Jacob Wheeler (far right) said having his mom and sisters on hand made his latest Bass Pro Tour victory that much sweeter. (Photo: MLF/Tyler Brinks)
April 01, 2026
By Todd Ceisner
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Believe it or not, there are some things Jacob Wheeler still has on his tournament to-do list. Among them was to win a dual lake Bass Pro Tour event. He can scratch that off now after he claimed the victory at Lake O.H Ivie/Lake Brownwood over the weekend.
He won the two-day Qualifying Round at O.H. Ivie to earn a bye into the championship round at Brownwood, where he piled up 42 pounds, 13 ounces with 12 scoreable bass to claim his 11th career Bass Pro Tour win. It was largely a two-man race most of the day between Wheeler and Justin Lucas, who dominated the Knockout Round on Saturday at Brownwood. Lucas wound up 10-6 back in earning his best finish since placing 2nd at Heavy Hitters last year.
“There were a couple things about this one,” Wheeler said. “I don’t believe I’d won a multi-lake tournament before. I’ve had good finishes, but haven’t won one. That’s one thing. The other was my mom and both of my sisters were there. They haven’t been able to be at most of the tournaments I’ve won over the years, so it was nice to have them there to hoist the trophy with me. They were there when I won the All-American and the Forrest Wood Cup, but with my dad passing away last year, it’ll be nice to have an updated family photo to remember this one.”
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BassFan caught up with Wheeler to discuss his other favorite aspects of his latest triumph.
Best discovery in practice At Ivie : “I realized the bass set up deeper in those bushes. When you think spawning fishing, you’re thinking 2 to 3 feet in the bushes, but the cover is so abundant at Ivie. It’s like a forest of cover and a lot of fish were 5 to 10 feet down those trees.”
At Brownwood : “I spent the first four hours of practice and the last three hours of practice there. I realized the first day the fish were way further along than I anticipated. It’s more of a lowland reservoir and it’s a smaller body of water and shallower than Ivie, so it warmed up quicker. I feel like some of those had already spawned and some were obviously still spawning, but it seemed like most were post-spawners. With Ivie being deeper and clearer, it might’ve been two weeks behind Brownwood in my opinion.”
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Best decision during the tournament At Ivie : “Starting on a 7-pounder that I shook off in practice. I was contemplating where to start. I was boat 13. On the last morning of practice, I pitched in this bush and got bit. I had a hitchhiker on so I pitched back in there and got bit again. I figured it was a big female, maybe 7 to 10 pounds. So I started on that bush. My first flip was off to the right because I didn’t want to catch her on the first cast. I pitched back over where I’d gotten bit and then line went slack immediately. That’s when I knew it might be a good week.”
At Brownwood : “Not forcing any one thing. I caught a few on the shad spawn in the morning but then it got windy. I had seven fish on beds marked and I wound up catching three of them. In the final period, it was just keeping an open mind. Even though people were having a tough time, rather than changing everything up, I picked up a vibrating jig and went down a stretch of docks and got a bite that helped maintained the lead on Lucas. When it got tough, I didn’t try to force anything. I just allowed it to unfold and locked in.”
Best pattern At Brownwood : “Docks that were adjacent to spawning flats where it would steep up again. It had to be little groups of five or six docks next to a flat, which makes sense. If you went down long stretches of docks, you never get a bite. There were little stretches that were set up the right way and that’s where the bites came. It was not super flat. I’d say they were in 8 to 15 feet.”
Best gear At Ivie : “I’d say it was my 7-6 heavy-action signature series 2.0 frog rod . I caught a ton of fish on that and caught some flipping.”
At Brownwood : “When the wind picked up on the final day, there were like 2-footers rolling in on those docks and trying to skip a bait in those conditions is really tricky. I went from a 7-3 rod down to a 7-0 and it made a huge difference in my accuracy. It was a big deal in catching those last three fish as I was able to place bait more effectively in and around those docks.”
