By MLF Communications Staff

In spite of high water levels and clarity issues prompting anglers to switch tactics throughout the day, it was another runaway day for Jacob Wheeler of Harrison, Tennessee, who boated 30 scorable bass totaling 57 pounds, 1 ounce to grab the early lead for Group A on Day 1 of the Bass Pro Tour event at Lewis Smith Lake in Cullman, Alabama.

Wheeler will take a massive lead into Friday’s second day of competition for Group A, with a 26-pound margin over 2nd-place Casey Ashley of Donalds, South Carolina, who caught 13 bass totaling 31-01. After leading at the end of the first two periods, Zack Birge of Blanchard, Oklahoma finished the day in 3rd place with a total of 16 bass weighing 30-05. Andy Morgan of Dayton, Tennessee , sits in 4th place with 14 bass for a total of 28-14, with Josh Bertrand of Queen Creek, Arizona rounding out the Top 5 with 12 bass weighing 28-04.

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

Wednesday marks the eighth time that Wheeler has “won” Day 1 of his Qualifying Round of competition out of 26 total Bass Pro Tour events. Birge and Michael Neal are the next closest anglers in contention, each with three Day-1 wins. If Wheeler can maintain his lead on Friday, it will mark the seventh time that he's won his two-day Qualifying Round.

Just when Wheeler seems to have shown bass-fishing fans everything he has to offer, he pulls out a “new” trick and goes on a flurry to catch 29-09 in the third period alone – nearly as much as Ashley’s 2nd-place total for the day, and more than 38 of the other 40 anglers’ entire day total.

“That was a fun day of fishing,” said Wheeler. “I learned a little bit and I’m not going to lock myself into one thing, but I definitely wanted to make hay when I could – obviously today worked out to perfection.

“It really came down to an old-school technique – a Rapala Jigging Rap,” said Wheeler. “I’ve caught some fish on this over the last several years and it has become a major player with forward-facing sonar. It’s something a lot of people may not have heard about, but this is a No. 9 Jigging Rap. I’ve been throwing it in white and gold, just trying to really bury it. I’ve also thrown it in black and silver – it doesn’t seem to matter as long as you get it to the fish.”

The bait was actually designed as an ice-fishing bait and is well-known for its hard-water prowess, but has gotten popular over the years with suspended fish in open water.

“I didn’t know exactly how today was going to play out, but I’m obviously pretty happy about it,” said Wheeler. “Overall, it’s been an awesome day and I’m really excited to come out here again on Day 2 to see what we can do.”

After starting the third period in 6th place, Ashley wrapped up with a third-period flurry as well, catching nearly 13 pounds to move up to 2nd.

“It was a good day, but if it wasn’t for this one little ditch right here, it would have been a grind for me today,” said Ashley. “I caught everything today on a Zoom Trick Worm in green pumpkin on a 3/16-ounce Greenfish Tackle Casey Ashley Clean Up Shakey Head.

“I don’t know what it is about this ditch, I’ve fished a bunch of them, but this one has a lot of fish in it. I got to catching them, but there was no way I could run Wheeler down,” continued Ashley. “I fished that area earlier in the day but made the decision to come back to it. You never know if the fish will still be there on Friday when we fish again, or if it will get pressure between now and then. So, I wanted to get enough cushion that I wouldn’t have to catch much on Day 2.”

Ashley said he will probably start Day 2 exactly where he finished.

“I don’t know if I’ll be able to catch them there again, but I’m going to try. Hopefully we get a little wind – that’ll make them bite the spinnerbait even more. I still think that bite is going to get a lot better as the week progresses. The water is getting more stable and the fish are getting used to it and wanting to move up more, so it should continue to improve.”

Bass Fishing Hall of Famer and MLF co-founder Gary Klein of Mingus, Texas , caught a 5-02 bass that earned him the first $1,000 Berkley Big Bass Award of the event. 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.

After each two-day qualifying round is complete, the anglers who finish in 2nd through 20th place from both groups advance to Sunday’s Knockout Round, while the winner of each group advances directly to Monday’s Championship Round. In the Knockout Round, weights are zeroed, and the remaining 38 anglers compete to finish in the Top 8 to advance to the Championship Round. In the final-day Championship Round, weights are again zeroed and the highest one-day total wins the top prize of $100,000.

Anglers launch each day at 7:30 a.m. from the Smith Lake State Park, located at 403 County Road 386 in Cullman. Each day’s takeout is held at the park, beginning at 4:30 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 1-pound, 8-ounce 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 breaks down the extended action on each day of competition from 7:45 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. CT. MLF NOW! is livestreamed on MajorLeagueFishing.com and the MyOutdoorTV (MOTV) app.



Group A Qualifying Round – Day 1

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

1. Jacob Wheeler -- 57--01 (30) -- 3--03

2. Casey Ashley -- 31--01 (13) -- 3--12

3. Zack Birge -- 30--05 (16) -- 4--04

4. Andy Morgan -- 28--14 (14) -- 3--05

5. Josh Bertrand -- 28--04 (12) -- 3--01

6. Mark Daniels Jr. -- 24--01 (10) -- 4--10

7. Edwin Evers -- 23--11 (12) -- 2--14

8. Randy Howell -- 21--15 (8) -- 4--06

9. Andy Montgomery -- 20--13 (12) -- 2--04

10. Randall Tharp -- 18--04 (9) -- 2--06

11. Luke Clausen -- 18--00 (7) -- 3--15

12. Kevin VanDam -- 16--15 (8) -- 2--06

13. Mark Rose -- 16--11 (9) -- 2--13

14. Jeremy Lawyer -- 16--06 (8) -- 3--01

15. Russ Lane -- 16--03 (7) -- 3--12

16. Wesley Strader -- 13--10 (7) -- 2--13

17. Adrian Avena -- 13--03 (7) -- 2--08

18. Jason Lambert -- 12--07 (5) -- 4--01

19. Stephen Browning -- 12--05 (6) -- 2--06

20. Brent Chapman -- 11--05 (5) -- 2--14

21. Brett Hite -- 11--01 (6) -- 2--04

22. Terry Scroggins -- 10--12 (5) -- 3--03

23. Ish Monroe -- 10--10 (5) -- 2--09

24. Dave Lefebre -- 10--05 (5) -- 2--13

25. Justin Lucas -- 10--04 (5) -- 2--11

26. Mike McClelland -- 9--08 (5) -- 3--04

27. Dean Rojas -- 8--14 (5) -- 2--01

28. Kelly Jordon -- 8--00 (3) -- 2--14

29. Gary Klein -- 6--10 (2) -- 5--02

30. Keith Poche -- 5--05 (3) -- 2--00

31. Cody Meyer -- 5--01 (3) -- 1--14

32. Bradley Roy -- 4--04 (2) -- 2--03

33. Paul Elias -- 3--07 (2) -- 1--13

34. James Watson -- 3--02 (2) -- 1--09

35. Jared Lintner -- 3--02 (1) -- 3--02

36. Brandon Coulter -- 2--15 (1) -- 2--15

37. John Murray -- 2--07 (1) -- 2--07

38. Cliff Crochet -- 1--08 (1) -- 1--08

39. Jeff Sprague -- 0--00 (0) -- 0--00

39. Scott Suggs -- 0--00 (0) -- 0--00