Ohio pro advances directly to Championship Round with two-day total of 63 bass weighing 168-4, 2nd through 25th advance to Saturday’s Knockout Round

SANDUSKY, Ohio (Aug. 7, 2026) – Cole Floyd wasn’t sure he wanted to win the Qualifying Round at Suzuki Marine Stage 7 Presented by B&W Trailer Hitches . Even after lines in Friday morning, he continued to waffle about whether it would be strategically prudent to try to run down Day 1 leader Jeff Sprague.

But once a fresh school of Lake Erie largemouth started biting, the Ohio pro couldn’t help himself.

Much like on Day 1, when he blasted a record 87 pounds in the opening period, Floyd stacked weight onto SCORETRACKER® in a hurry. He boated nearly 50 pounds in 50 minutes, turning his 7-pound deficit into a 35-pound lead.

Sprague wasn’t going to give up the top spot without a fight. He battled back to within 10 pounds as the two pros distanced themselves from the rest of the Bass Pro Tour field.

Ultimately, Sprague’s smallmouth couldn’t match the pace of Floyd’s largemouth. Floyd added 78 pounds, 8 ounces on 31 scorable bass Friday, bringing his two-day total to 168-4. That topped Sprague by 17-6 and earned Floyd an automatic trip to Sunday’s Championship Round, where he’ll try to win his second trophy in the past three Bass Pro Tour events.

Regardless of whether he got there by winning the Qualifying Round or fishing the Knockout Round, Floyd’s primary objectives were to make Sunday’s Championship Round and to do so by putting as little pressure as possible on the spot that produced his epic first period on Day 1. He achieved both goals Friday.

Floyd started on a different school of largemouth on Day 2. He’d found it during practice and checked it again Thursday, getting a couple bites both times, but he never got a feel for just how many bass were there.

A whole bunch, it turns out.

Once the feeding frenzy began, Floyd quickly boated 19 scorable bass for 49-5. At that point, he committed to winning the round.

“When I pulled up to that first place, I was still kind of iffy on what I was going to do,” he said. “I pulled up on a place that I only caught two fish off of yesterday, and I knew there was a few there. I was kind of going to gauge it off that. I didn’t want to beat up my best spot. I noticed that there was a lot of fish on that hole, and I went to catching them, and I was committed. I knew once it started that I had to keep going.”

Sprague turned on his forward-facing sonar for Period 2 and made a run at retaking the lead. The Berkley Big Bass of the day, a 6-3 smallmouth, helped him pull within 9 pounds of Floyd. At that point, Floyd ran to a different school that he’d located during practice and promptly added 22-8 in the span of about 30 minutes, effectively ending Sprague’s comeback bid.

Floyd is optimistic that he left plenty of bass in the two areas he hit Friday. Most important, he never revisited his best stretch from Day 1. He hasn’t seen any competitors fishing in the area, either.

“They’ve been there for going on four days now, so I don’t see them really going anywhere,” he said. “As long as they act dumb again one more day, then I should be alright. I’ll have a good shot.”

Winning the Qualifying Round means Floyd won’t have to battle the wind, which is forecast to kick up Saturday (and which can turn Erie nasty in a hurry). But he’ll be antsy to get back to his schools of largemouth. After doing his best to manage the fish for the past two days, he’s eager to finally see just how much weight he can muster.

“I’m excited to be able to really rotate them back and forth and give it all I got,” he said. “I really don’t know how many are in there. There’s liable to be 100 of them in some of those places; I really don’t know.”

Floyd didn’t want to get too far ahead of himself. Even though he broke through for his first win at Stage 5 on Beaver Lake, he’s had too many close calls to count his chickens just yet.

But if someone beats him Sunday, he’s confident they’ll have to earn it.

“If I don’t catch 100 pounds,” he said, “I’m going to be a little disappointed, honestly.”

Making Floyd’s Qualifying Round performance even more impressive is the fact that smallmouth continue to dominate the catch count on Lake Erie. Through two days, brown fish have accounted for 82.3% of the total weight posted to SCORETRACKER®.

The Knockout Round won’t just determine which anglers have a chance to win the final BPT trophy and $125,000 prize of the year. There are still several spots in REDCREST 2027 up for grabs. Mark Rose , who entered Stage 7 as the last angler inside the projected field, secured his place on Logan Martin Lake with a clutch Day 2 that saw him jump from 41st at the start of the day all the way to 24th. Other anglers who made the Knockout Round cut and gave themselves a chance to fish their way into REDCREST are Jake Lawrence, James Elam, Nick Hatfield, Colby Miller, Mark Davis and Marshall Hughes.

Several of those same anglers are also front and center in the battle to requalify for the Bass Pro Tour in 2027. Hatfield took a big step toward securing an invite by making the Knockout Round. Miller, Elam and Hughes also boosted their chances. Every point will matter for those anglers, and Bradley Roy and Dustin Smith will be watching SCORETRACKER® with great interest, as they’re also squarely on the requalification bubble.

For a little while Friday, it looked like Zack Birge might open the door for Jacob Wheeler to come back and claim his fifth Fishing Clash Angler of the Year (AOY) title in the past six years. But Birge, who boated just three scorable bass during the first half of the day and found himself close to the Lucas Oil Cut Line, rallied in the afternoon, cracking 50 pounds for the second day in a row to climb all the way to fifth.

Wheeler made the Knockout Round cut, too, surging from 22nd at the start of the day to 13th. As a result, the AOY battle will extend at least one more day. Birge entered Stage 7 with a 12-point lead over Wheeler, meaning he just needs to finish within 12 spots of Wheeler at this event to clinch the points crown and $100,000 AOY prize.

The top 25 pros after Day 2 on Lake Erie are:

1st:         Cole Floyd, Leesburg, Ohio, 63 bass, 168-4
2nd:       Jeff Sprague, Wills Point, Texas, 46 bass, 150-14
3rd:        Jake Lawrence, Paris, Tenn., 32 bass, 106-0
4th:        Jacob Walker, Springville, Ala., 41 bass, 105-10
5th:        Zack Birge, Blanchard, Okla., 38 bass, 102-1
6th:        Justin Lucas, Guntersville, Ala., 27 bass, 92-6
7th:        Dustin Connell, Deatsville, Ala., 32 bass, 91-14
8th:        James Elam, Cleveland, Okla., 30 bass, 89-0
9th:        Michael Neal, Dayton, Tenn., 31 bass, 88-14
10th:      Jesse Wiggins, Logan, Ala., 31 bass, 88-10
11th:      Adrian Avena, Marmora, N.J., 27 bass, 88-7
12th:      Matt Becker, Ten Mile, Tenn., 30 bass, 87-12
13th:      Jacob Wheeler, Birchwood, Tenn., 29 bass, 87-9
14th:      John Hunter, Shelbyville, Ky., 28 bass, 86-13
15th:      Chris Lane, Guntersville, Ala., 28 bass, 86-11
16th:      Brent Ehrler, Redlands, Calif., 31 bass, 85-5
17th:      Colby Miller, Elmer, La., 25 bass, 85-2
18th:      Bryan Thrift, Shelby, N.C., 25 bass, 85-2
19th:      Marshall Hughes, Hemphill, Texas, 26 bass, 84-14
20th:      Mark Davis, Mount Ida, Ark., 26 bass, 80-3
21st:      Mark Daniels Jr., Shorter, Ala., 27 bass, 80-2
22nd:     Nick Hatfield, Afton, Tenn., 28 bass, 79-13
23rd:      Wesley Strader, Spring City, Tenn., 27 bass, 74-10
24th:      Mark Rose, Wynne, Ark., 19 bass, 74-9
25th:      Ott DeFoe, Blaine, Tenn., 27 bass, 74-3

A complete list of results can be found at MajorLeagueFishing.com.

Overall, there were 574 bass caught weighing 1,681 pounds, 7 ounces, caught by the 51 Bass Pro Tour anglers on Friday.

Friday’s $1,000 Berkley Big Bass Award was earned by Jeff Sprague of Wills Point, Texas, who caught a 6-pound, 3-ounce smallmouth in the second period on a drop-shot rig. Berkley awards $1,000 to the angler who weighs the heaviest bass each day.

Hosted by Shores & Islands Ohio, t he four-day tournament features 51 of the world’s top professional anglers competing for a $125,000 top prize and their share of a $600,000 purse, along with valuable Fishing Clash Angler of the Year (AOY) points in hopes of qualifying for REDCREST 2027 – the Bass Pro Tour championship – and the Kubota Heavy Hitters all-star event.

The full field of anglers competed in the two-day Qualifying Round on Thursday and Friday. With the Qualifying Round now complete, the pro with the heaviest two-day total – Cole Floyd – will advance directly to Sunday’s Championship Round. Anglers who finished 2nd through 25th now advance to Saturday’s Knockout Round. In the Knockout Round, weights are zeroed, and the remaining anglers compete to finish in the top nine to advance to Sunday’s Championship Round. In the final-day Championship Round, weights are zeroed, and the highest one-day total wins the top prize of $125,000.

Based on the forecast for stronger winds, MLF will enact the trailering policy for Saturday’s Knockout Round. Anglers will arrive at 5:45 a.m. ET to Shelby Street Public Boat Launch, located at 101 Shelby Street in Sandusky, Ohio, and will depart Shelby Street Public Boat Launch at 6 a.m. to approved launch ramps located around the fishery. Anglers will return to Shelby Street Public Boat Launch Saturday 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 watch the event live online throughout the day on the MLFNOW!® livestream and follow along with SCORETRACKER® coverage at  MajorLeagueFishing.com.

The MLFNOW!® broadcast team of Chad McKee and J.T. Kenney will break down the action live every day of competition from 7:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. ET. MLFNOW!® will be livestreamed on MajorLeagueFishing.com , the MyOutdoorTV (MOTV) app and Rumble.

On Saturday and Sunday, Aug. 8-9, from 3 to 6 p.m., MLF invites fans of all ages to the Paper District Marina, located at 611 Shoreline Drive in Sandusky, for the MLF Fan Experience & Watch Party. Fans can watch the Bass Pro Tour pros live on the MLFNOW!® big screen, enjoy free food for the first 100 fans each day, enter hourly giveaways, browse MLF merchandise and the bargain bait bin, participate in a free fishing derby and casting contest, and cheer on their favorite anglers. Live music begins at 4 p.m. (Paul Bogner on Saturday and Mike Risner on Sunday) followed by top-10 angler interviews and the trophy presentation at 5 p.m., including autographs and photos with Bass Pro Tour finalists. The first 50 kids ages 14 and under will receive a free rod and reel each day.

The Suzuki Marine Stage 7 at Lake Erie Presented by B&W Trailer Hitches features anglers competing with a 2-pound 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 2026 Bass Pro Tour features a field of 51 of the best 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 Kubota Heavy Hitters all-star event and the REDCREST 2027 championship.

Television coverage of the Suzuki Marine Stage 7 at Lake Erie Presented by B&W Trailer Hitches will premiere as a two-hour episode starting at 7 a.m. ET, on Saturday, Oct. 3 on Discovery. New MLF episodes premiere each Saturday morning on Discovery, with re-airings on Outdoor Channel.

Proud sponsors of the MLF Bass Pro Tour include: Abu Garcia, Athletic Brewing Co., Bass Force, B&W Trailer Hitches, Bass Force, Bass Pro Shops, Berkley, Black Buffalo, BUBBA, Cigars International, Epic Baits, Fishing Clash, Grizzly, Lowrance, Mercury, MillerTech, NITRO Boats, OFF! Deep Woods, O’Reilly Auto Parts, Power-Pole, Ranger Boats, Rapala, Star brite, Suzuki Marine, Toyota, Yuengling and Zenni.

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, Rumble 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, Outdoor Channel, VICE, World Fishing Network, RFD-TV, Game & Fish TV and Rumble, 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.