By MLF Communications Staff

After breaking nearly every major weight record on the Bass Pro Tour this week, Jacob Wheeler added another accolade to his resume Wednesday. Wheeler caught 35 scorable bass weighing 129 pounds even in the Championship Round to earn his fourth career BPT victory – the most all-time – and the top prize of $100,000 in the event at the St. Lawrence River in Massena, N.Y.

Among the Bass Pro Tour records that Wheeler for the week were the single-day heaviest weight (the 165-01 that he weighed on day 1) heaviest two-day Qualifying rRound weight (222-01) and the most weight ever posted in a Championship Round. With his latest victory, the 30-year-old pro, the No. 1 angler in the BassFan World Rankings, pushed his career earnings to more than $2.6 million.

“I was fortunate to have a solid practice for this event. I didn’t know what I could catch and I didn’t know what it would take to win because it was so crazy out here on the St. Lawrence River,” who also won the event at Lake Travis in Texas earlier this year. “To officially be the champion ... I don’t think I’ve ever won on smallmouth on a natural river system, so this feels unbelievable.”

While the final tally on ScoreTracker made it look as though it was an easy win for Wheeler, the Tennessee pro found himself in 7th place after a slow start in Period 1 with only five smallmouth for 21-08. As he prepared to start his afternoon, Wheeler made the decision to run to an area he found while practicing during his final Qualifying Round day.

Thanks to a more than 30-pound cushion in that round, Wheeler was able to scout new areas and find fish for the Championship Round. They were also fish that he knew he could count on because of the area they were inhabiting.

“I was looking for fish in the places that had the most wind because I knew that those areas wouldn’t be fished as much,” Wheeler explained. “I knew that if I was going to have two days off the water that I was going to need to find fish that would be there when I got back in the Championship Round, so I found a spot that was getting beat on by the wind out of the southwest a ton. I knew other guys wouldn’t want to mess with that area because if it was windy like it was, the waves wouldn’t be fun to deal with for flogging and sight-fishing.

“I’ve been in a handful of situations like this one right here, and there is nothing like a plan coming together perfectly. I cherish every single win, every single top-10. It’s something that you’re never guaranteed so you have to make sure to take a step back and appreciate these moments. This one right here was special. I cannot wait to celebrate with my wife and my little one.”

Jeff Sprague matched his career-best finish on the BPT with his 2nd-place showing.

“Finished in 2nd, so close once again,” Sprague said in his post-game interview. “One of these days we’re going to figure out how to win one of these events. But I’m still super-excited about my finish this week. We fished extremely hard today, I even ran around this morning and fished new water and tried to make something happen. It was a crazy, amazing week here in New York and I’m thrilled to bank another Top-10 finish.”

Wheeler also won Wednesday’s $1,000 Berkley Big Bass Award, weighing a 6-06 smallmouth on a dropshot rig in Period 1 to earn the prize. Lucas earned the $3,000 Berkley Big Bass award for the largest bass of the event with his 6-13 smallmouth that he weighed on Day 1 of competition.

Ott DeFoe, like Wheeler a two-time winner this season, finished the event in 12th place and did not qualify for Wednesday’s Championship Round, but his finish was strong enough to maintain his lead in the Angler of the Year standings. With two events remaining in the season, DeFoe has 352 points and owns a 10-point lead over Brent Ehrler (342). Wheeler remains in third with 338, followed by Bobby Lane with 311 and Justin Lucas with 309.



Championship Round

(Figure at far right indicates weight of angler's heaviest fish for the round)

1. Jacob Wheeler -- 129-00 (35) -- 6-06

2. Jeff Sprague -- 100-06 (26) -- 5-03

3. Skeet Reese -- 91-01 (31) -- 4-10

4. Adrian Avena -- 86-15 (28) -- 5-12

5. Brent Ehrler -- 86-15 (27) -- 5-10

6. Justin Lucas -- 84-01 (25) -- 6-02

7. Alton Jones Jr. -- 83-02 (24) -- 5-00

8. Gerald Spohrer -- 73-14 (17) -- 5-06

9. Bradley Roy -- 46-02 (13) -- 5-06

10. John Cox -- 38-03 (12) -- 4-14