Caleb Sumrall has some climbing to do during the Bassmaster Elite Series stretch run of 2024.

Going into the sixth of nine tournaments this year for the Elites, the New Iberia outdoorsman is sitting in 62nd-place in the Angler of the Year standings with 236 points.

Sumrall needs to move up 22 or so notches before it’s over to qualify for next year’s Bassmaster Classic. It’s been an up-and-down sixth season for him at the highest level in the sport, a year he was counting on as a bounce back year after missing the cut for the last two Bassmaster Classics.

The 37-year-old Elite bass angler from New Iberia gets his first shot at moving up the ladder Thursday, June 13, in the 2024 Whataburger Bassmaster Elite at Wheeler Lake in Decatur, Alabama. Sumrall has 236 points, 40 points behind the projected Classic cutline held by Jason Christie of Welling, Oklahoma.

Currently, Christie is in 40th with 276 points. Idaho bass pro Brandon Palaniuk is in 41st with 274 points.

This week’s tournament on Wheeler Lake will be Sumrall’s first-ever on the Tennessee River lake near Decatur. The Decatur Flats normally give up the size and numbers of bass needed for a good result but the lake’s current water conditions could play right into Sumrall’s hands if he chooses to go shallow.

Sumrall, who got his bass fishing start in and around the Atchafalaya Basin, could be right at home because the water’s high and plenty of postspawn bass still are holding in and around bushes, bank grass and lily pads before moving to the lake’s notorious offshore ledges, according to Sam George, an Alabama pro fishes the Tackle Warehouse Elite Qualifiers Division in the Bassmaster Opens.

“I expect a lot of fish to get caught in the dirt. When you get up there it’s pads, willow grass and bushes. The lily pads are a lot further ahead this year than where they were last year,” George said in a Bassmaster news release June 7.

Flippin’ baits, swim jigs and plastic frogs are top artificials in those areas, he said.

The lake might show out to its true potential, according to George.

“I think they are going to hit it at a good time. We’ve had quite a bit of rain and storms, so the water has a good color to it and we have a lot of current right now,” he said about what he considers his home lake. “Our quality right now is really good. When you swing the bat on this lake, it is a good one. There are a lot of 3- and 4-pound bass. It has been cool to see the lake come back.”

Sumrall might be swinging for the fences, for sure. It hasn’t been the year he was hopeful for but there still are four tournaments remaining to rally into the coveted Classic field.

His highest finishes this year were 26th April 18-21 on the St. Johns River in Florida and 31st Feb. 22-25 at Toledo Bend, where he guided for four years soon after he joined the Elites. His third-highest finish was 60th Feb. 29-March 3 at Lake Fork in Texas.

His other two finishes were in the 80s – 84th April 12-15 at the Harris Chain of Lakes in Florida and 83rd May 10-13 at Lake Murray in South Carolina.

After Wheeler Lake, Sumrall and the rest of the Elites travel to fish Lewis Smith Lake in Cullman, Alabama, on June 27-30, then take a month off before heading to New York State for the Tackle Warehouse Bassmaster Elite at Lake Champlain Aug. 8-11 in Plattsburgh before the regular-season finale Aug. 15-18 on the St. Lawrence River in Waddington.

The Wheeler Lake tournament days all start at 6 a.m. CST from Ingalls Harbor and end with a 2 p.m. weigh-in at the Harbor. The field will be cut to the Top 50 Elites after Day 2, then the Top 10 anglers from Semifinal Saturday advance to Championship Sunday for the shot at $100,000.