Ohio pro races to 17 bass for 44-7 to win Knockout Round and advance, final 10 now set for Championship Day shootout for $125,000

ROGERS, Ark. (May 2, 2026) – A few times on Saturday, Cole Floyd said he felt “the hair on the back of my neck standing up.” That’s because Floyd felt like everything might finally be falling into place for him to claim his first Bass Pro Tour win at Yuengling Light Lager Stage 5 Presented by YETI on Beaver Lake.

Floyd, who had to rally just to make the Knockout Round, started the day right where he’d left off. He boated 14 scorable bass for 35-15 in Period 1 alone, quickly shooting to the top of SCORETRACKER® and never yielding the top spot. He added a couple more fish early in Period 2 before switching to practice mode in preparation for Sunday’s Championship Round. His total weight of 44-7 on 17 scorable bass topped Spencer Shuffield by 6-4.

Floyd and the rest of the top nine finishers from Saturday will join Qualifying Round winner Marshall Hughes on Sunday, where the angler who catches the most weight will earn the Stage 5 trophy and $125,000 top prize.

Almost exactly a year ago, Floyd ignited a hot streak that put him in exclusive company on the Bass Pro Tour. Starting with Stage 4 on Lakes Chickamauga and Nickajack, the Ohio pro rattled off five consecutive Top-10 finishes to close the season en route to a fourth-place finish in the Fishing Clash Angler of the Year (AOY) standings.

Floyd attributed that heater to his shallow-water, power-fishing skillset. So, it should be no surprise that he looked for a similar bite during practice on Beaver. He found a productive area in the upper reaches of the White River, but runoff from the storms that rolled through the area prior to Day 1 muddied the waters too much for Floyd to fish there.

When he returned on Friday afternoon and saw that the water had started to clear and continued to rise, he knew it could be special.

“I told my official, ‘Man, we’re about to smash them. I just don’t know if I have enough time,’” Floyd said. “And it was on, man.”

With one period left in the Qualifying Round, Floyd sat in 43rd place, nearly 15 pounds back of the Lucas Oil Cut Line. During Period 3, he blasted 31-1 on 13 fish to advance to Saturday.

Catching all largemouth, Floyd thinks the bass in the area are prespawners. That’s key for two reasons. One, he’s catching big fish. The first four bass Floyd put on SCORETRACKER® Saturday all topped 3 pounds (more than decent for the Arkansas fishery), and he caught two over 4 on the day. He’s also optimistic that they will stay in the area, while new ones could move up overnight.

“A lot of the fish I’m catching are prespawn females – big ones, too – so, that makes me feel better about the situation,” he said. “I feel like there’s some fish coming to me, and the fish are just going to hang around and set up to spawn.”

Quickly putting so much distance between himself and the Lucas Oil Cut Line allowed Floyd to spend the latter two-thirds of the day exploring new water. In fact, the only scorable bass he added in the final five hours of competition was caught by accident – Floyd tried to shake it off but hooked it anyway.

He doesn’t think he found anything better than the stretches that produced his Period 1 run, but Floyd added a few more spots into his arsenal for Sunday.

“Not very often are you able to do that,” he said. “To end the first period and know I could go and mill around for 5 more hours, roughly, I knew that was going to be very helpful, especially going into tomorrow and me beating on my main couple stretches.”

Floyd has learned from experience that success in the early rounds of events doesn’t always translate to the final day, so he’s keeping his expectations in check. While he thinks he could have surpassed 60 or even 70 pounds on Saturday, his goal for the Championship Round is 50.

But he didn’t shy away from acknowledging how much a win – which would be his first not only at the Bass Pro Tour level but any national-level event – would mean to him.

“It’d be life-changing, it really would, just to be able to hold up that trophy,” he said. “I just want to win one.”

Angler of the Year leader Jacob Wheeler found himself in an unusual position entering Period 3. Fresh off a win at REDCREST, Wheeler sat in 19th place, nearly 10 pounds back of the cut line, through two periods.

In typical Wheeler fashion, it took him less than 2 hours in Period 3 to stack up 10 scorable bass for 22-10, propelling him to seventh place. That marks Wheeler’s 43rd Top-10 finish in 65 career Bass Pro Tour events, and it keeps alive his bid to become the first angler ever to win three straight Bass Pro Tour events.

It’s still not a given that he’ll emerge from Stage 5 as the AOY leader, though. Zack Birge, who entered this event just three points back of Wheeler, also made the Championship Round. Third-place angler Drew Gill, who is 14 points behind Birge, cemented another Top 10 as well.

For the second day in a row, Wesley Strader made a furious charge up SCORETRACKER® to cross the cut line late in the day – and caught the Berkley Big Bass in the process. Strader, who is competing in his 21st career FLW/MLF event on Beaver (the most of anyone in the field), caught just five scorable bass for 9-1 across the first two periods. He boated 10 for nearly 28 pounds in Period 3, including a 5-5 largemouth he caught in the final seconds before lines out. That pushed Strader all the way to fourth place, giving him a shot at claiming his first Bass Pro Tour victory on Sunday.

Speaking of anglers who are looking for their first BPT win, Shuffield cruised into the Championship Round with ease, holding the second-place position for much of Saturday. The Hot Springs, Arkansas native has now knocked out seven Top 10s in his past nine Bass Pro Tour events dating back to last season.

The top nine pros that now advance to Championship Sunday on Beaver Lake at Yuengling Light Lager Stage 5 Presented by YETI are:

1st:         Cole Floyd, Leesburg, Ohio, 17 bass, 44-7
2nd:        Spencer Shuffield, Hot Springs, Ark., 17 bass, 38-3
3rd:         Zack Birge, Blanchard, Okla., 18 bass, 37-12
4th:         Wesley Strader, Spring City, Tenn., 15 bass, 37-0
5th:         Anthony Gagliardi, Prosperity, S.C., 18 bass, 36-11
6th:         Drew Gill, Mount Carmel, Ill., 16 bass, 35-13
7th:         Jacob Wheeler, Birchwood, Tenn., 16 bass, 34-9
8th:         Ron Nelson, Berrien Springs, Mich., 15 bass, 33-9
9th:         Banks Shaw, Harrison, Tenn., 15 bass, 30-9
*QR Winner: Marshall Hughes, Hemphill, Texas

Eliminated from competition are:
11th:       Dustin Smith, Trussville, Ala., 12 bass, 28-9, $15,900
12th:       Mitchell Robinson, Landrum, S.C., 16 bass, 28-5, $15,800
13th:       Dustin Connell, Deatsville, Ala., 14 bass, 27-2, $15,700
14th:       Andy Montgomery, Blacksburg, S.C., 12 bass, 26-9, $15,600
15th:       Jesse Wiggins, Logan, Ala., 13 bass, 25-11, $15,500
16th:       Adrian Avena, Marmora, N.J., 12 bass, 25-4, $15,400
17th:       Justin Lucas, Guntersville, Ala., 12 bass, 24-4, $15,300
18th:       Mark Daniels Jr., Shorter, Ala., 12 bass, 22-10, $15,200
19th:       Mark Rose, Wynne, Ark., 11 bass, 21-5, $15,100
20th:       Matt Becker, Ten Mile, Tenn., 10 bass, 19-8, $15,000
21st:        Nick LeBrun, Benton, La., nine bass, 19-5, $15,000
22nd:      Colby Miller, Elmer, La., seven bass, 15-8, $15,000
23rd:       Bryan Thrift, Shelby, N.C., four bass, 9-2, $15,000
24th:       Jacob Wall, New Hope, Ala., five bass, 8-13, $15,000
25th:       Jeff Sprague, Wills Point, Texas, five bass, 8-10, $15,000

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

Overall, there were 301 bass caught weighing 639 pounds, 2 ounces, caught by the 24 Bass Pro Tour anglers on Saturday.

Saturday’s $1,000 Berkley Big Bass Award was earned by Wesley Strader of Spring City, Tennessee, who caught a 5-pound, 5-ounce largemouth in the final minute of the third period throwing a bladed swim jig. Berkley awards $1,000 to the angler who weighs the heaviest bass each day.

Hosted by Destination Rogers, 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. After the two-day Qualifying Round was complete, the pro with the heaviest two-day total – Marshall Hughes – advanced directly to Sunday’s Championship Round. Anglers who finished 2nd through 25th competed in Saturday’s Knockout Round. In the Knockout Round, weights were zeroed, and the remaining anglers competed to finish in the top nine to advance to Sunday’s Championship Round. In the final-day Championship Round, weights are again zeroed, and the highest one-day total wins the top prize of $125,000.

The final 10 anglers will arrive Sunday morning at 6:15 a.m. CT to Prairie Creek Recreation Area, located at 9314 N. Park Road in Rogers, Arkansas. Anglers will return to Prairie Creek Recreation Area Sunday 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 extended action live on Championship Sunday from 7:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. CT. MLFNOW!®  will be livestreamed on MajorLeagueFishing.com , the MyOutdoorTV (MOTV) app and Rumble.

On Sunday, May 3, from 3–6 p.m., MLF invites fans of all ages to Bass Pro Shops located at 2300 S. Promenade Boulevard in Rogers, 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, enter hourly giveaways, browse MLF merchandise and the bargain bait bin, participate in a casting contest and cheer on their favorite anglers. Live music begins at 4 p.m., 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.

The Yuengling Light Lager Stage 5 at Beaver Lake Presented by YETI 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 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 Yuengling Light Lager Stage 5 at Beaver Lake Presented by YETI will premiere as a two-hour episode starting at 7 a.m. ET, on Saturday, Sept. 19 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.