ROGERS -- Jacob Wheeler fell into the water Thursday, but that didn't matter at the end of the day when he found himself perched atop the leaderboard after the opening round of the FLW bass fishing tournament on Beaver Lake.
The pro bass angler from Indianapolis brought in five bass that weighed 15 pounds, 14 ounces, to take a slim first-round lead over Bryan Thrift of Shelby, N.C., in the four-day tournament that features 308 anglers competing in two divisions.
FLW RESULTS
Friday
First round
At Beaver Lake
PRO DIVISION
NAME; HOMETOWN; FISH/WT
Jacob Wheeler; Indianapolis, Ind.; 5/15-14
Bryan Thrift; Shelby, N.C.; 5/15-9
Matt Arey; Shelby, N.C.; 5/14-14
Scott Canterbury; Springville, Ala.; 5/14-14
Cody Meyer; Auburn, Calif.; 5/14-7
Darrell Davis; Dover, Fla.; 5/14-6
Darrel Robertson; Jay, Okla.; 5/14-5
Brandon Cobb; Greenwood, S.C.; 5/13-10
Stetson Blaylock; Benton; 5/13-8
Jim Moynagh; Carver, Minn.; 5/13-7
Vic Vatalaro; Kent, Ohio; 5/13-7
Dave LeFebre; Erie, Pa.; 5/13-6
Wesley Strader; Spring City, Tenn.; 5/13-5
Tracy Adams; Wilkesboro, N.C.; 5/13-3
Andy Mrogan; Dayton, Tenn.; 5/5/13-2
Mike Surman; Boca Raton, Fla.; 5/13-2
Chad Grigsby; Maple Grove, Minn.; 5/13-1
Anthony Gagliardi; Prosperity, S.C.; 5/12-15
Drew Benton; Panama City, Fla.; 5/12-11
Adrian Avena; Vineland, N.J.; 5/12-9
CO-ANGLER DIVISION
Timmy Thompkins; Myrtle Beach, S.C.; 5/10-7
Ken Harp; Springdale; 5/10-3
Cody Marshall; Cumming, Ga.; 5/9-14
Bryan New; Belmont N.C.; 5/9-14
Hector Delagarza; Rockwall, Texas; 5/9-12
Tee Watkins; East Point, Ky.; 5/9-12
Joshua Weaver; Macon, Ga.; 5/9-10
Dustin Evans; Eads, Tenn.; 4/9-6
Kerry Barnett; Waldron; 4/9-5
Charles Dubroc; Hessmer, La.; 5/9-3
Keith Honeycutt; Temple, Texas; 5/9-2
Sean Richards; Carson City, Nev.; 5-9-2
Gary Haraguchi; Redding, Cal.; 5/9-1
Spencer Howerton; Melbourne Beach, Fla.; 5/8-13
Bill Hutchison; Bessmer, Ala.; 5/8-11
Rex Jaeger; Hamilton, Ohio; 5/8-5
Alan Lane; Church Hill, Tenn.; 5/8-4
Maurice Cobb; Kuttawa, Ky.; 5/8-3
Billy Dehart; Burlingame, Cal.; 5/8-0
Johnny Douglas; Liberty, Ky.; 4/7-11
Not bad for a guy who took an unexpected dip in the lake.
Wheeler lost his balance and fell into the water while breaking off branches that were hanging over an area where he had spotted a big bass guarding a nest.
"It was a big fish, a 3 1/4-pounder," Wheeler said. "That's a giant for Beaver Lake. I muddied up that whole area for 10 minutes. When I went back in there, I caught her in three casts."
The fish ended up giving him a slight edge over Thrift, who finished the day in second place after bringing in five bass that weighed 15-9. Matt Arey (5 bass/14-14) of Shelby, N.C., is in third place, followed by Scott Canterbury (5/14-14) of Springville, Ala., and Cody Meyer (5/14-7) of Auburn, Calif.
Darrell Davis (5/14-6) of Dover, Fla.; Darrel Robertson (5/14-5) of Jay, Okla.; Brandon Cobb (5/13-10) of Greenwood, S.C.; Stetson Blaylock (5/13-8) of Benton; Jim Moynagh (5/13-7) of Carver, Minn.; and Vic Vatalaro (5/13-7) of Kent, Ohio, round out the top 10 heading into Day 2.
Timmy Thompkins of Myrtle Beach, S.C., leads the co-angler (non-boater) division after bringing in five bass that weighed 10-7 and is followed by Ken Harp of Springdale (5/10-3). Kerry Barnett (4/9-5) of Waldron is in ninth place.
Wheeler said he caught three of his eight bass by sight-fishing, and all three were the size that is necessary to win a typically tight Beaver Lake tournament. He said he covered a 20-mile area and caught all of his fish on four different baits.
"There are a lot of good quality sight fish here, but you have to run a lot of areas to find the ones that will bite," he said.
Wheeler said he knows where to find five or six more fish of that size. He said he believes he has a good chance of catching them if the weather remains warm.
Thrift won the Beaver Lake tournament in 2011, but he said he never plans for this tournament. Instead, he fishes anything that looks good.
"It fishes more like a pond than a lake," Thrift said. "It's hard to pattern fish here. There's no rhyme or reason to it. You always come here expecting more but you never really get it. It's always the same old Beaver Lake."
Arey is the defending Beaver Lake champion. His assessment mirrored Thrift's, but with a notable difference. Thrift said it's possible to win the tournament with smallmouth bass. Arey said it takes largemouths to win, and he's targeting that species exclusively, although the success he experienced last year has no bearing on this tournament.
"I've learned where the fish live here," Arey said, "but it's consistently inconsistent."
Blaylock, who won the co-angler division on Beaver Lake in 2007, said he expects the lake to fish entirely different today than it did Thursday.
Anglers will have to adjust to the combined effects of angling pressure and an oncoming storm front to stay in contention. Today's forecast calls for an 80 percent chance of thunderstorms with a high temperature of 70 degrees.
"Beaver has never been the same for me multiple days since I've been coming up here," Blaylock said. "My best tournaments here have come from me changing 100 percent each day."
The entire field will fish today's second round, with the top 20 pro and co-anglers advancing to the third round Saturday, which will serve as the championship round for the co-anglers. The co-angler with the heaviest combined three-day weight will win $25,000.
The top 10 pros with heaviest combined three-day weights after Saturday's round will advance to Sunday's championship round, where they will fish for the $125,000 first-place prize.
Today's weigh-in will be at 3:30 p.m. at Prairie Creek Marina. Weigh-ins for Saturday and Sunday will be at 4 p.m. at the John Q. Hammons Center in Rogers.
Sports on 04/24/2015