Daily Limit: Wheeler dealer

Jacob Wheeler reacts to learning he's won his second Elite in the first event of the season.

Jacob Wheeler is two for two in the Elites, still batting .1000, but don’t think he believes bass fishing’s top circuit is easy.

“No, I know better than that,” Wheeler said a day after winning his first event as a full-time Elite.

Talent along with hard work led him to victory on Cherokee Lake. He might have pre-practiced there for two weeks because he wanted a big statement in his first at-bat, go Nuke Laloosh and “announce his presence with authority.”

“I don’t know about that,” Wheeler said laughing. “I definitely want a career in fishing and fortunately everything worked out. I work hard. I’m not going to lie. I spend a lot of time at it. I really, really do. I eat and sleep bass fishing. I love it.”

It shows. Wheeler won his only other Elite, the 2014 Bassmaster BASSfest at Chickamauga Lake, after qualifying from his standing in the Bass Pro Shops Opens. That event was a little different in that both Elites and Opens guys fished in it. He’d already made a name for himself as the youngest winner of a BLF All-American (2011) and FLW Cup (2012.)

When he weighed the biggest bag on Sunday (18-3) and overtook rookies Jamie Hartman and Jesse Wiggins, Wheeler proved the old adage that practice makes perfect.

Driving home from Knoxville to Indianapolis, where he would swap out smallmouth tackle for largemouth then turn around for his third Elite in Florida, he repeated what he thought has given him the top winning percentage in the Elites.

“I worked my butt off at Cherokee,” he said. “One of the best places I found was on Jan. 4. The only other guy I saw was Mark Daniels Jr. It was windy, snowing sideways. It was so cold you didn’t even want to fish. I found two of the places right then I ended up catching them on. I idled for 50 hours.”

The first stint of practice for Wheeler was from Dec. 12-20, then he returned in January for another week before the off-limits period began. It’s not something he always does because of the changing nature of most fisheries.

“Normally, you put in that much time and effort into an event, it doesn’t benefit you because things change,” he said. “But in wintertime, those fish are more than likely not going to move. They’re set in their ways, they’re going to stay in the main places. When that’s happening, that’s the time to spend pre-practicing.”

Wheeler shows off one of his fish on Day 4.

On Bassmaster LIVE, he mentioned having “sneak holes.” There are only several events this year where lengthy searches could pay off and find such places, on a fishery like Kentucky Lake or an offshore event if you know what to look for, he said. Lake Champlain might be one on this year’s Elite schedule, and he’ll pre-practice there and several other places.

“I’m going to St. Lawrence, because I haven’t been there. I’ll probably go to Champlain. I’ll slide over there for a little bit and definitely Erie and St. Clair,” he said.

Wheeler already has revisited Okeechobee for the A.R.E. Truck Caps Bassmaster Elite on Feb. 23-26, but he’s competed on the big south Florida lake for several years running. He said he spent about 10 days there because it was warm and he couldn’t fish up north.

So, whose mind would he blow more if he goes three for three, the other Elites or his own?

“Mine,” he said, sounding like it’s the first time he thought of that possibility. “I mean, I definitely like that lake. I’ve always had good finishes there, but it’s so inconsistent. Being a local on that lake, it’s not as beneficial as I would say on Cherokee, because things change so much. It changes day to day.”

There were changes at Cherokee, from a snow flurry and freezing temps to mild afternoons, but Wheeler was up to the challenge, even though he never thought just a couple years ago he would ever win a smallmouth event.

He hosted a Facebook Live event Monday night before meeting friends at the Indiana Pacers game, showing viewers what baits he used while informing them they should “practice what you don’t do so well to develop as an angler.”

Wheeler also would make some points with B.A.S.S. co-owner Jerry McKinnis as he invoked a mantra from McKinnis’ close friend, Bobby Knight: “The will to prepare to win is infinitely more important than the will to win,” he said.

Wheeler has practiced that preaching. He was heard a while back on Ike Live saying that every preparation possible is so very important in any attempt to win.

“I said I never want to be outworked. I might not have the knowledge that Ike has, or VanDam, or the Evers, the Hackneys,” Wheeler said. “If I can work 10 percent harder or be on the water an hour longer, I might be able to make up for some of that. And that is what it comes down to.”

Dustin Connell and Jacob Wheeler fish fro Connell’s boat on Day 3.

WHEELER KNEW RULE TO EXPLOIT

Wheeler won despite issues that might have put other anglers in a spin.

“I don’t really get that flustered,” he said. “I grew up in a God-fearing family. I can fail … and at the end of the day I know where my blessings come from.”

On Day 2, Wheeler lost half his waypoints, but stayed in the hunt with 16-15. He had a more serious problem on Day 3 with battery issues that delayed his start then left him dead in the water at 12:30 p.m. He needed to find a way to fish the rest of the day. He knew what to do because he remembered this rule:

“In breakdown situations and with the Marshal’s permission, anglers may transfer their fish to another competitor’s boat, or a tournament official designated rescue boat, and ride to check in, and they may leave their Marshals with the disabled boat. In such cases, anglers must stay with their catches at all times. If time allows, two Elite anglers riding together may fish until check in.”

Enter Dustin Connell.

“I’m calling up guys to see if I can go with them,” Wheeler said. “Get to Dustin, ‘Well, bring it on, boy.’ He allowed me and we ran into those fish and caught fish. Big, big thanks to him.”

Wheeler, who manned Connell’s trolling motor at times, caught two of his larger fish and salvaged a bad situation.

“The rule says if you’re broke down, you can ask another competitor to fish out the rest of your day, fish out of the same boat,” Wheeler said.

“Jacob is a good buddy of mine,” said Connell, who landed one fish with him on board and finished 37th.

It was odd to see two anglers shoulder to shoulder on the bow, but it’s in the rules, even though some viewers chimed in saying it seemed like an unfair advantage as two anglers dropping could keep a school of fish fired up.

ONE GOOD TURN DESERVES ANOTHER

Rookie Jesse Wiggins showed his mettle and made a ton of fans, not only with his third-place finish but also a kind gesture toward Matt Lee on Day 2. Wiggins was the unofficial leader on BASSTrakk when Lee came near the spot he was protecting.

Played out on Bassmaster Live, Lee wasn’t even on camera when Wiggins greeted him with a joking, “Get off my hole, bro! Get off my hole.”

Wiggins, who went on to lead after Days 2 and 3, then realized his Alabama brethren was stuck on zero and could use a couple fish to make a check.

“What you need, a couple 2-pounders?” Wiggins asked. “Come up here and catch you a couple … Don’t get too greedy and catch a 6 or something. I’ll have to cry if you do.”

Wiggins had been quickly catching his limit each morning then backing off his small but loaded spot. He did hang around the area to protect it, hoping it would hold out all four days. He wasn’t even sure fish would bite later in the day because he hadn’t had to fish it.

Lee did not catch one and missed the cut, but appreciated the good turn. During Wiggins’ win the Bass Pro Shops Southern Open on the Harris Chain two weeks ago, Lee loaned Wiggins his Carhartt-wrapped Legend because he needed the Power-Poles, which he used to victory.

“He let me borrow his boat at the Harris Chain,” Wiggins said. “This is me paying him back.”

Jamie Hartman finished a close second in his first Elite event.

GOOD START TO GONE FISHING

Second-place finisher Jamie Hartman came oh-so-close in his first Elite event, impressing the likes of Mark Zona and Tommy Sanders with his back story. Before embarking on the long, strange trip that an Elite season can be, the 44-year-old broke up with his girlfriend and put all his possessions in storage.

He went all in. Gone fishing. That’s his reality.

And credit him for almost striking it big, coming just 11 ounces shy of a victory in his first Elite event. He did bank $25,000, which should buy him some more time on the storage facility, but he still lamented the close miss.

“I thought I had more than that,” he said after weighing 17-3 on Day 4. “I didn’t get the big bite today. I had all solid fish. I’m shocked.”

FOLLICLE FASCINATION WITH FEIDER FALLS

The “flow” of Seth Feider’s hair has been a thing for Bassmaster TV hosts Mark Zona and Dave Mercer (It’s easy to see why with Mercer). The follicle fascination went south a tad to Feider’s mustache at Cherokee when he appeared on Bassmaster LIVE the final two days of his fourth-place finish.

Feider shaved the scruff off his chin for Championship Sunday, but left his upper lip unscathed in hope of growing a cookie duster as impressive as Shaw Grigsby’s, which he said was the best on tour.

“A good mustache comes with age,” Feider said. “It’s a commitment thing. Maybe in 10 years I’ll have a good one.”

HOWELL SEES WHAT HE DID WRONG

Randy Howell missed the cut, catching only 20 pounds in finishing 73rd. The 2014 Classic champ then felt compelled to text Zona and tell him how he was amazed so many seasoned pros and smallmouth experts were in the same boat as him. He also saw why.  

“So many good vertical anglers did not make the cut. Howell said he truly believes he and other guys were not as patient, now that he’s watching this, with their graphs,” Zona said. “He felt a lot of guys would mark ‘em, then bale, just not stay on them long enough.”

CULLING

  • That was some face painter at Saturday’s expo in the Knoxville Convention Center, and it was a good day for the Lowens. Bill finished 28th and Jennifer posted this cute shot of Nevaeh and Fischer (above).
  • Paul Mueller, who finished fifth but had the best total over the final two days with 17-15 and 18-0, lamented his 12-5 on Day 1. “I think that first day’s going to haunt me,” Mueller said as he sat on stage.
  • Zona is not one to be eating honeybuns, but a restaurant in Paris, Tenn., prepared it well enough for him to get the simple recipe. “They have a world renowned fried honeybun – not deep fried,” he said. “Take a piece of butter, brown the honey bun. Put a scoop of vanilla ice cream on it. It is the most incredible desert I’ve ever had in my life.”
  • Photo of the Week (below) goes to this calm-before-the-storm shot by none other than James Overstreet. Seeing the entire morning launch in wide angler evokes a sense of being there.