Zaldain, Ike, MDJ & Wheeler score big limits.
By Bryan Brasher
BASS PRESS RELEASE
During the early portions of practice for the GEICO Bassmaster Classic
presented by DICK’S
Sporting Goods, Jacob Wheeler discovered a pattern that he knew would put bass
in his livewell.
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| Wheeler's luck in Tennessee continues as he moves into the lead with 17-11lb limit on Day 2. (Photo: BASS) |
But
since it seemed a little too obvious, he spent the latter portions of practice
looking for something he thought no one else would find.
He
ultimately went back to the obvious — and it has him in position to win the
Super Bowl of Bass Fishing.
After
landing 14 pounds, 11 ounces during Friday’s opening round, Wheeler caught five
bass Saturday that weighed 17-11 and sprang into first place with a two-day
total of 32-6. His five-bass limit Saturday was one of the few weighed in this
week that featured all smallmouth.
“I
know this crew,” Wheeler said. “I knew they would figure out the same thing I
had figured out. Even though there are miles and miles and miles of water, they
were going to figure it out.
“I
tried to move around the lake, be smart about it and just fish what looked good
to me — looking for that needle in the haystack. But I never found it, so I
just had to fall back to what I knew I had.”
No angler on earth is more guarded with his techniques than the one who leads
the Bassmaster Classic heading into the final round. So Wheeler only said that
he was fishing a “reaction bite” with moving baits.
He
said catching five smallmouth Saturday was a surprise.
“If
you would have told me at the start of the tournament that eight of my 10 fish
so far would be smallmouth, I would have said there’s no way,” Wheeler said.
“It’s been so hard to catch a smallmouth — even a nonkeeper.”
“That
is not something I thought I had dialed in at all.”
