5. 7.
PHOTO BY JACOB FINE
6.
PHOTO BY COBI PELLERITO
PHOTO BY DAVID A. ROSE
but that was a sign to
Wheeler that they were
fresh schools that might fill
up during the tournament.
In competition, Wheeler
needed a day or so to nail
down the best timing and
rotation to run his schools.
Eventually, he was able to
catch 56 pounds, 8 ounces
in three days by throwing a
Rapala DT20 in Caribbean
shad, a 1-ounce Accent Ole
Big spinnerbait and a Texasrigged
Googan Baits Lunker
Log.
5. TOYOTA SERIES
SOUTHEASTERN DIVISION
Lake Eufaula
June 4-6, 2020
Early on at Eufaula, it
looked like both deep and
shallow patterns had the
potential to win thanks to a
hot mayfly bite and plenty of
active bluegill beds. After
two days, however, only one
angler made the top 10 fishing
shallow. The rest fished
a mix of brush piles, deep
timber and ledges.
Josh Stracner, the tournament
champ, spent most
of the first two days on
deep ledges. By noon on
Saturday’s final round, fishing
pressure had taken its
toll, and he had just 13 to 14
pounds in the livewell.
Stracner made the key
move and slid up to fish
brush piles in 12 to 15 feet,
which led to a 22-3 limit
and a 64-15 tournament
total.
Stracner fished ledges
with a Strike King 10XD and
6-inch Scottsboro Tackle
Co. Swimbait on a
Scottsboro Recon Head. He
fished brush with a
Reaction Innovations Fat
Flirt Worm and a Z-Man
ChatterBait.
6. TOYOTA SERIES
NORTHERN DIVISION
Lake Erie
July 9-11, 2020
High winds on day three
restricted the top 10 boaters
and co-anglers to Sandusky
Bay to decide a winner, and
Lee Rogers took full advantage
of the limited waters by
targeting rock piles to wrangle
up a 15-pound, 10-ounce
limit of largemouth to surge
from eighth to first.
Like most of the field,
Rogers spent his first two
days of competition fishing
primarily for smallmouth,
starting out deep and systematically
working his way
shallower around Kelleys
Island and the Bass Islands
until he found the right
depth to get consistent
bites – about 15 feet, give
or take. He couldn’t get
those fish to eat a spy bait
or a spinnerbait, but the
drop-shot tipped with a
Strike King Half Shell did
the trick.
On the final day, it took a
tube, a spinnerbait and a
Texas-rigged Eco Pro Swing
Shad to coerce the right five
Sandusky Bay largemouth
into a getting a free ride to
weigh-in.
7. STUDENT ANGLER
FEDERATION HIGH SCHOOL
FISHING NATIONAL
CHAMPIONSHIP
Mississippi River
June 24-26, 2020
Lawson Losee and
Kooper Tweite carried the
lead into the final day of the
SAF High School National
Championship on Pools 7, 8
and 9 of the Missisippi River
in La Crosse, Wis., and
never relinquished it.
The pair of Riceville, Iowa
anglers brought an 11-
pound, 2-ounce three-fish
limit to the weigh-in stage
to seal the deal, anchored
by a 5-8 kicker, to tally 30-4
for the three-day event.
Consistency was the
name of the game for
Losee and Tweite, who
locked down to Pool 9 all
three days in search of
unpressured fish. The duo
weighed in 8-12 on day one
and 10-6 on day two before
weighing in the secondlargest
bag of the event on
the final day.
With the win, Losee and
Tweite automatically
advanced to the final day of
the SAF High School
Fishing World Finals, which
ran concurrently with the
National Championship.
They weighed in 7-8 to
claim 13th place in that
event, which Landon
Gramling and Tucker
Veronee of Lexington, S.C.,
won with a three-fish limit of
9-6 the final day.
AUGUST-SEPTEMBER 2020 | MAJORLEAGUEFISHING.COM | FLWFISHING.COM 71