Final 10 pros now set for Championship Sunday, heaviest one-day total to earn top prize of $150,000

CONROE, Texas (Feb. 1, 2025) –A new season on the Bass Pro Tour arrived with several new wrinkles, most notably the league’s limitations on forward-facing sonar. Yet a familiar name topped the SCORETRACKER® leaderboard at the conclusion of Saturday’s Knockout Round at the B&W Trailer Hitches Stage 1 Presented by Power-Pole.

Reigning Fishing Clash Angler of the Year (AOY) Jacob Wheeler of Harrison, Tennessee, stacked up 75 pounds, 7 ounces on 35 scorable bass to pace the 19-angler field, topping New Hope, Alabama pro Jacob Wall by 2-5. The most decorated angler in BPT history added a 30th Championship Round appearance (in 51 total events) to his gaudy resume. Sunday, he’ll seek to tack on his ninth victory, too.

Wheeler and the rest of the top nine finishers will join Qualifying Round winner Nick LeBrun of Bossier City, Louisiana, in what’s shaping up to be a wide-open Championship Round. Six anglers weighed more than 69 pounds on Saturday, and that doesn’t include LeBrun, who totaled 83-6 on Day 1.

Totals will once again zero overnight, and the angler who catches the most weight will take home the $150,000 top prize. The four-day event, hosted by Visit Conroe, showcases 66 of the top professional bass anglers in the world competing in the first tournament of the 2025 season.

It came as little surprise that Wheeler opted to use his one period with forward-facing sonar in Period 1, as most anglers have done all week. However, he still threw the field a curveball. Rather than starting his day in Caney Creek, which has been by far the most popular area of Conroe, Wheeler spent the opening frame in a new cove on the lower section of the lake.

Wheeler felt like the bass in Caney Creek had received too much fishing pressure, and he didn’t want to risk sharing water with other competitors during his forward-facing sonar period, which has proven to be pivotal this week. The decision paid off. Wheeler landed 23 scorable bass totaling 47-4 in Period 1, which positioned him in fourth place.

“Everybody and their brother had been in those same places, and I just didn’t want to be back in the same old rotation and potentially only catch 20 pounds,” Wheeler said. “I needed some fresh fish and felt like the area had the potential for that, and it turned out to be a good start.”

Wheeler’s forward-facing sonar success didn’t come as a surprise; he caught more than 50 pounds in the opening period on Day 1. During the Knockout Round, he was able to keep the momentum rolling after turning his transducers off better than he had during the first two days.

Across the final two periods, Wheeler added another 12 bass for 28-3, largely by seining submerged hydrilla with a lipless crankbait and vibrating jig. While he admitted he hadn’t leaned on his best grass areas on Days 1 and 2 (and he eventually switched into practice mode Saturday afternoon as well), he also thinks he’s identified a few spots that fresh fish have moved into.

“We had that rain on the off day and then the first day of the tournament, and that really stained up the middle of the creeks and made some areas that were a little bit too clean to catch them in (productive),” Wheeler explained. “I fished this patch of grass twice in practice and never got a bite, and today I rolled up there and caught a 3-14. It’s a combination of the weather warming up and the water being a little bit more stained.”

That ability to keep his finger on the pulse of a fishery throughout the course of a tournament and find new, productive water has long been one of Wheeler’s hallmarks. He didn’t rule out starting in a different spot again on Sunday – or even waiting until later in the day to utilize forward-facing sonar, a decision he’ll base on the weather forecast.

“I seriously do not know yet,” Wheeler said of his Championship Round strategy. “A lot of the stuff that I was fishing, I’m not fishing by myself. At least for shallow stuff, it’s pretty crowded. And then the deeper stuff, I had that one zone, but there were also a lot of locals in that area that saw where I was fishing, too.”

One thing Wheeler feels pretty sure about is that it’s going to take at least 80 pounds to claim the first trophy of the 2025 season. He figures he needs to catch at least half that weight during the forward-facing sonar period to have a chance at adding it to his extensive collection – but given the number of forward-facing sonar wizards in the field, the other periods could make the difference.

“I think 80-plus pounds wins the tournament,” he said. “If I catch 40 (in Period 1) and then 20 and 20 (in each of the next two periods), or catch 60 and then catch 10 and 10, then I give myself a chance to win. So, that’s the goal. We’ll see what happens.”

The top nine pros from the Knockout Round that now advance to Championship Sunday on Lake Conroe are:

1st:        Jacob Wheeler, Harrison, Tenn., 35 bass, 75-7
2nd:       Jacob Wall, New Hope, Ala., 28 bass, 73-2
3rd:       Colby Miller, Elmer, La., 29 bass, 70-5
4th:        Jake Lawrence, Paris, Tenn., 27 bass, 69-7
5th:        Justin Cooper, Zwolle, La., 27 bass, 69-5
6th:        Drew Gill, Mount Carmel, Illinois, 29 bass, 65-8
7th:        Zack Birge, Blanchard, Okla., 25 bass, 65-1
8th:        Alton Jones Jr., Waco, Texas, 25 bass, 62-13
9th:        Justin Lucas, Guntersville, Ala., 25 bass, 58-12
*QR Winner: Nick LeBrun, Bossier City, La.

Eliminated from competition is:

11th:     Spencer Shuffield, Hot Springs, Ark., 21 bass, 50-14, $15,900
12th:     Todd Faircloth, Jasper, Texas, 21 bass, 50-13, $15,800
13th:     Dustin Connell, Clanton, Ala., 13 bass, 43-7, $15,700
14th:     Cole Floyd, Leesburg, Ohio, 17 bass, 38-14, $15,600
15th:     Mark Daniels Jr., Tuskegee, Ala., 17 bass, 31-14, $15,500
16th:     Wesley Strader, Spring City, Tenn., 14 bass, 31-3, $15,400
17th:     Ron Nelson, Berrien Springs, Mich., 14 bass, 25-14, $15,300
18th:     Ott DeFoe, Blaine, Tenn., 10 bass, 21-10, $15,200
19th:     Martin Villa, Charlottesville, Va., 10 bass, 21-5, $15,100
20th:     Takahiro Omori, Tokyo, Japan, two bass, 4-5, $15,000

For a full list of results visit MajorLeagueFishing.com.

Overall, there were 389 scorable bass weighing 929 pounds, 15 ounces caught by the 19 pros on Saturday.

Pro Justin Cooper of Zwolle, Louisiana, won Saturday’s Berkley Big Bass Award, catching a 7-pound, 10-ounce largemouth on a vibrating jig in Period 3. Berkley awards $1,000 to the angler who weighs the heaviest bass each day.

The full field of anglers competed in the two-day Qualifying Round on Thursday and Friday. After the two-day Qualifying Round was complete, leader Nick LeBrun advanced directly to Sunday’s Championship Round. The anglers that finished 2nd through 20th competed in Saturday’s Knockout Round. In the Knockout Round, weights were zeroed, and the top nine finishers now join LeBrun in Sunday’s Championship Round. In the Championship Round, weights are zeroed, and the highest one-day total wins the top prize of $150,000.

The final 10 anglers will arrive Sunday at 5:30 a.m. CT to the Outlets at Conroe, located at 1111 League Line Road in Conroe. The Bass Pro Tour trailering policy has been enacted for this event, so anglers will depart the Outlets at 6:15 a.m. to one of four optional launch ramps located around the fishery. Anglers will return to the Outlets at Conroe each evening, following the end of competition at 3:45 p.m. Fans are welcome to attend all launch and takeout events and also encouraged to follow the event online throughout the day on the MLFNOW!® live stream and SCORETRACKER® coverage at MajorLeagueFishing.com .

The MLFNOW!® broadcast team of Chad McKee and J.T. Kenney will break down the extended action live on Championship Sunday from 7:30 a.m. to 4:15 p.m. CT. MLFNOW!® is live streamed on MajorLeagueFishing.com, the MyOutdoorTV (MOTV) app and Rumble.

On Sunday, Feb. 2, from 3 p.m. to 6 p.m. MLF welcomes fans of all ages to visit the Outlets at Conroe for the MLF Fan Experience & Watch Party. Fans can watch the pros live on the MLFNOW! big screen, enjoy free food, enter to win hourly giveaways and cheer on their favorite pros. The first 50 kids 14 and under will receive a free rod and reel. The final 10 Bass Pro Tour anglers will be on hand to meet and greet fans, sign autographs and take selfies.

The B&W Trailer Hitches Stage 1 at Lake Conroe Presented by Power-Pole features anglers competing with a 1-pound, 8-ounce minimum weight requirement for a bass to be deemed scorable. The MLF Fisheries Management Division determines minimum weights for each body of water that the Bass Pro Tour visits, based on the productivity, bass population and anticipated average size of fish in each fishery.

The 2025 Bass Pro Tour features a field of 66 of the top professional anglers in the world, competing across seven regular-season tournaments around the country, for millions of dollars and valuable points to qualify for the annual General Tire Heavy Hitters all-star event and the REDCREST 2026 championship.

Television coverage of the B&W Trailer Hitches Stage 1 at Lake Conroe Presented by Power-Pole will premiere as a two-hour episode starting at 7 a.m. ET, on Saturday, Aug. 30 on Discovery, with the Championship Round premiering the following Saturday on Sept. 6. New MLF episodes premiere each Saturday morning on Discovery, with re-airings on Outdoor Channel.

Proud sponsors of the 2025 MLF Bass Pro Tour include: 7Brew Coffee, Abu Garcia, Athletic Brewing, Bass Force, B&W Trailer Hitches, Bass Pro Shops, Berkley, BUBBA, E3 Sports Apparel, Fishing Clash, Grizzly, Lowrance, Mercury, MillerTech, Mossy Oak Fishing, NITRO, O’Reilly Auto Parts, Power-Pole, Rapala, Star brite, Suzuki Marine and Toyota.

For complete details and updated information on Major League Fishing and the Bass Pro Tour, visit MajorLeagueFishing.com. For regular updates, photos, tournament news and more, follow MLF’s social media outlets at Facebook, X , Instagram and  YouTube.

About Major League Fishing
Major League Fishing (MLF) is the world’s largest tournament-fishing organization, producing more than 250 events annually at some of the most prestigious fisheries in the world, while broadcasting to America’s living rooms on CBS, Discovery Channel, Outdoor Channel, CBS Sports Network, World Fishing Network and on demand on MyOutdoorTV (MOTV). Headquartered in Benton, Kentucky, the MLF roster of bass anglers includes the world’s top pros and more than 30,000 competitors in all 50 states and 20 countries. Since its founding in 2011, MLF has advanced the sport of competitive fishing through its premier television broadcasts and livestreams and is dedicated to improving the quality of life for bass through research, education, fisheries enhancement and fish care.