HOT SPRINGS -- Jacob Wheeler of Indianapolis jumped to the head of the class Saturday to seize the lead in the third round of the Forrest Wood Cup at Lake Ouachita.
Wheeler, who was 21 when he won the 2012 Forrest Wood Cup, is attempting to become the first angler to win the $500,000 championship twice. He edged closer Saturday by catching five bass that weighed 14 pounds to boost his three-day total weight to 41-1.
"This is right where I want to be," Wheeler said. "I'm the youngest to win the Cup, and I want to be the first to win it twice, definitely."
Ten anglers will fish in today's championship round, which will begin at 7 a.m. at Brady Mountain Resort and Marina.
Wheeler holds a 12-ounce lead over Brad Knight of Lancing, Tenn., who caught five bass Saturday weighing 12-1 to boost his total to 40-5. A 4-ounce penalty for weighing in a dead bass could figure prominently.
Ramie Colson of Cadiz, Ky., was in third at 37-9 with Bryan Thrift of Shelby, N.C., at 35-13. Brandon Cobb of Greenwood, S.C., rounds out the top five of 34-3.
Chris Baumgardner of Gastonia, N.C., is at 33-11 and Scott Martin of Clewiston, Fla., who won the cup the last time it was held in Lake Ouachita, was at 32-12. Larry Nixon of Bee Branch (32-10), Mark Daniels of Tuskegee Ala., (32-1) and Zack Birge of Blanchard, Okla., (31-5) finish the top 10.
Wheeler, a topwater specialist, said he has been fishing six to seven topwater lures in three main areas, with short stops in a fourth area.
"I fished clean. That's what it's all about," Wheeler said. "I'm satisfied with the bites I had. I'm loving what I'm doing. This is the moment I live for every single year, to be on this stage and have an opportunity to be in front. The fourth quarter is tomorrow. That's when things happen. I had a solid third quarter, so let's try to close it out."
Wheeler is an unassailable position because he's the only angler who is relying on topwater lures. It's an unlikely approach in light of how inactive the fish have been, but Wheeler said topwater fishing is his greatest strength.
"Topwater is what I'm good at," Wheeler said. "I know the little nuances. I know when to throw this. I know when to throw that, and that's why I catch them really good on it because I understand it. It's what I understand better than anything."
Knight's position is more precarious. He's fishing small areas with isolated cover, but he said Daniels is fishing the same area, and it can't support them both.
"We're going to have to have a little pow-wow about how this is going to go down," Knight said. "He's in eighth place, about 8 pounds out."
Knight acknowledged that it could be a tense conversation with Daniels, but he said the angler with the decidedly weaker position should yield to someone in a higher position.
"That conversation can go a lot of different ways," Knight said. "I hope it goes the easy way. I can speak for what I would do. He's down a long ways, fishing the exact same isolated cover I'm fishing. I would concede the water 8 pounds down, but whether somebody else would do that, I don't know."
Colson said he blamed himself for creating the logjam at the top by failing to capitalize on some key opportunities.
"It's a tight race now. I kind of took care of that today," Colson said. "All you can ask for is a chance. To play with these boys, you've got to be the best of the best and catch them every day."
Nixon, who got a thunderous ovation from the crowd in Bank of the Ozarks Arena, will start the final round in eighth place. Chris Jones, FLW's emcee, rattled off Nixon's career accomplishments -- Bassmaster Classic champion, millions of dollars in winnings and numerous top 10 finishes. The only title he hasn't won is the Forrest Wood Cup.
"I'm so tired of hearing this story," Nixon said. "I don't know if I can catch a big enough bag to win. I've made a bunch of top 10 cuts, and I'm sick of not winning this cut."
Nixon appeared to be on his way to a monster day when he caught three bass that weighed close to 4 pounds each early. He didn't catch another until nearly 3 p.m., but it was only 13 inches long.
"Every day has been so trying," Nixon said. "I thought I really had something going, and I was real excited. Today I caught those big ones early, and I thought, 'Holy cow, I'm going to whop them.' And again I went to 3 o'clock until I got that fourth fish."
Lurking in the background is Thrift, who caught the heaviest limit on Saturday. Don't ignore Thrift, Wheeler said, because Thrift has a reputation for big rallies.
"I was the hunter, and now I'm the hunted," Wheeler said. "Thrift is back there sneaking around, and he can catch a huge bag. He's the one dude I didn't want in the top 10."
Thrift said he'll need to catch more than 20 pounds to win, and he doesn't think that's possible on Lake Ouachita right now.
Today's weigh-in will be at 5 p.m. Country recording artist Justin Moore of Poyen will kick off the festivities with a free concert at 4 p.m. at Bank of the Ozarks Arena.
Sports on 08/23/2015