MLF BPT Stage 2 Day 2 Recap: Wheeler Plays It His Way

Wheeler Plays It His Way, Advances to Championship Round at MLF Bass Pro Tour Suzuki Marine Stage 2 Presented by YETI at Harris Chain of Lakes, Eyes Ninth BPT Win

The thing about Jacob Wheeler is that he doesn’t play for points. He plays for the win. And in a sport where a lousy break, a busted reel, or a rogue gator can turn a perfect day into a nightmare, that matters.

Friday morning, Wheeler didn’t switch on his forward-facing sonar. Didn’t need to. He already knew where the fish were and, more importantly, where they would be. A two-day total of 101 pounds, 9 ounces on 32 scorable bass ensured he wouldn’t be fishing on Saturday. He’d punched his ticket straight to the Championship Round.

Not that it was easy. Nothing ever is.

A Calculated Gamble Pays Off

Wheeler started the day with an 11-pound cushion, but he knew better than to coast. The Harris Chain is unpredictable, shallow, sprawling, and moody. Lake Apopka was the play, but everyone else had been there by the time he got there.

“Thirty-plus locals. Twenty-five, maybe thirty of our guys,” he said. “It fished small, and things got pressured a ton.”

Bunch of bass boat fishing next to each other — Photo by TBrinks | Courtesy of MLF

Translation: The party was getting crowded.

At that moment, he made the call. He went back to where he’d done the damage on Day One. The way he saw it, if someone was going to burn up those fish, it might as well be him.

The decision paid off with six more fish for 21-6, including a 6-9 bruiser pulled from a stretch that he knew would be unfishable by Sunday thanks to a looming southwest wind.

I knew even if I made the Championship Round, I’d never be able to fish them. So I just caught them.
Jacob Wheeler

Classic Wheeler. No wasted movement. No what-ifs.

The Art of Elimination

Gary Klein weighing a bass on a BUBBA scale — Photo by TBrinks | Courtesy of MLF

With his lead ballooning past 20 pounds, Wheeler spent the last period not chasing weight but eliminating water, the kind of move that separates a fisherman from a tournament angler.

Some guys hoard spots like gold coins, hoping for a big payday. Wheeler prefers to cross them off the list. If they weren’t producing now, they wouldn’t be producing Sunday. But he’s got plays left—at least three zones untouched, waiting in his back pocket for when the money’s on the line.

It’s not all about the grind. With Saturday off, Wheeler will get a rare day with his 6-year-old daughter, Olivia, and 3-year-old son, Hudson. Time to be a dad. Time to recharge before going back into battle.

The win won’t come easy. Championship Sunday will demand adjustments. Pressure, weather, and fish movement will require someone to crack the code on the fly.

I feel like the tournament will be won in Apopka, but if I have to turn on forward-facing sonar in the last period, I will. The guy who makes the right adjustments will win this thing. That’s what’s going to make it fun.”
Jacob Wheeler

“I feel like the tournament will be won in Apopka,” Wheeler said. “But if I have to turn on forward-facing sonar in the last period, I will. The guy who makes the right adjustments will win this thing. That’s what’s going to make it fun.”

Chaos at the Cut: Last-Minute Heroics Shake Up the Knockout Round

The Elimination Line was a shifting beast, dragging dreams under and spitting others out onto the right side of the cut. Seven anglers started the day outside the Top 20, seven punched their way through: Jacob Wall, Terry Scroggins, Zack Birge, Matt Becker, John Hunter, Edwin Evers, and Justin Cooper.

John Hunter Making Moves For Last Minute Push To Make The Knockout Round | Photo by PMoore | Courtesy of MLF

The wildest rides belonged to Evers and Hunter.

With 30 minutes left in Period 3, they were both looking at an early exit—empty hands, long drives home, nothing to show but missed shots and what-ifs. But pressure does strange things to a man. Some crumble. Others fight.

Hunter fought. Three bass. 6 pounds, 9 ounces. All in the last 15 minutes. Evers followed. Three bass. 6 pounds, 1 ounce. In 22 minutes, he flipped his script from packing up to advancing.
A day like that doesn’t just test skill—it tests nerve. And when it counted, they didn’t flinch.

The Cutline Was Alive, And Justin Cooper Was Hanging On

The cutline was a living, breathing thing on Day 2: shifting, teasing, merciless. But no story was more electric than Justin Cooper’s.

Day One had him dead in the water, 46th place, nine bass for 17-15. It was not bad, but Cooper was below the elimination line. Then came Day Two. Fifteen bass. 37 pounds, 1 ounce. He didn’t just climb the leaderboard, he clawed up it with bloody knuckles.

I caught up with Cooper, who laid it out straight. It came down to two baits.

First, a speed worm with a 3/16-ounce Epic Tungsten weight slow-dragged through the maze of cypress trees and ghostly hydrilla beds. A patient man’s approach, letting the bass come to him.

But time was a killer, and in Period 3, Cooper called for technology. He turned on his Garmin Livescope, watched the shadows move, and made the switch.

The kill shot? A Bass Pro Shops XPS Staredown 100 jerkbait in Exo Shad is one of those baits that either cement your legacy or leave you muttering to yourself in a dark parking lot.

Cooper bet on it. And this time, the bet paid off. 20th place. The last man standing.

The top 20 pros that now advance in competition on the Harris Chain of Lakes are:

1st: Jacob Wheeler, Harrison, Tenn., 32 bass, 101-9

2nd: Takahiro Omori, Tokyo, Japan, 32 bass, 87-11

3rd: Mark Davis, Mount Ida, Ark., 27 bass, 84-14

4th: Andy Morgan, Dayton, Tenn., 35 bass, 80-12

5th: Keith Poche, Pike Road, Ala., 34 bass, 80-9

6th: Michael Neal, Dayton, Tenn., 34 bass, 80-6

7th: Adrian Avena, Vineland, N.J., 29 bass, 68-9

8th: Jacob Wall, New Hope, Ala., 34 bass, 68-3

9th: Bobby Lane, Lakeland, Fla., 27 bass, 68-2

10th: Todd Faircloth, Jasper, Texas, 26 bass, 67-14

11th: Drew Gill, Mount Carmel, Ill., 23 bass, 66-0

12th: Fletcher Shryock, Guntersville, Ala., 24 bass, 64-8

13th: James Elam, Tulsa, Okla., 29 bass, 63-0

14th: Terry Scroggins, San Mateo, Fla., 22 bass, 62-8

15th: Zack Birge, Blanchard, Okla., 29 bass, 61-15

16th: Nick Hatfield, Greeneville, Tenn., 28 bass, 61-12

17th: Matt Becker, Ten Mile, Tenn., 23 bass, 57-13

18th: John Hunter, Shelbyville, Ky., 25 bass, 57-9

19th: Edwin Evers, Talala, Okla., 20 bass, 56-13

20th: Justin Cooper, Zwolle, La., 24 bass, 55-0

A complete list of results can be found at MajorLeagueFishing.com.

What’s Next?

Nineteen anglers will battle it out on Saturday in the Knockout Round, fighting for nine open spots in Sunday’s final showdown. The scoreboard resets, and it’s a one-day shootout for the $150,000 first-place prize. As for Wheeler? He’ll watch, wait, and get ready when it’s all on the line. The only thing between him and his ninth BPT title is one last day on the water. And if history indicates when the pressure’s at its peak, Wheeler doesn’t miss it.

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