* Wheeler ’ s 2022 trail of domination
Jacob Wheeler carefully rigs a bait at General Tire Stage Five on Watts Bar
Lake , an event he nearly won .
JACOB WHEELER WON the Bally Bet Angler of the Year Award with a grand total of 529 points . With that , he made history in several ways . First , he ’ s now the first Bass Pro Tour pro to win back-to-back titles and own multiple AOY trophies . Also , he earned the highest point total ever recorded in Bass Pro Tour history in just seven events . Edwin Evers won AOY in 2019 with 510 points and that was with eight events . Finally , Wheeler walloped the field with a winning margin of 70 points . In order to rack up such an impressive margin , he scored a stunning six out of seven Championship Round Top 10s . To get a better idea of his dominant year , here ’ s a look at his finishes for the season .
PHOTO BY JOEL SHANGLE
• Monroe , West Monroe , La ., ( D ’ arbonne , Caney , Bussey Brake ): 7th
• Lake Fork : 3rd
• Smith Lake : 8th
• Lake of the Ozarks : 5th
• Watts Bar : 2nd
• Cayuga : 2nd
• Mille Lacs : 11th
Efficient Influences
Wheeler ’ s childhood provided the intangible foundations of resourcefulness , work ethic , self-reliance , perseverance and pragmatic problem-solving . On top of that , he has designed a highly effective strategy of speed and efficiency on the water . As a kid , he was a dedicated student of the tournament fishing game . His early pro influences were Aaron Martens , Kevin VanDam and Edwin Evers .
“ Aaron was the master at finding exactly what fish wanted to eat in order to make them bite , and Kevin was a master at making fish eat exactly what he wanted them to bite ,” Wheeler posits . “ It was like opposite approaches , but they both had so much success doing it their ways . Aaron was super creative in coming up with new ways to fool fish . He made me a huge believer in showing bass something different to get them fired up .”
“ Kevin ’ s intensity on the water is unmatched . His game is to cover more water , make more presentations and catch more fish than anyone else on any given day . His efficiency allows him to sample new water during the tournament , which I see as a huge advantage in keeping up with changing conditions .”
Wheeler has tooled VanDam ’ s blitzkrieg blueprint to his own liking and refined covering new water during tournaments into straight practicing during them . He has mastered the strategy of catching fish during tournament hours while simultaneously dissecting new water and new conditions for upcoming days . He ’ s somehow able to calculate cut weights in his head , get ahead of the cut line , then invest his extra time in exploring new options for the rest of the tournament . It seems to be a strategy that few others can duplicate , especially in the every-fishcounts format .
Serendipity at Work
Wheeler ’ s career path ’ s timing has merged seamlessly with some of the sport ’ s biggest changes over the last decade . For example , Major League Fishing ’ s unconventional tournament concepts of every-fish-counts , SCORE- TRACKER ®, smaller fields and longer events ( six days ) have fallen right into
Wheeler ’ s wheelhouse of efficient fish catching and strategizing for the long game . He ’ s been the quickest to adapt to these format changes , dating back to his first MLF Cup and Select wins .
In addition , sonar technology has progressed faster in the last 10 years than at any time in professional bass fishing ’ s history . With every iteration and advancement , Wheeler has embraced the improvements and spent days learning how to maximize them to make his up-tempo offense click even faster . This is especially true in his pre-tournament practices where he invests a lot of time exploring Bass Pro Tour venues before the cutoff period . Electronics are a vital component to quickly breaking down huge bodies of water by just idling them for hours to find unmapped treasure . This year , he made early season trips to Lake Fork , Watts Bar , Cayuga and Mille Lacs .
When it ’ s game time , Wheeler embodies an efficiency and sense of urgency on the water that ’ s second to none . His decisions on the water are made with intention and purpose and
OCTOBER-NOVEMBER 2022 | MAJORLEAGUEFISHING . COM 37