2 Big Bass Award Friday with a 6-pound, 9-ounce largemouth that he caught in Period 2. Berkley awards $1,000 to the angler who weighs the heaviest bass each day.
The full field of anglers competed in the two-day Qualifying Round on Thursday and Friday. With the two-day Qualifying Round now complete, Wheeler advances directly to Sunday’s Championship Round. The anglers that finished 2nd through 20th advance to Saturday’s Knockout Round. In the Knockout Round, weights are zeroed, and the top nine anglers will join Wheeler in Sunday’s Championship Round. In the Championship Round, weights are zeroed, and the highest one-day total wins the top prize of $150,000.
https://www.bassresource.com/bass_fishing_123/mlf-harris-21425.html
MLF Pro Circuit