Wheeler rolls an almost 7-pound lead on BASSfest field
Seigo Saito
Wheeler weighed in 29 pounds, 13 ounces for a two-day total of 52-3, banking a lead of 6 pounds, 12 ounces.
DAYTON, Tenn. — At age 23 and from Indianapolis, Ind., Jacob Wheeler would not be most people’s odds-on favorite to take over in the June 11-15 Bassmaster BASSfest competition on Tennessee’s Chickamauga Lake.
Until you know that he’s been fishing Chickamauga for years because one of his often-visited friends lives near the lake. And that he competed on the lake just last year in a major event. And that at age 21, he was the 2012 Forrest Wood Cup champion.
Wheeler put all his experience to work Thursday, BASSfest’s second day. He weighed in 29 pounds, 13 ounces for a two-day total of 52-3, banking a lead of 6 pounds, 12 ounces against Bassmaster Elite Series pro Kevin VanDam of Kalamazoo, Mich.
