Jacob Wheeler Wins REDCREST 2026 at Table Rock Lake — His First Championship, For His Father
Jacob Wheeler finally did it.
After nine qualifications, four previous top-six finishes, and years of having REDCREST slip through his fingers, the Birchwood, Tennessee pro walked off Table Rock Lake on Sunday with 21 scorable bass totaling 51 pounds, 11 ounces — a decisive 13-pound, 3-ounce margin over runner-up Takahiro Omori — and a check for $300,000.
But the numbers only tell part of the story.
The REDCREST 2026 Championship at Table Rock Lake was never just about the trophy for Wheeler. It was about a late father. A 7-year-old daughter. And a thorn the sport's most decorated angler had been carrying for longer than he wanted to admit.
Photo by G. Dixon / Courtesy of Major League Fishing
"Dad, you don't have to win today. Just make sure you win tomorrow."
That was the advice Wheeler's 7-year-old daughter Olivia gave him before Championship Sunday.
Heading into the final round at Table Rock, Zack Birge led the qualifying standings by more than 11 pounds. But REDCREST's format resets the leaderboard to zero for the Championship Round — all ten anglers start even, eight hours to decide everything.
Wheeler, for his part, was honest with his daughter about the stakes.
"I'm just like, 'Honey, I'm going to try, but it's not a guarantee,'" Wheeler said.
Turns out the guarantee came early. Wheeler caught his first keeper 15 minutes after lines-in. Then another. Then another. By the end of the opening hour, he'd put 20 scorable bass in the boat. By the end of the first period, he'd piled up 35 pounds, 11 ounces — a number that effectively clinched REDCREST before most of the field had caught anything worth weighing.
Nine Qualifications. Four Top Sixes. Zero Trophies. Until Now.
To understand why this win mattered so much, you have to understand Wheeler's REDCREST résumé up to this point.
Nine-time qualifier. Four previous top-six finishes. Consistently in the hunt. Never the champion.
"It's just been the thorn in my side," Wheeler said after the win. "It means the world. It really does."
This is a guy who's won Angler of the Year four times. Who's won Bass Pro Tour stages on multiple lakes in multiple formats. Who's been, by almost every statistical measure, the best bass fisherman on the planet for the better part of a decade.
And REDCREST — the sport's richest championship, the $300,000 trophy, the one ring he didn't have — kept slipping away.
Not anymore.
Photo by Tyler Brinks / Courtesy of Major League Fishing
How He Won It: Smallmouth First, Largemouth When Needed
Wheeler's Championship Sunday pattern was a masterclass in Table Rock's dual personality.
He split his day between two very different kinds of bass:
For the smallmouth — which provided the bulk of his weight — Wheeler ran to the end of a main-lake point in Long Creek, where he'd located spawning smallmouth during his conservative Day 2 scouting. He worked a jighead minnow and a Ned rig, cycling between:
- A 4.25-inch Rapala CrushCity Freeloader
- A 4.5-inch Rapala CrushCity Mooch Minnow
- A CrushCity Salted Ned Roll on a Ned rig
Lowrance ActiveTarget 2 XL did the heavy lifting on fish location. He wasn't casting blind — he was watching spawning smallmouth set up on a known high-percentage area and picking off the aggressive ones one by one.
For the largemouth — called upon when he needed to supplement in shallower, stained water — he tied on a Z-Man Evergreen JackHammer ChatterBait paired with a CrushCity Freeloader as the trailer. Sungill or green pumpkin magic, depending on the light.
Photo by MLF Staff / Courtesy of Major League Fishing
"Yesterday Was the Day I Won This Tournament"
Here's the part of Wheeler's win that doesn't show up in the highlight reel: Saturday.
On Day 2 — the second qualifying round, before the Sunday reset — Wheeler intentionally throttled back. He wasn't trying to lead the field into Sunday. He was trying to preserve the spawning smallmouth population on the point he'd found, and scout secondary locations in case his primary broke down.
"Yesterday was the day I won this tournament," Wheeler said afterward.
It's a line that sounds like a humble brag, but it's actually a precise description of winning tournament fishing. Saturday wasn't about scoring. Saturday was about positioning — leaving fish in the tank, knowing exactly where they'd be the next morning, and trusting that a clean start would compound.
It did. Thirty-five pounds, eleven ounces in the first period.
Photo by Phoenix Moore / Courtesy of Major League Fishing
For His Father
The most emotional moment of the weekend wasn't the weigh-in. It was what Wheeler carried onto Table Rock with him.
His father passed away days before REDCREST 2025 — just over a year ago — after specifically asking Jacob to win the championship for him. Wheeler didn't. REDCREST 2025 came and went. So did the weight of a promise unfulfilled.
He won it this year. The tears on the stage were for his dad.
And when asked whether REDCREST defined his career, Wheeler gave the honest, grown-up answer:
"Does it define my career? No. But it definitely adds an additional layer to it."
It's the right answer. Angler of the Year titles. BPT wins. FLW Cup. Forrest Wood Cup. Wheeler's legacy was secure before Sunday. But every great career has one trophy that gnaws. REDCREST was his. Now it isn't.
The Final Standings
Here's how the top 10 shook out on Championship Sunday at Table Rock Lake:
| Place | Angler | Bass | Weight | Prize |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1st | Jacob Wheeler (Birchwood, TN) | 21 | 51-11 | $300,000 |
| 2nd | Takahiro Omori (Tokyo, Japan) | 15 | 38-8 | $50,000 |
| 3rd | Zack Birge (Blanchard, OK) | 12 | 32-15 | $40,000 |
| 4th | Brent Ehrler (Redlands, CA) | 12 | 29-7 | $28,000 |
| 5th | Drew Gill (Mount Carmel, IL) | 12 | 28-1 | $25,000 |
| 6th | Alton Jones Jr. (Lorena, TX) | 9 | 24-14 | $20,000 |
| 7th | Mark Daniels Jr. (Shorter, AL) | 10 | 23-14 | $18,000 |
| 8th | Spencer Shuffield (Hot Springs, AR) | 8 | 20-9 | $16,000 |
| 9th | Jeff Sprague (Wills Point, TX) | 7 | 17-3 | $14,500 |
| 10th | Dustin Connell (Clanton, AL) | 5 | 12-8 | $12,500 |
A few notable storylines outside the top spot:
- Takahiro Omori's silver medal was the Japanese veteran's best REDCREST finish to date, and reinforced how dangerous he remains in big-stakes championship formats.
- Zack Birge led the qualifying round by more than 11 pounds and watched the reset work exactly the way the format is designed to work — a third-place finish instead of a runaway.
- Dustin Connell, the three-time REDCREST champion who entered the Championship Round as a pre-tournament favorite, managed only 5 bass for 12-8 — a reminder that even the best on this lake can get pinched in a one-day final.
- Alton Jones Jr. took home the $1,000 Berkley Big Bass Award with a 4-pound, 10-ounce largemouth, adding a nice little cherry to his sixth-place check.
Across the full three-day event, the 35-angler field caught 985 scorable bass weighing 2,421 pounds, 15 ounces — Table Rock delivering exactly the kind of production the Ozarks were asked to produce.
What This Win Means for the Rest of 2026
A few takeaways from the 2026 REDCREST that matter beyond Sunday:
Wheeler is still the guy to beat. The narrative that he had a "REDCREST hole" in his career just got patched. There is no remaining weakness in his résumé. He's the best angler in the world, and he now has the championship to match.
The reset format worked. Birge's 11-plus-pound qualifying lead vanished on Sunday, which is exactly what MLF wants — a Championship Round where every fish counts equally and no one coasts to a title on a qualifying cushion.
Table Rock's dual pattern (smallmouth point, largemouth shallow) is the story. Anglers who played both species flexibly — Wheeler, Omori, Birge — made the podium. Anglers who committed to a single program didn't.
Forward-facing sonar is still a decisive tool in the championship format. Wheeler's ActiveTarget 2 XL let him confirm fish presence on his Long Creek point before making a cast, which is the kind of edge that turns "probably a good spot" into "this is the spot." The debate about its competitive role in professional fishing will continue — but it didn't slow Wheeler down.
Frequently Asked Questions
Who won REDCREST 2026?
Jacob Wheeler of Birchwood, Tennessee won Bass Pro Shops REDCREST 2026 Presented by Mercury and Lowrance at Table Rock Lake, catching 21 scorable bass totaling 51 pounds, 11 ounces on Championship Sunday. He earned $300,000 for first place.
How much did Jacob Wheeler win at REDCREST 2026?
Wheeler took home a $300,000 check — the largest single-event prize in Major League Fishing's Bass Pro Tour. The total REDCREST 2026 purse paid out approximately $524,000 across the 35-angler field.
What lures did Jacob Wheeler use to win REDCREST 2026?
For smallmouth, Wheeler used a jighead minnow and a Ned rig with three Rapala CrushCity plastics: a 4.25-inch Freeloader, a 4.5-inch Mooch Minnow, and a Salted Ned Roll. For largemouth in shallower stained water, he used a Z-Man Evergreen JackHammer ChatterBait with a CrushCity Freeloader trailer in sungill or green pumpkin magic.
What was the margin of victory at REDCREST 2026?
Wheeler won by 13 pounds, 3 ounces over runner-up Takahiro Omori of Tokyo, Japan — a decisive margin in a one-day Championship Round format. Wheeler put up 35-11 in just the first period alone, which effectively clinched the event.
Where was REDCREST 2026 held?
REDCREST 2026 was held on Table Rock Lake near Springfield, Missouri, from April 17-19, 2026. The 52,000-acre impoundment on the White River is one of the most famous bass fisheries in the country and sits in the Ozark Mountains. The event was hosted by Bass Pro Shops at its Springfield headquarters.
How many REDCREST titles does Jacob Wheeler now have?
This is Wheeler's first REDCREST title. He qualified nine times before finally breaking through at Table Rock in 2026. Dustin Connell remains MLF's most decorated REDCREST angler with three championships (2022, 2023, 2024).
Did Jacob Wheeler win REDCREST for his father?
Yes. Wheeler's father passed away days before REDCREST 2025 after specifically asking Jacob to win the championship for him. Wheeler dedicated the 2026 win to his late father in an emotional post-weigh-in moment.
REDCREST 2026 concluded Sunday, April 19, at Table Rock Lake near Springfield, Missouri. The 2026 Bass Pro Tour season continues with Stage 5 in the coming weeks. Follow BassFishing.World for continued coverage of professional bass fishing's biggest stages.