By MLF Communications Staff

All week long, Jesse Wiggins said that when he closed his eyes, Lake of the Ozarks felt exactly like his home fishery – Lewis Smith Lake in North Alabama. That hometown feel was just what Wiggins needed this week.

The 32-year-old Alabama angler caught 11 scorable bass Thursday weighing 27 pounds, 11 ounces to win the MLF Bass Pro Tour event on Lake of the Ozarks in Osage Beach, Missouri, and take home the top prize of $100,000.

“Oh my gosh,” said an emotional Wiggins as time expired. “I’m shaking, my videographer's shaking, my official is shaking – we’re freaking tore up. I’m just a redneck from Alabama that likes to fish and loves to throw a shaky-head.

“I get here, and the banks look identical to Smith Lake. I mean identical. And the fish set up identical. It seemed like I could call my shot all week long.”

Wiggins finished 2-07 in front of runner-up Dean Rojas to claim his first tour-level victory – the next-closest competitor was 10 pounds back. He spent the tournament targeting boat docks with a homemade shaky-head rig. After winning the Group A Qualifying Round, he advanced directly into Thursday’s Championship Round.

“I did exactly what I wanted to do all week,” Wiggins said. “I grew up throwing a worm – that’s all we did. And we finally get a lake where they’re spawning and they’re biting the shaky-head. When they’re on that thing, I feel like I can win.”

Wiggins' shaky-head rig was homemade – he fished both a 1/8-ounce and a 3/16-ounce – and he credited his key bait as being a watermelon-candy-colored Jackall Flick Shake worm.

“I always throw my shaky-heads on my 7-foot, 1-inch extra fast St. Croix Legend Elite rod, medium-heavy, with a Quantum Smoke S3 reel,” Wiggins said. “My line was Seaguar Smackdown 30-pound braid and a 12-pound (Seaguar) InvizX leader. I worked with 12-pound because the water was dingy and I was throwing it mainly around docks and cables.

“To come away with a win, first place against these guys – Lord have mercy, I can’t even put it into words,” Wiggins went on to say. “My support system back home – they all sacrifice so much. My wife Haley, River, my mom, Haley’s mom, Haley’s sisters, my grandma, my brothers – it’s crazy how much they sacrifice just for me to come out here and chase these things. I am so happy to win this for them. I can’t wait to bring this trophy back home to Addison.”

Mark Rose earned Thursday’s $1,000 Berkley Big Bass award – his second of the event – with a 4-09 largemouth that bit a Strike King Finesse jig in Period 1. Dakota Ebare earned the $3,000 Berkley Big Bass award for the overall largest bass of the event with his 6-14 largemouth that he weighed on Day 1 of competition.

After four regular-season events in the 2022 Bass Pro Tour season, reigning Angler of the Year (AOY) Jacob Wheeler currently leads with 300 points, while 2020 AOY Jordan Lee sits right behind Wheeler in second place with 284. Andy Morgan is third with 255, followed by Wiggins with 251.5 and Alton Jones Jr. with 251.

The tournament featured 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 BPT visits, based on the productivity, bass population and anticipated average size of fish in each fishery.

Championship Round

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

1. Jesse Wiggins -- 27-11 (11) -- 3-14

2. Dean Rojas -- 25-04 (9) -- 3-12

3. Wesley Strader -- 17-11 (6) -- 3-14

4. Stephen Browning -- 14-00 (5) -- 3-15

5. Jacob Wheeler -- 13-02 (5) -- 3-10

6. Kelly Jordon -- 11-11 (4) -- 4-04

7. Andy Morgan -- 10-09 (4) -- 3-12

8. Mark Rose -- 10-04 (3) -- 4-09

9. Jonathon VanDam -- 4-03 (2) -- 2-02

10. Jeremy Lawyer -- 0-00 (0) -- 0-00