“ No matter what , though , you have to play to win . I don ’ t know any other way to do it .”
Wheeler regularly got his hands on a larger grade of largemouth during Stage Two on Lake Travis ( top ) which translated into the Tennessee pro getting his hands on Bass Pro Tour trophy one of three for the year ( bottom ).
Wheeler followed up his REDCREST performance with a 12th-place finish at the BPT regular-season opener on Sam Rayburn and a third-place finish at Heavy Hitters in Raleigh , North Carolina , and by the time Stage Two on Lake Travis rolled around in late April , “ Wheels ” was already winning the war of mental attrition against his fellow competitors .
“ Man , that guy is so good ,” Jordan Lee said as Wheeler drove by Lee ’ s boat in the parking lot at the Mansfield Dam launch on Lake Travis . “ He ’ s so much better than anybody else out here right now , it ’ s not even funny . I don ’ t know how in the world I ever beat him . I don ’ t know if I ’ ll ever beat him again .”
Lee was semi-joking , but that tongue-in-cheek assessment was a telling statement ( and high praise ) from the defending Bass Pro Tour Angler of the Year and two-time Bassmaster
PHOTOS BY GARRICK DIXON
Classic champion . The unstoppable force was already gaining momentum in the minds of the anglers he was fishing against . And as most sports fans know , momentum in any form of competition is everything .
Wheeler would go on to win that event on Lake Travis by a scant 1 ounce over Bobby Lane , homing in on a series of deep docks up the Colorado River that held noticeably bigger fish than the rest of the lake and catching just enough largemouth to hold off Lane ’ s final-hour charge .
“ Man , that guy is hard to beat ,” Lane said simply as he watched Wheeler accept the champion ’ s trophy .
Wheeler had an uncharacteristically poor event at Stage Three at Florida ’ s Harris Chain ( he finished 51st ) but then rebounded with a second-place finish at Lake
40 MAJORLEAGUEFISHING . COM | OCTOBER-NOVEMBER 2021