I had one good day at Wheeler Lake, and a day that I had to scramble.
I was looking forward to the Nitro Bassmaster Elite Qualifier on Wheeler Lake because I have always connected well with the fishery. In fact, I’ve had several top 10 finishes on Wheeler in my career, and I thought I would pull that off again when I went to fish the event.
It looked like I had a shot at it after Day 1 too.
I was in 11th place after the Day 1 weigh-in with 16 pounds, but on Day 2 everything changed. I couldn’t find the better fish I was catching to cull with, and I caught 9-4 and fell to 40th place, cashing the last check.
It wasn’t the goal to start the week — I was hoping to hit two Top 10s to end the schedule and give myself a shot in the EQ points now. So now I go to Lake Okeechobee and hope to find something to bring a win and a Bassmaster Classic berth home with me.
I caught my fish on Wheeler by blending a shallow pattern with a deep pattern. The shallow pattern was taking out my trusty Lew’s Flippin’ Stick and a 3/8-ounce Strike King Hack Attack Fluorocarbon Flippin’ Jig and a Rage Craw as a trailer in black and blue. I flipped shallow targets with that, and then I would turn to a Strike King Series 5 crankbait to catch a couple of good ones to cull with, out deep.
It all worked really well on Day 1, but on Day 2, I couldn’t get any of the offshore fish, so I adjusted the timing and went to my shallow fish. I was able to get my limit, and while I kept trying to get my deeper fish going again, it didn’t happen.
I was able to cover my expenses for the week with that last paycheck, but it was frustrating to get close to that goal I had set and fall short after being so close on Day 1. I really fished flawlessly and would have loved to make it carry over into Day 2 and hopefully Day 3.
So, I look forward to Lake Okeechobee and trying to put it together there to finish out the year.
I sold my 2025 Skeeter FXR21 after Wheeler Lake, so I am having to fish out of the boat I keep at home to fish during thethe offseason. It’s a 2000 ZX202 with a 225 Yamaha HPDI. I worked with HITEC Marine in Gilbertsville, Ky., to get updated for the event. I installed a Power-Pole Move and Charge and some updated Lowrance HDS Pro 12s and added my Precision Power Lithium batteries. I installed a 12-inch T-H Marine Atlas Jackplate, and we even updated wiring and breakers for the event.
It’s going to be kind of nostalgic to fish out of an older era boat, but it’s ready to go. I’m looking forward to getting down to Okeechobee and getting on the water. It’s going to be a fun event.
