2024 Wheeler Lake B.A.S.S. Elite

My record on Tennessee River impoundments is mixed. I’ve had a few Top 10s, but I’ve also had some bombs. And that describes my past performances on Wheeler Lake.

Like most TVA reservoirs in the summer, Wheeler offers a good ledge bite … so long as they generate power. Without current, however, the ledge bite suffers. And that proved to be the case this time around. 

As options, we had the backs of feeder creeks, main river grass beds, bluff banks, and hundreds of docks. And like any other post-spawn event, it would be a process of figuring out where the better fish were moving to — that and which species of black bass to pursue.

Wheeler has a healthy population of spots, smallmouth, and meanmouth, but it’s the largemouth that usually win multi-day tournaments. Knowing that they remained my focus throughout the event.

Practice Begins

On day 1, I launched at Ingalls Harbor — the official take-off and weigh-in site for the tournament. From there, I ran straight across the river channel to the Decatur Flats. 

Almost immediately, I entered a large field of submerged vegetation. Finding that, I dropped the trolling motor and began dissecting the area with a variety of lures — including a Chatterbait with Zako trailer, Shimano World Pop, Hildebrandt HeadBanger buzzbait, and Tin Roller spinnerbait.

Within minutes I connected with my first fish — a healthy 2½ pound largemouth. Soon after, another struck the Chatterbait-Zako combo. Not wanting to soremouth any others, I moved away and down the flat.

As the day progressed, I tried other lures and soft-plastic rigs, including a Texas-rig Senko and Yamamoto Sensei Worm. Bites were few and far between, however, and I never felt comfortable with anything other than the grass bed I started on.

On day 2, I headed west to the nuclear plant to fish its intake. Starting up current, I quickly scored a solid 3-pounder. A little later, a couple of non-keepers. While there, I noticed a massive hatch of mayflies. Filing that away, I moved further west to try some bluff banks. Again, I scored a couple of keepers, but those were the last bites I got in that part of the lake.

Next, I traveled to the very back of Spring Creek, to a small ditch leading into Swoope Pond. At the mouth, I noticed downed trees blocking the entrance. Instead of dealing with those, I looped back to a field of lotus pads to try a hollow-body frog.

When that failed, I returned to the main lake and charted several drops. But they, too, showed no signs of bass.

My next stop was inside First Creek, where I tried scoping the channel for suspended fish. Again, nothing. Even the marina docks at the state park showed no potential, so I ran to the very back of Second Creek to try some shallow docks.

Again, no luck.

On day 3, I went upstream from Decatur to try the spoil banks flanking the river channel. That’s when I found my starting spot — a stretch of submerged eelgrass in three to five feet of water.

Using the plum-colored Sensei Worm, I made random casts ahead of the boat and connected with two fish. Not wanting to sore mouth any more of them, I shook off each bite and then moved away from the area.

From there, I tried several banks of water willow but that produced nothing. By mid-afternoon, I was ready to prep my boat and tackle for the competition ahead.

Derby Time

Drawing out late in the take-off order, I figured others would beat me to the spoil bank upriver. Nonetheless, when they called my number, I exited Ingalls Harbor and headed straight there. 

To my surprise, the only boat ahead of me was “G-Man”, Gerald Swindle. I stopped downstream about 75 yards and fell in behind him. 

In the next 30 minutes, other boats showed up. Among them were Drew Benton and Carl Jocumsen. By that time, Gerald and I had caught a few fish each. Unfortunately, none were the right quality.

Soon, other boats started showing up. Frustrated with the crowd and fish that were too small, I decided to try my luck on the grass flats across from take-off.

When I arrived, I found Ray Hanselman sitting in the middle of the grass bed. With him was a camera boat, shooting as he culled a fish. Not wanting to encroach, I stayed nearer to the river channel.

Minutes later, Ray pulled his trolling motor and left. I figured either the fish were running small or he was saving them for the next day.

Switching to the Hildebrandt buzzbait and a Stanley Ribbit frog, I traversed the entire flat — slowly putting together a decent five-fish stringer. From there, I moved to an adjacent grassbed where I culled a few times before weigh-in.

Back at the scales, I posted a weight of 12 pounds, 1 ounce — just below the Top 50 cut.

Derby Day 2

With the take-off order reversed, I was now in the first flight. And when my number was called, I raced directly to the grassbed across the channel. Once in place, I dropped the trolling motor and watched as the boats behind me filed out of Ingalls Harbor … wondering if any would head my way. 

To my surprise, none did … not even Ray Hanselman. And in the next few hours, I caught fish at will, including a solid 5-pounder. 

Off in the distance was Greg Hackney and another boat I couldn’t identify. When that boat eventually got within range, I realized it was Ray. But for whatever reason, he never came close to where I found him on day 1.

Sometime around noon, a couple of other boats entered the area, but they only made a quick pass and then left.

Just before check-in, I experienced another quick flurry of activity, which included another fish over five pounds. When I reached the scales, I registered a weight of 16 pounds, 11 ounces — more than enough to make the cut to Semi-Final Saturday.

Stoked about my result and the opportunity ahead, I trailered the boat and headed to the nearest gas station.

The Semis

The next morning, I noticed a slight breeze in the air. Having had calm conditions the first two days of competition, I wondered how it might affect the bite. 

When my number was called, I advanced through checkout and ran once more to the grass bed across from Ingalls Harbor. Thirty minutes later, I scored my first keeper of the day — a fat two-pounder. A bit later, I caught two more, but that was it until afternoon.

Throughout the lull, I tried switching lures and retrieve speeds, but nothing seemed to work. Frustrated, I moved to the adjacent grass bed and finally finished my limit. It was as if I was on a different lake and I regretted not moving sooner. The fish weren’t big, but they were aggressive and I was able to cull up a couple of pounds.

When time ran out, I returned to check-in and weighed a small, 10-pound limit. It cost me some points, but I was content with the finish and a check for $10,000.

The following day, I appeared as a guest commentator on B.A.S.S. LIVE Mix. My travel companion, Cliff Prince was leading the event and I shared numerous stories of our experiences on tour. And though Ray Hanselman made a valiant charge, in the end, Cliff was able to hold him off and secure his first Elite Series victory.

Next is Smith Lake. Stay tuned…