Wheeler grabs Day 1 lead at professional bass fishing’s Forrest Wood Cup
Category: press release
Aug 20th, 2015 by OutdoorsFIRST
Modified Aug 20th, 2015 at 12:00 AM
Fifty of the best professional bass anglers in the world began their four-day competition for a top cash award of $500,000 at the Forrest Wood Cup presented by Walmart, the world championship of bass fishing, at Lake Ouachita in Hot Springs, Arkansas on Thursday.
Jacob Wheeler of Indianapolis, Indiana, weighed a five-bass limit totaling 16 pounds, 2 ounces to take the early lead after day one of the four-day event. Wheeler now holds a slim 1-pound, 2-ounce lead over Lowrance pro Ishama Monroe of Hughson, California, who caught five bass weighing 15 pounds even, good for second place.
“I was very fortunate today. My practice wasn’t great, and I really wasn’t on a whole lot coming in to the tournament,” said Wheeler, who won the 2012 Forrest Wood Cup on Lake Lanier in Duluth, Georgia. “I had a few places out deep and a few places shallow, but I felt like I could catch a pretty good bag if everything worked out. Today, it did. Hopefully I can go out tomorrow and duplicate what I did today.”
Wheeler said that he was threw six different baits throughout the day and managed to catch nine fish, although four of them only weighed 1½ pounds. He said that he covered a lot of water today and tried to find some new areas to fish tomorrow.
“I did some looking and tried to figure out what was getting hammered by other anglers and what was being left alone,” Wheeler said. “Tomorrow I’m going to fish my same area, but I won’t hesitate to fish some new water. The key will be figuring out how to stay consistent.”
When the 2012 champ was asked if he approached this event just like any other tournament he was quick to point out that the magnitude of this event.
“The Forrest Wood Cup is a totally different tournament,” Wheeler said. “There is so much on the line – not only the money. One of these years, someone is going to become the first ever two-time champion. I know Scott (Martin) wants to win it. I know (Luke) Clausen wants to win it. No one has ever won it twice.
“I love those guys, but I’m going to go out there tomorrow and catch as much as I can to do my best to beat them,” Wheeler went on to say. “It’s going to be an absolute grind – a battle to the end – I can guarantee you that.”
The top 20 pros after day one on Lake Ouachita are:
1st: Jacob Wheeler, Indianapolis, Ind., five bass, 16-2
2nd: Lowrance pro Ishama Monroe, Hughson, Calif., five bass, 15-0
3rd: Brandon Cobb, Greenwood, S.C., five bass, 14-10
4th: Scott Martin, Clewiston, Fla., five bass, 14-6
5th: Brad Knight, Lancing, Tenn., five bass, 14-4
6th: Chris Baumgardner, Gastonia, N.C., five bass, 13-8
7th: Ramie Colson Jr., Cadiz, Ky., five bass, 13-3
8th: Luke Clausen, Spokane, Wash., five bass, 13-1
9th: Mark Daniels Jr., Tuskegee, Ala., five bass, 12-15
10th: John Cox, DeBary, Fla., four bass, 12-0
11th: Matthew Stefan, Junction City, Wis., five bass, 11-12
12th: Chris McCall, Brookeland, Texas, five bass, 11-8
13th: Bryan Thrift, Shelby, N.C., five bass, 11-4
13th: Patrick Walters, Summerville, S.C., five bass, 11-4
15th: Zack Birge, Blanchard, Okla., five bass, 10-14
16th: Clark Wendlandt, Leander, Texas, five bass, 10-10
17th: Livingston Lures pro Stetson Blaylock, Benton, Ark., five bass, 10-9
18th: Livingston Lures pro Andy Morgan, Dayton, Tenn., four bass, 10-5
19th: Quaker State pro Matt Arey, Shelby, N.C., five bass, 10-4
20th: James Biggs, Euless, Texas, four bass, 10-1
For a full list of results visit FLWFishing.com.