lake eufaula — the ‘ make or break ’ tournament
As far as “ grinders ” go , tournaments don ’ t come much more grindy than Stage Four at Oklahoma ’ s Lake Eufaula . Pummeled in the days ahead of the event by heavy rain and tornado activity , water levels spiked and clarity plummeted on the massive , 105,000-acre central Oklahoma reservoir , creating a mega-tough bite all the way around .
Wheeler started the tournament with just one fish for 3-14 on Day 1 of qualifying but rallied into the Knockout Round thanks to 21-11 on his second day , squeezing past Brent Ehrler by 2 ounces for his group ’ s final knockout berth . He ended the week with three fish for 6-4 in the Knockout Round , finishing 17th . Wheeler left Oklahoma satisfied that he ’ d survived the event without losing ground in the AOY race .
An 11th-place finish at the James River put Wheeler in a position where he needed only to make the Knockout Round at the season finale to clinch AOY .
“ When it comes down to it , Lake Eufaula was where I won Angler of the Year , in some sense ,” Wheeler said . “ I was on the brink of another Murray scenario on Eufaula , but I made some adjustments and some little decisions that made a huge difference in that tournament . For example : I made a bad cast with a frog into a willow tree , and instead of going up into the tree to get it – which I knew would mess up that willow tree – I broke it off and made another cast . Boom , a 3-pounder eats it . That 3 pounds was huge for
me . That was one of those tiny decisions that nobody ever sees and don ’ t realize how much they matter .”
AOY race : Despite Eufaula being his worst finish of the 2024 season , Wheeler stayed atop the AOY leaderboard , albeit with a smaller lead : 301 points to Alton Jones Jr .’ s 289 .
chowan river — the race is at full speed
As the tournament week progressed on the Chowan River system in coastal North Carolina , it became apparent that the AOY race was going to come down to Wheeler “ holding serve ” for the final three tournaments of the season . He played the Qualifying Round just as he had multiple times before – leading his group with 47-5 on Day 1 and then laying off on Day 2 to develop more areas ,
advancing easily to the Knockout Round and the final day .
Three of Wheeler ’ s closest pursuers ( Jones , Connell and Drew Gill ) advanced to the Championship Round ( which Gill eventually won ), and he finished fourth , smack in the middle of the pack of anglers chasing him . Wheeler left the Chowan in early June already thinking about the final two summer events – the James River in late July and the finale at the St . Lawrence River in early August – and the task ahead to secure the AOY trophy .
PHOTO BY PHOENIX MOORE
“ At that point in the season and AOY race , you ’ re in it : AOY is literally all you can think about ,” Wheeler said . “ You can see the target . You can see the end of the road . After Stage Five , it really becomes the focus of just about every thought . That ’ s when the family support becomes a big , big deal . It ’ s always important to have that support , but that end-of-season time when AOY is an obsession , you have to have your family behind you .”
AOY race : Wheeler picked up 2 points on Jones after the Chowan , leaving North Carolina with a 14- pound cushion ( 378 to 364 ).
james river — stretching the lead
Wheeler had some familiarity with the James River heading into Stage Six , having collected three Top 25s in BASS Northern Opens on this Virginia tidal fishery from 2012 to 2016 . He took right to the task , piling 78-8 on SCORETRACKER ® on Day 1 ( the heaviest single-day weight of the event ) and sailing through the Qualifying Round with a group-best 107-9 .
He faltered early in the Knockout Round , though , catching only two scorable fish before noon . While he found a groove on main-river brush piles in the latter half of the day , it was too little too late . Wheeler finished 11th , the first man out of the Championship Round cut . But even though he fell shy of making his fifth Championship Round of the season , Wheeler benefitted from similar slight lapses by Jones ( 16th ), Connell ( 21st ) and Gill ( 25th ).
“ It turned out that I actually gained a few points at the James – it might not seem like a lot of points , but at that time of the season and that point in an AOY race , 3 to 5 points is a lot ,” Wheeler said . “ At that point , I went all in on AOY . I knew if I made the cut at the Saint Lawrence , AJ and Dustin couldn ’ t catch me . That was the bestcase scenario : I had control of my own destiny .”
AOY race : Wheeler left Virginia with a 19-point lead over Jones in second ( 448 to 429 ), his largest AOY cushion of the year .
st . lawrence river — bringing it home
Wheeler took advantage of the sixweek gap between the James River and the season finale , departing from a
40 MAJORLEAGUEFISHING . COM | OCTOBER-NOVEMBER 2024