By MLF Communications Staff

After surviving a tough Qualifying Round on Lake D’Arbonne, the 38 Bass Pro Tour anglers who advanced to Wednesday’s Knockout Round on Caney Creek Reservoir were rewarded with an incredible day of fishing that included a new record for the all-time heaviest bass weighed in BPT competition.

When time expired at 5 p.m., Jacob Wheeler had tallied “one of the best fishing days of his entire life” – nine bass totaling 43 pounds, 7 ounces – to win the Knockout Round and advance to the final day of competition at the season opener in Monroe-West Monroe, Louisiana. Wheeler’s closest competitor was Jordan Lee, who boated six bass – including a pair of 8-pounders – for a total weight of 34-10.

MLF NOW! analyst Marty Stone often likes to say that the best anglers will catch fish and win, no matter the format. His point was well proven Wednesday as Wheeler’s best five-fish weight would have been 32-05 and Lee’s best five would have gone for 32 pounds even – magical days by any format.

Randy Howell won the day’s $1,000 Berkley Big Bass award after he caught the largest bass ever weighed in BPT competition – a 10-11 giant that bit his lipless crankbait 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.

The final 10 anglers are now set, and competition will resume Thursday morning with the Championship Round when weights are zeroed, and the angler who catches the most one-day weight will win the top prize of $100,000.

In addition to Wheeler and Lee, the Championship Round will feature group winners Mark Daniels Jr. and Jared Lintner. Other qualifiers from the Knockout Round are Bradley Roy, Bryan Thrift, Randy Howell, Jeff Sprague, Alton Jones and Shinichi Fukae.

“What an unbelievable day,” said an excited Wheeler said in his post-game interview. “That was so much fun. As many big ones as I caught – it was definitely the best tournament fishing day I’ve ever had. One of the best fishing days of my entire life.”

Wheeler spent the day throwing a jerkbait, targeting offshore structure – rock, points and brush.

“Multiple different jerkbaits played for me today,” Wheeler said. “It was pretty much Jerkbait Fishing 101. I threw it on a 6-foot, 8-inch medium-action (Duckett) Kelly Jordon Pro Series rod with 12-pound Sufix line.

“I promise that this isn’t the last time that you’ll see me here,” Wheeler went on to say. “I’ll definitely be making a couple of trips back to Caney Lake; this place was unreal.”

Lee weighed in two fish over 8 pounds and one over 7 pounds.

“Today was just crazy, the size of fish that I caught today,” Lee said. “I only caught six, but they were big. It was an incredible day.

“I caught the first fish on a 1/2-ounce football jig with a Berkley Chigger Craw, and it was one of those 8s,” Lee said. “From then on, I couldn’t get those fish to bite. I could see them on my Lowrance, so that’s when I went to a little Ned Rig.

“I was cutting a Berkley Hit Worm in half and using that on a spinning rod, and that was pretty much my 1-2 punch out deep.”

The final 10 anglers competing in Thursday’s Championship Round on Bussey Brake will launch from Bonner Ferry Road, five miles northwest of Bastrop off of Hwy 593 at 8:30 a.m. The takeoutwill be held at the launch ramp, beginning at 5:30 p.m. Fans are welcome to attend all takeoff and takeout ceremonies and also encouraged to follow the event online throughout the day on the MLF NOW! livestream and ScoreTracker coverage at MajorLeagueFishing.com.

The MLF NOW! broadcast team of Chad McKee, Marty Stone and J.T. Kenney will break down the extended action from 8:45 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. ET. MLF NOW! will be livestreamed on MajorLeagueFishing.com and the MyOutdoorTV (MOTV) app.

Knockout Round

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

1. Jacob Wheeler -- 43-07 (9) -- 7-11

2. Jordan Lee -- 34-10 (6) -- 8-02

3. Bradley Roy -- 27-12 (6) -- 6-01

4. Bryan Thrift -- 23-00 (6) -- 6-01

5. Randy Howell -- 18-03 (3) -- 10-11

6. Jeff Sprague -- 18-01 (5) -- 5-12

7. Alton Jones -- 15-06 (4) -- 7-14

8. Shin Fukae -- 14-09 (3) -- 7-07

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

9. Edwin Evers -- 14-05 (4) -- 5-01

10. Mark Davis -- 12-02 (3) -- 7-00

11. David Dudley -- 10-13 (3) -- 4-04

12. Kevin VanDam -- 8-15 (3) -- 3-09

13. Michael Neal -- 7-13 (3) -- 3-06

14. Greg Vinson -- 7-12 (3) -- 3-09

15. Gerald Spohrer -- 7-11 (2) -- 5-03

16. Casey Ashley -- 7-04 (3) -- 3-01

17. Chris Lane -- 7-01 (3) -- 2-11

18. Jeremy Lawyer -- 6-06 (2) -- 4-04

19. Bobby Lane -- 6-05 (3) -- 2-04

20. Jesse Wiggins -- 6-00 (2) -- 3-15

21. Randall Tharp -- 5-15 (2) -- 3-09

22. Stephen Browning -- 5-05 (2) -- 2-12

23. Jonathon VanDam -- 5-01 (1) -- 5-01

24. Roy Hawk -- 4-14 (2) -- 2-14

25. Josh Bertrand -- 4-07 (1) -- 4-07

26. Britt Myers -- 3-12 (1) -- 3-12

27. Andy Morgan -- 3-11 (1) -- 3-11

28. James Elam -- 3-02 (1) -- 3-02

29. Cody Meyer -- 2-07 (1) -- 2-07

30. Adrian Avena -- 2-06 (1) -- 2-06

31. Andy Montgomery -- 2-05 (1) -- 2-05

32. Dean Rojas -- 2-02 (1) -- 2-02

33. Alton Jones Jr. -- 0-00 (0)

33. Anthony Gagliardi -- 0-00 (0)

33. Fletcher Shryock -- 0-00 (0)

33. Keith Poche -- 0-00 (0)

33. Ott DeFoe -- 0-00 (0)

33. Timmy Horton -- 0-00 (0)