By MLF Communications Staff

MANY, La. –Jacob Wheeler weighed in 28 scorable bass totaling 91 pounds even to jump to the early lead for Group A after Day 1 of the MLF Bass Pro Tour season opener at Toledo Bend Reservoir. Spencer Shuffield ended the day just 2-15 behind Wheeler with 29 scorable bass totaling 88-1 and Drew Gill Illinois began his rookie season with a bang, weighing 26 fish totaling 81-13 to round out the Top 3.

The 40 anglers in Group A will now have an off day from competition Wednesday, while the 40 anglers competing in Group B will conduct their first day of competition. Group A will resume action on Thursday.

It’s no secret that the past three years on the Bpt have been defined by Wheeler’s dominance. During that span, the Tennessee pro has racked up 20 Championship Round appearances (in 27 total events) and four wins. He took home the Angler of the Year title in 2021 and 2022 before finishing second to Matt Becker last season.

Wheeler wasted no time on Day 1 showing that his game remains as sharp as ever, boating a Toledo Bend giant less than 10 minutes into the first period. By the time Wheeler trailered his boat, other anglers had already peppered him with questions about the 8-pounder, asking whether he’d marked the fish during practice and run to his starting spot to find it. He insisted the giant caught him by surprise.

“I just happened to pull into a little area that I caught some fish (during practice), and my first bite just happened to be an 8-pounder,” Wheeler said. “And if that’s any telltale sign for how the year is going to go, I’m all about 8-pounders.”

While the long-term implications remain to be seen, his early success proved indicative of the pattern Wheeler ran throughout the day. He didn’t divulge many details but did say that once he found a spot with the right ingredients, he generally caught fish quickly and in bunches.

“It’s definitely a pattern where if I see what I’m looking for, it’s pretty quick to generate a bite,” he explained. “I’m hoping to have enough of that stuff because that’s really what it comes down to.”

With an advantage of more than 55 pounds over 11th place, Wheeler plans to use most of Day 2 for Group A exploring new water in hopes of finding more productive areas. That could prove key, as conditions are changing rapidly on Toledo Bend.

The region was hit hard by storms prior to practice, and swaths of muddy water are moving through the reservoir as a result. Wheeler said the lake fished differently than even a day or two ago — which might explain why the Day-1 weights were a bit top-heavy, with 19 of the 40 anglers falling short of 20 pounds. With more dirty water expected to reach the main lake and temperatures likely to warm in the coming days, Wheeler said he doesn’t believe he’ll be able to ride the areas he fished Tuesday through Sunday’s Championship Round.

“A lot of water is going to continue to move down the system,” Wheeler predicted. “So I think that’s definitely going to continue to be the trend, water continuing to dirty up and things continuing to change. It’s pre-pawn, spring fishing. When you have that kind of rain, it’s definitely going to change some things, and every day is going to be different.”

While Wheeler held the top spot for most of the day, both Shuffield and Gill challenged his lead at times. Those three have separated themselves from the rest of the pack; they each cleared 80 pounds on the day while no one else reached 50.

Gill wasn’t the only newcomer to get off to a strong start. Rookie Martin Villa sits sixth with 40-7, while fellow rookie Justin Cooper — who lives in nearby Zwolle, La., and guides on Toledo Bend — finished ninth with 36-14.

Local favorite Cliff Crochet of Pierre Part, La. earned Tuesday’s $1,000 Berkley Big Bass Award after an 11-1 largemouth bit his crankbait in Period 1. Berkley awards $1,000 to the angler who weighs the heaviest bass each day and another $3,000 bonus to the angler who weighs the heaviest bass of the tournament.

After each two-day Qualifying Round is complete, the anglers who finish first through 10th from both groups advance to Saturday’s Knockout Round. In the Knockout Round, weights are zeroed, and the remaining 20 anglers compete to finish in the Top 10 to advance to Sunday’s Championship Round. In the Championship Round, weights are zeroed and the highest one-day total wins the top prize of $100,000.

Anglers launch at 7:30 a.m. CT each day from Cypress Bend Park, located at 3462 Cypress Bend Drive in Many. Each day’s takeout is held at the park 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 ScoreTracker leaderboard and event coverage at MajorLeagueFishing.com.

The MLFNOW! broadcast team of Chad McKee and J.T. Kenney will break down the extended action live on the final four days of competition from 7:45 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. CT. MLFNOW! is livestreamed on MajorLeagueFishing.com and the MyOutdoorTV (MOTV) app.

The tournament features anglers competing with a 2-pound minimum weight requirement for a bass to be deemed scorable. The MLF Fisheries Management Division determines minimum weights for each body of water that the Bass Pro Tour visits, based on the productivity, bass population and anticipated average size of fish in each fishery.



Group A – Qualifying Round Day 1

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

1. Jacob Wheeler -- 91-00 (28) -- 8-03

2. Spencer Shuffield -- 88-01 (29) -- 2-04

3. Drew Gill -- 81-14 (26) -- 5-11

4. James Elam -- 49-15 (17) -- 4-13

5. Wesley Strader -- 49-13 (19) -- 7-07

6. Martin Villa -- 40-07 (12) -- 4-04

7. Ott DeFoe -- 39-02 (15) -- 5-06

8. Bryan Thrift -- 39-01 (14) -- 4-06

9. Justin Cooper -- 36-14 (12) -- 4-01

10. Justin Lucas -- 36-05 (10) -- 4-04

11. Ryan Salzman -- 35-14 (11) -- 6-07

12. Edwin Evers -- 35-03 (11) -- 4-04

13. Nick LeBrun -- 32-00 (11) -- 7-12

14. John Hunter -- 30-00 (10) -- 4-13

15. Dean Rojas -- 29-15 (9) -- 4-02

16. Zack Birge -- 29-04 (9) -- 5-03

17. Casey Ashley -- 28-09 (11) -- 5-01

18. Keith Poche -- 28-00 (10) -- 5-11

19. Luke Clausen -- 24-05 (8) -- 4-10

20. Marshall Robinson -- 23-07 (10) -- 6-06

21. Cliff Crochet -- 22-02 (4) -- 3-14

22. Bradley Roy -- 19-06 (8) -- 11-01

23. Bobby Lane -- 15-07 (6) -- 2-15

24. Alton Jones -- 14-00 (4) -- 4-04

25. Jonathon VanDam -- 13-07 (5) -- 5-01

26. Mark Davis -- 13-05 (5) -- 3-15

27. David Dudley -- 12-15 (4) -- 3-02

28. Brent Ehrler -- 12-13 (4) -- 4-08

29. Keith Carson -- 11-11 (4) -- 5-08

30. Joshua Weaver -- 10-11 (4) -- 4-13

31. Fred Roumbanis -- 10-01 (2) -- 3-05

32. Kelly Jordon -- 9-11 (4) -- 8-00

33. Todd Faircloth -- 9-10 (4) -- 2-15

34. Fletcher Shryock -- 6-10 (3) -- 2-13

35. Gary Klein -- 6-09 (3) -- 2-05

36. Andy Montgomery -- 5-10 (2) -- 2-05

37. Scott Suggs -- 4-13 (2) -- 3-04

38. Jeremy Lawyer -- 4-10 (2) -- 2-10

39. Boyd Duckett -- 4-03 (2) -- 2-09

40. Stephen Browning -- 0-00 (0) -- 2-02