Zack Birge Wins Qualifying Round at MLF Bass Pro Tour Zenni Stage 6 at Potomac River Presented by Athletic Brewing Company
Oklahoma pro advances directly to Championship Sunday with two-day catch of 68 bass weighing 145-8, 2nd through 20th now advance to Saturday’s Knockout Round
CHARLES COUNTY, Md. (June 27, 2025) – The second day of Zenni Stage 6 Presented by Athletic Brewing Company on the Potomac River was the polar opposite of Day 1 in terms of weather as the sweltering heat shifted to much cooler, rainy conditions. The bass bite stayed sizzling, though.
Leading the way and winning the Qualifying Round for an automatic berth to Sunday’s Championship Round was Oklahoma’s Zack Birge with a two-day total of 145 pounds, 8 ounces on 68 scorable bass. While SCORETRACKER® saw some wild shifts in some anglers’ weights between the two days, Birge stayed steady. He caught 78-7 Friday (on 34 scorables) compared to his 34 for 67-1 on Thursday – the only angler to surpass 60 pounds and 30 bass both days to help him earn his day off ahead of the Championship Round.
Two other anglers crossed the 70-pound mark Friday, including South Carolina pro Casey Ashley with 76-7 on a day that saw him briefly overtake Birge for the lead in Period 2. Spencer Shuffield of Hot Springs, Arkansas, rose from 39th to seventh after a 71-11 day, with over 50 pounds of that coming in Period 3.
This marks Birge’s third time automatically qualifying for the Championship Round on the Bass Pro Tour, but it wasn’t even a consideration when the day started. He had a solid first day, finishing in fifth place, but he was over 23 pounds behind Day 1 leader Keith Poche. After a strong morning bite on Day 2, Birge changed his thinking and contemplated gunning for the top position.
“Winning the round wasn’t even in my mind; I was just going to go out and try to catch a few and make the Knockout Round,” he said. “I started the day catching them pretty well, and I was right there in the lead or close to it. I thought, ‘Dang, I better reconsider some things here.’ After Period 1, I decided to run back and get to an area where I knew there were a bunch of fish.”
The gamble to go for the win was in the back of his mind throughout the mid-morning hours.
“It’s a catch-22 situation because, on the one hand, you get to skip tomorrow, but if you don’t win, you can end up burning yourself by catching all those fish,” he said. “I knew if I could catch enough to advance and have that day off, I wouldn’t have to touch those areas again and can let them rest a bit.”
This is Birge’s third trip to the Potomac River, and things have gotten better every time.
“I came here my rookie year on the FLW Tour and have never been more frustrated after an event because I caught so many fish but never could get a kicker and didn’t get a check,” he said. “The next time, I was able to figure it out a little more and cash a check, and this time, sitting in this position, it feels really good.”
Fishing for bass relating to vegetation, Birge has mixed it up with a vibrating jig and a worm. He reports that the tide hasn’t been to his liking, but any water movement – incoming or outgoing – has been the key.
“I really like it when the tide is low, but it’s been high for a long period of the day, so I’m just trying to get around where there’s a good population of fish and just fishing what looks good,” he said. “I’m fishing my bladed jig on an Alpha Angler Rebound rod with 20-pound Yo-Zuri T7 fluorocarbon and fishing the worm on the same line but on an Alpha Angler ZillaVAAder rod.”
Looking ahead, Birge is confident in what he’s doing and shares that he isn’t fishing around other competitors.
“I haven’t seen anybody fishing the same stuff, which is good because, hopefully, those fish will be fresh when I get back out there,” he said. “I feel pretty good about my chances because I feel like my fish are not as pressured as some other anglers’ areas, but I know it’s going to take some big weight. You’ll need to catch at least 80 pounds on the last day to have a good shot to win.”
The top 20 pros that now advance in competition on the Potomac River are:
1st: Zack Birge, Blanchard, Okla., 68 bass, 145-8
2nd: Casey Ashley, Donalds, S.C.., 58 bass, 125-13
3rd: Alton Jones Jr., Waco, Texas, 50 bass, 109-12
4th: Mark Davis, Mount Ida, Ark., 47 bass, 108-0
5th: Mark Daniels Jr., Tuskegee, Ala., 50 bass, 107-0
6th: Keith Carson, DeBary, Fla., 44 bass, 105-13
7th: Spencer Shuffield, Hot Springs, Ark., 52 bass, 105-0
8th: Keith Poche, Pike Road, Ala., Bossier City, La., 48 bass, 104-9
9th: John Hunter, Shelbyville, Ky., 47 bass, 104-3
10th: Takahiro Omori, Tokyo, Japan, 52 bass, 103-3
11th: Adrian Avena, Vineland, N.J., 48 bass, 102-11
12th: Cole Floyd, Leesburg, Ohio, 46 bass, 100-1
13th: James Elam, Tulsa, Okla., 44 bass, 99-5
14th: Ott DeFoe, Blaine, Tenn., 47 bass, 99-5
15th: Justin Lucas, Guntersville, Ala., 44 bass, 97-9
16th: David Dudley, Lynchburg, Va., 42 bass, 97-1
17th: Michael Neal, Dayton, Tenn., 44 bass, 96-7
18th: Bradley Roy, Lancaster, Ky., 45 bass, 96-5
19th: Ron Nelson, Berrien Springs, Mich., 44 bass, 95-7
20th: Jesse Wiggins, Addison, Ala., 42 bass, 93-11
A complete list of results can be found at MajorLeagueFishing.com.
Overall, there were 1,178 scorable bass caught weighing 2,541 pounds, 12 ounces, by the 66 Bass Pro Tour anglers Friday.
The Day 2 Berkley Big Bass Award of $1,000 went to Spokane, Washington pro Luke Clausen, who weighed in a 5-pound, 1-ounce bass during Period 2 that he caught on a Speed Worm. 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. With the two-day Qualifying Round now complete, Birge advances directly to Sunday’s Championship Round. The anglers that finished 2nd through 20th advance to Saturday’s Knockout Round. In the Knockout Round, weights are zeroed, and the top nine anglers will 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.
Anglers will launch at 7:15 a.m. ET each day 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. daily. Fans are welcome to attend all 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 all four days of competition 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 Saturday and Sunday, June 28-29, 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 each day. 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 both days to meet and greet fans, sign autographs and take selfies.
The Zenni Stage 6 at the Potomac River Presented by Athletic Brewing will feature 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.