Final 10 anglers set for Championship Round Sunday, heaviest one-day total earns top prize of $150,000

CHARLES COUNTY, Md. (June 28, 2025) – There are few secrets on a fishery as well known as the Potomac River, and yet, that doesn’t mean it won’t cause pros to scratch their heads now and again.

Take the Knockout Round at Zenni Stage 6 Presented by Athletic Brewing Company on the Potomac River. The leader, pro Ron Nelson of Berrien Springs, Michigan, admits he never got into a good rhythm with the tides. Tennessee pro Ott DeFoe was able to light up SCORETRACKER® the first period with more weight than he had all the day before combined. And Casey Ashley went from catching 35 fish and contending for the lead on Friday to a mere 11 today and missing the cut.

Like the fishery’s infamous tides, it was a day of rising and falling across the board.

While leading today may make it seem like Nelson is in control – he did catch 28 scorable bass weighing 58 pounds, 15 ounces – he admits he was anything but for most of it.

“Really kinda surprised about the whole day, the whole week, really,” Nelson admitted. “I love fishing here, but it’s been a different Potomac for me than usual. I just haven’t gotten into a rhythm. Today, I fished all new water, running up and down the river trying to fish the tides. Fishing all different types of cover. It wasn’t until I switched baits that things clicked a little.”

After a solid first period, Nelson made the switch to a swim jig to start Period 2, which changed everything.

“The tide changed and I picked up that swim jig, and they just went to snapping,” Nelson said. “I went on a little flurry. I had a goal to catch 10 fish a period, and I had nine after the first period. I must’ve caught seven or eight or in that flurry.”

A similar flurry near lines out – admittedly while he was practicing and trying to eliminate water for tomorrow – ultimately placed him in the top spot. But to say he’s still seeking something better is an understatement.

“I usually am able to locate a big group of fish, but I’ve not been able to do that this time yet,” Nelson said. “So, I’m grateful to make it to the Championship round, but I don’t know what’s going to happen tomorrow. It could be horrendous or lights out.”

DeFoe knew all along that he had a good amount of fish in his mid-river area. His 32-fish, second-place showing the first day of the Qualifying Round proving solid evidence.

However, he was also sharing his area with the likes of Keith Carson and a few others. That’s pretty typical on the Potomac, but it still made him second guess himself on Friday and not fish it first thing, causing him to struggle.

He wasn’t about to make that mistake twice.

“Yesterday was just terrible for me,” DeFoe said. “So, today I started where I caught most my fish the first day, and that was definitely the right call with 30-something pounds the first period today.”

What was even better for DeFoe was he did all his damage the first period with a high tide, which usually is anglers’ Achilles heels. And considering the tide looks to be “getting worse” tomorrow (aka. staying at high tide longer), DeFoe still has plenty of confidence he’ll make a run at the win.

Meanwhile, that tide news is only going to make Carson sweat more than he did today.

While DeFoe and Carson are fishing near one another – with DeFoe commenting how incredible the amount of fish the two have pulled from the area – Carson is relying heavily on a low tide to pull fish from cover to the channels. That didn’t happen until near the end of the third period today, which just so happens to be when he made a massive run to grab the final spot in the Championship Round.

“It’s all about the tide,” Carson said. “I just kind of wait, because I know the last hour I’ll catch the most fish, but it’s so stressful. It’s terrible. The whole time I’m thinking I’m not going to make it, and then suddenly I’m in.”

The top nine pros from the Knockout Round that now advance to Championship Sunday on the Potomac River are:

1st:        Ron Nelson, Berrien Springs, Mich., 28 bass, 58-15
2nd:      Ott DeFoe, Blaine, Tenn., 24 bass, 54-3
3rd:       Keith Poche, Pike Road, Ala., 24 bass, 53-6
4th:        Cole Floyd, Leesburg, Ohio, 24 bass, 51-15
5th:        James Elam, Tulsa, Okla., 20 bass, 46-5
6th:        Spencer Shuffield, Hot Springs, Ark., 21 bass, 43-4
7th:        Adrian Avena, Vineland, N.J., 17 bass, 43-0
8th:        Bradley Roy, Lancaster, Ky., 20 bass, 41-14
9th:        Keith Carson, DeBary, Fla., 16 bass, 40-14
*QR Winner:      Zack Birge, Blanchard, Okla.

Eliminated from competition are:

11th:     Mark Daniels Jr., Tuskegee, Ala., 18 bass, 37-15, $15,900
12th:     Mark Davis, Mount Ida, Ark., 17 bass, 35-8, $15,800
13th:     Alton Jones Jr., Waco, Texas, 14 bass, 33-12, $15,700
14th:     Justin Lucas, Guntersville, Ala., 15 bass, 31-13, $15,600
15th:     Takahiro Omori, Tokyo, Japan, 13 bass, 30-8, $15,500
16th:     Michael Neal, Dayton, Tenn., 13 bass, 29-11, $15,400
17th:     Jesse Wiggins, Addison, Ala., 11 bass, 28-5, $15,300
18th:     Casey Ashley, Donalds, S.C.., 11 bass, 25-0, $15,200
19th:     David Dudley, Lynchburg, Va., 11 bass, 24-1, $15,100
20th:     John Hunter, Shelbyville, Ky., seven bass, 14-2, $15,000

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

Overall, there were 324 scorable bass caught weighing 724 pounds, 7 ounces, by the 19 pros on Saturday.

Pro Adrian Avena won Saturday’s Berkley Big Bass Award, boating a 4-pound, 5-ounce largemouth in Period 2. Berkley awards $1,000 to the angler who weighs the heaviest bass each day.

Hosted by the Charles County Government, Dept. of Recreation, Parks, and Tourism, the four-day event features 66 of the top professional anglers in the world competing for a $150,000 top prize, a share of the $6.49 million season purse, and valuable AOY points in hopes of qualifying for the General Tire Heavy Hitters all-star event and REDCREST 2026, the Bass Pro Tour championship.

The full field of anglers competed in the two-day Qualifying Round on Thursday and Friday. After the two-day Qualifying Round was complete, leader Zack Birge advanced directly to Sunday’s Championship Round. The anglers that finished 2nd through 20th competed in Saturday’s Knockout Round. In the Knockout Round, weights were zeroed, and the top nine finishers now join Birge in Sunday’s Championship Round. In the Championship Round, weights are zeroed, and the highest one-day total wins the top prize of $150,000.

The final 10 anglers will launch at 7:15 a.m. ET Sunday from Smallwood State Park, located at 2750 Sweden Point Road in Marbury, Maryland. The takeout will be held at the same location beginning at 3:45 p.m. Fans are welcome to attend the launch and takeout events and also encouraged to follow the event online throughout the day on the MLFNOW!® live stream and 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. ET. MLFNOW!®  will be live streamed on MajorLeagueFishing.com, the MyOutdoorTV (MOTV) app and Rumble.

On Sunday, June 29, from 1 p.m. to 6 p.m. MLF welcomes fans of all ages to visit the Village Green Park, located at 100 Walter Thomas Road in Indian Head, Maryland for the Hooked! on the Potomac Festival and MLF Fan Experience & Watch Party. Fans can watch the pros live on the MLFNOW! big screen, enjoy free dessert, enter to win giveaways, listen to live music from country music artist Megan Barker, and cheer on their favorite pros. The first 50 kids 14 and under will receive a free rod and reel. The event also includes a youth casting contest. The Bass Pro Tour anglers, along with the PAW Patrol’s Skye and Marshall, will be on hand to meet and greet fans, sign autographs and take selfies.

The Zenni Stage 6 at the Potomac River Presented by Athletic Brewing 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 2025 Bass Pro Tour features a field of 66 of the top 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 Heavy Hitters all-star event and the REDCREST 2026 championship.

Television coverage of the Zenni Stage 6 at the Potomac River Presented by Athletic Brewing Company will premiere as a two-hour episode starting at 7 a.m. ET, on Saturday, Nov. 1 on Discovery, with the Championship Round premiering on Saturday, Nov. 8. New MLF episodes premiere each Saturday morning on Discovery, with re-airings on Outdoor Channel.

Proud sponsors of the 2025 MLF Bass Pro Tour include: 7Brew Coffee, Abu Garcia, Athletic Brewing, Bass Force, B&W Trailer Hitches, Bass Pro Shops, Berkley, BUBBA, E3 Sport Apparel, Fishing Clash, Grizzly, Lowrance, Mercury, MillerTech, Mossy Oak Fishing, NITRO, O’Reilly Auto Parts, Power-Pole, Rapala, Star brite, Suzuki, Toyota 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 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 Channel, Outdoor Channel, CBS Sports Network, World Fishing Network 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.