By MLF Communications Staff

Jacob Wheeler boated just four scorable bass weighing 16 pounds, 9 ounces Tuesday, but it was still enough to hold off a hard-charging Keith Poche and win the two-day Qualifying Group B round at the MLF Bass Pro Tour event on Lake of the Ozarks in Osage Beach, Missouri. After Wheeler started the day with a 16-05 lead, Poche, who started the day in 15th place, caught 14 bass weighing 40-15 to rally to within 7 1/4 ounds of Wheeler’s lead late in the third period, but alas Wheeler had already caught enough to earn the victory with a two-day total of 19 bass weighing 64-02.

Poche caught a two-day total of 19 bass weighing 57 pounds even to end the round in second place, while Stephen Browning finished the round in third place with a two-day total of 16 bass weighing 47-05. Zack Birge ended the round in fourth place with a two-day total of 17 bass for 45-12. Rounding out the Top 5 was local favorite Jeremy Lawyer, who caught 16 bass for 43-08.

The remaining 38 anglers – 19 from each group – now advance to Wednesday’s Knockout Round, where weights are zeroed and the anglers compete to finish in the Top 8 to advance to the Championship Round on Thursday. The Championship Round will feature Wheeler, Group A winner Jordan Lee and the top eight qualifiers from the Knockout Round competing in a final-day shootout for the top prize of $100,000.

“Man, that turned in to a little bit of a nail-biter towards the end, but we got it done,” Wheeler said in his postgame interview. “I was sitting on a decent bed fish and I really didn’t want to catch it if I didn’t have to. I was on it for kind of a safety thing – if Keith caught one near the end, I wanted to make sure that I had enough to still win and earn the auto-qualification into the Championship Round.”

Wheeler didn’t fish much Tuesday. He caught two good scorable bass off of the beds in Period 1, then spent most of the day looking for more bed fish and trying to find developing patterns for the Championship Round.

“I caught a lot of fish the last couple of days, but I shook some fish off a couple of different times as well,” Wheeler said. “I didn’t go to any of the 4-plus-pounders that I have marked on the bed. Ultimately, I feel like those fish are the ones that are going to help you win the Championship Round.”

Wheeler has sight-fished this week with a white craw-style bait and a bait that he said is more “translucent.”

“Some fish are a little bit goofier and you have to throw the more natural-type colors, and then some of the fish want more of a visual-type thing and I can get those fish to bite the straight white craw,” Wheeler said.

“They’re saying we’re going to have lots of rain, clouds and wind for our final day,” Wheeler went on to say. “The fish I shook off today gave me an idea of some different baits that I think I can use to trigger the fish into biting. It’s my third Championship Round auto-qualification this season, so maybe the third time is the charm and we can close this thing out and get the win.”

Poche had the best day on the water among the 40 competitors, but was disappointed that he wasn’t able to catch Wheeler.

“Man, I was so close,” Poche said in his postgame interview. “I had a really good day and I fought hard; I almost got it done. I lost some key fish that would have really put me over the top. But that’s just the way it goes sometimes.

“I was catching them on a (Berkley) MaxScent General,” Poche continued. “It was a 5-inch, green-pumpkin, and I fished it on a shaky-head rig – nice and simple. But they were smoking it. I figured out some stuff and was looking for the right kind of banks – a little wind blowing on them really helped.

“We did all we could, and it was a lot of fun, but we came up a little bit short today,” Poche went on to say. “Hopefully we’ll catch them good in the Knockout Round tomorrow.”

Kelly Jordon earned Tuesday’s $1,000 Berkley Big Bass award, catching a 5-14 largemouth on a worm in Period 1. Berkley awards $1,000 to the angler who weighs the heaviest bass each day and a $3,000 bonus to the angler who weighs the heaviest bass of the tournament.

Anglers launch each day at 7:30 a.m. from the Grand Glaize Marina Recreation Area, located at 711 Public Beach Road in Osage Beach. Takeout are held at the Marina, beginning at 4 p.m. Fans are welcome to attend all launch and takeout events and also encouraged to follow the event online throughout the day on the MLF NOW! livestream and ScoreTracker coverage at MajorLeagueFishing.com.

The tournament features anglers competing with a 2-pound minimum weight requirement for a bass to be deemed scorable. Minimum weights are determined individually for each competition waters that the Bass Pro Tour visits, based on the productivity, bass population and anticipated average size of fish in each fishery.

The MLF NOW! broadcast team of Chad McKee, Marty Stone and J.T. Kenney break down the extended action each day from 7:45 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. CT. MLF NOW! is livestreamed on MajorLeagueFishing.com and the MyOutdoorTV (MOTV) app.



Group B Qualifying Round – Day 2

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

1. Jacob Wheeler -- 47-09 (15) -- 16-09 (4) -- 64-02 (19) -- 4-06

2. Keith Poche -- 16-01 (5) -- 40-15 (14) -- 57-00 (19) -- 5-06

3. Stephen Browning -- 25-06 (8) -- 21-15 (8) -- 47-05 (16) -- 4-08

4. Zack Birge -- 22-00 (9) -- 23-12 (8) -- 45-12 (17) -- 4-05

5. Jeremy Lawyer -- 27-14 (10) -- 15-10 (6) -- 43-08 (16) -- 3-11

6. Adrian Avena -- 24-06 (8) -- 17-11 (5) -- 42-01 (13) -- 5-03

7. Dean Rojas -- 24-01 (7) -- 17-12 (5) -- 41-13 (12) -- 5-06

8. Randall Tharp -- 13-06 (5) -- 28-05 (7) -- 41-11 (12) -- 5-09

9. Jared Lintner -- 19-09 (5) -- 20-02 (8) -- 39-11 (13) -- 3-04

10. Cody Meyer -- 9-12 (3) -- 29-06 (10) -- 39-02 (13) -- 4-09

11. Andy Morgan -- 13-01 (5) -- 25-08 (9) -- 38-09 (14) -- 4-12

12. James Watson -- 31-04 (10) -- 7-02 (2) -- 38-06 (12) -- 4-12

13. Mark Daniels Jr. -- 24-07 (8) -- 13-02 (5) -- 37-09 (13) -- 3-00

14. Dave Lefebre -- 9-08 (3) -- 28-01 (9) -- 37-09 (12) -- 5-04

15. Brandon Coulter -- 30-11 (9) -- 6-09 (2) -- 37-04 (11) -- 3-13

16. David Dudley -- 19-05 (7) -- 17-04 (7) -- 36-09 (14) -- 3-07

17. Mark Rose -- 21-06 (7) -- 13-13 (5) -- 35-03 (12) -- 3-02

18. Kelly Jordon -- 14-08 (5) -- 19-15 (6) -- 34-07 (11) -- 5-14

19. Wesley Strader -- 18-06 (7) -- 15-13 (5) -- 34-03 (12) -- 5-05

20. Justin Lucas -- 14-13 (4) -- 19-03 (6) -- 34-00 (10) -- 4-11

The following anglers did not make the cut and will not advance to the Knockout Round

21. John Murray -- 11-02 (4) -- 14-09 (4) -- 25-11 (8) -- 5-10

22. Jeff Sprague -- 9-09 (3) -- 15-08 (6) -- 25-01 (9) -- 3-09

23. Brett Hite -- 12-15 (6) -- 11-07 (4) -- 24-06 (10) -- 3-03

24. Edwin Evers -- 10-04 (3) -- 13-10 (5) -- 23-14 (8) -- 3-15

25. Luke Clausen -- 16-15 (5) -- 6-14 (3) -- 23-13 (8) -- 2-12

26. Kevin VanDam -- 11-04 (5) -- 11-11 (5) -- 22-15 (10) -- 3-03

27. Bradley Roy -- 10-01 (4) -- 12-11 (4) -- 22-12 (8) -- 4-03

28. Cliff Crochet -- 15-10 (6) -- 6-12 (3) -- 22-06 (9) -- 2-05

29. Mike McClelland -- 4-06 (2) -- 16-08 (5) -- 20-14 (7) -- 4-04

30. Andy Montgomery -- 5-09 (2) -- 14-09 (6) -- 20-02 (8) -- 3-02

31. Randy Howell -- 15-02 (4) -- 4-13 (2) -- 19-15 (6) -- 2-13

32. Josh Bertrand -- 12-04 (3) -- 7-01 (2) -- 19-05 (5) -- 4-01

33. Ish Monroe -- 9-01 (3) -- 9-15 (3) -- 19-00 (6) -- 4-08

34. Casey Ashley -- 7-10 (3) -- 10-11 (4) -- 18-05 (7) -- 3-06

35. Scott Suggs -- 8-01 (3) -- 9-15 (3) -- 18-00 (6) -- 5-05

36. Gary Klein -- 2-01 (1) -- 13-10 (5) -- 15-11 (6) -- 4-11

37. Brent Chapman -- 8-05 (3) -- 7-00 (3) -- 15-05 (6) -- 2-09

38. Jason Lambert -- 5-03 (2) -- 9-04 (3) -- 14-07 (5) -- 4-00

39. Paul Elias -- 2-04 (1) -- 5-15 (2) -- 8-03 (3) -- 3-02

40. Russ Lane -- 4-05 (2) -- 0-00 (0) -- 4-05 (2) -- 0-00