Jacob Wheeler of Harrison, Tennessee won the Knockout Round of the Major League Fishing Pro Bass Tour inaugural event of 2022 with a nine bass catch totaling 43 pounds, 7 ounces but the real winner was the “Jewel of Jackson Parish” otherwise known as Caney Lake.
The fishery where the 15.97 lb. bass that set the Louisiana state record was caught in 1994, now is the site of the all-time Bass Pro Tour record when Randy Howell landed a 10-pound, 11-ounce lunker. He was not alone in landing large bass after bass which caused almost every single one of the 38 professional anglers that competed to heap their praises, including the round winner, Wheeler.
“What an unbelievable day,” said an excited Wheeler said in his post-game interview. “That was so much fun. As many big ones as I caught – it was definitely the best tournament fishing day I’ve ever had. One of the best fishing days of my entire life.”
“I promise that this isn’t the last time that you’ll see me here,” Wheeler went on to say. “I’ll definitely be making a couple of trips back to Caney Lake, this place was unreal.”
Second place winner, Jordan Lee, who weighed in two fish over 8 pounds and one over 7 pounds also was effusive in his praise of the lake.
“Today was just crazy, the size of fish that I caught today,” Lee said. “I only caught six, but they were big. It was an incredible day.
Qualifying rounds of two, 40-man groups fished Lake D’Arbonne for two days per group before the 2nd thru 20th place finishers moved on to the Knockout Round held on Caney Lake this past Wednesday.
Knockout Round Winners: (Top 8 to compete in the Championship Round)
Jacob Wheeler, – 9 bass, 43-7 lbs.
Jordan Lee- 6 bass, 34-10 lbs.
Bradley Roy- 6 bass, 27-12 lbs.
Bryan Thrift – 6 bass, 23-0 lbs.
Randy Howell- 3 bass, 18-3 lbs.
Jeff Sprague- 5 bass, 18-1 lbs.
Alton Jones – 4 bass, 15-6 lbs.
Shinichi Fukae – 3 bass, 14-9 lbs.
They’ll were joined by Qualifying Round winners:
Group A: Mark Daniels, Jr.
Group B: Jared Lintner
Roy wins $100,000.00 Payout
Bradley Roy caught 5 fish on Bussey Brake in the Championship Round that weighed a total of 26 lbs. 2 ozs. to win the inaugural Pro Bass Tour Series Tournament over nine other competitors to take home the $100,000.00 first prize. While the total number of fish and weight failed in comparison to the totals the pro’s caught on Caney Lake in the knockout round, a new all-time record for the largest bass ever caught in PBT competition was set.
Ironically it was the same man, Randy Howell, who caught a 10 lb, 11 oz bass on Caney Lake the day before to set a new record, who set the record again one day later when one of the two fish he landed on the day weighed 12 lb. 14ozs.
Winners of the championship round held at Bussey Brake
| ANGLER | TOTAL WEIGHT/FISH | LARGEST | PAYOUT ($) |
| Bradley Roy | 26-02 (5) | 8-14 | 100,000 |
| Alton Jones | 24-15 (5) | 9-00 | 45,000 |
| Jordan Lee | 24-09 (5) | 6-12 | 38,000 |
| Bryan Thrift | 23-15 (5) | 9-03 | 32,000 |
| Jeff Sprague | 18-13 (4) | 7-14 | 30,000 |
| Randy Howell | 16-03 (2) | 12-14 | 26,000 |
| Mark Daniels Jr. | 13-06 (3) | 6-00 | 23,000 |
| Jacob Wheeler | 11-04 (2) | 7-08 | 21,000 |
| Shin Fukae | 3-15 (1) | 3-15 | 19,000 |
| Jared Lintner | 0-00 (0) | 16,000 |
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