Texas pro advances directly to Championship Sunday with two-day total of 36 bass weighing 122 pounds, 2nd through 20th advance to Saturday’s Knockout Round
COLUMBIA, S.C. (March 7, 2025) – During Day 1 of PowerStop Brakes Stage 3 Presented by Strike King on Lake Murray, pro Jeff Sprague of Wills Point, Texas, grabbed the lead early and finished nearly 9 pounds clear of the rest of the field. A day later, despite what should have been less favorable conditions and the fact that he didn’t really try to catch fish during the final period, he amassed even more weight.
That sums up just how special Sprague’s bite has been so far. The Texas pro added 18 scorable bass for 62 pounds, 3 ounces on Friday, bringing his total to 122 pounds even. That earned him the Qualifying Round win with ease, topping his nearest pursuer, Toyota pro Terry Scroggins of San Mateo, Florida, by more than 30 pounds.
“This is what hooks people on bass fishing,” Sprague said. “This is what bass fishing is all about. It really has been a special bite no matter how it turns out, just being able to find what I found. … Genuinely, these are the type of conditions and events that come around only so very often, and it’s just a lot of fun.”
As a result, Sprague will skip Saturday’s Knockout Round and advance directly to the Championship Round. The rest of the Top 20 will advance to Saturday and compete for the remaining nine Championship Round berths.
Despite his strong performance on Day 1, Sprague was nervous as he took the water on Friday. Slick, calm conditions greeted the field rather than the strong wind that blew all day Thursday, and he worried that might hurt his shallow cranking bite while helping those anglers who started the day using forward-facing sonar.
It didn’t take long to assuage his concerns. Sprague returned to the area where he’d done most of his damage a day prior and boated nine bass totaling 33-11 in the first period. That included a 6-11, a 5-0 and a 4-9. By the end of the period, his lead had expanded to more than 13 pounds, discouraging anyone else from trying to track him down.
That confirmed the spots where Sprague has already caught fish are reloading. Just as important, he’s figured out a pattern for the type of habitat bass are using to stage, and as he found more areas that set up the same way, he continued to reel them in.
“I was really nervous this morning, to be honest with you, about whether or not they were going to bite with no wind at all,” Sprague said. “It was very glass calm. Had a few bites pretty quick, and that really set my lightbulb off, so I continued to kind of expand a little bit in the area where I was at. It’s a big area, but the fish aren’t everywhere. They’re pretty specific about what they want to be on. And when I find it, man, it’s special. They’re there, and they’re coming.”
Some of the fish Sprague landed in the afternoon essentially came by accident while he was checking out new water, including one that ate his crankbait as he was trying to pull it out of the water after time expired at the end of Period 2.
“I don’t know what I could have caught today had I continued, because I really laid up for the last 3, 3 1/2 hours and just looked,” he said. “But even then, I was able to catch some fish. So, I got a lot of things out of my mind today, and I got a lot of things in my mind today. It was a good learning day for both where (they are) and where they are not.”
Sprague is generally fishing fast, but one key to his success has been staying patient once he hooks a fish. He’s willing to play the bass for a minute or more rather than horsing them, a lesson he learned the hard way after losing several big ones on Day 1.
“Those fish are so heavy, and they’re so green right now,” Sprague explained. “Bigger fish have a harder mouth, and I’ve lost so many bass this week – and I’ve lost so many bass in my career, especially the bigger ones. And I’ve got them on light line, even though it’s a baitcaster, because the water is really clear. You just need to make every one count, so patience is your friend. You have to just do your thing and let the fish play itself out, and eventually they’ll get winded and just kind of come to you. It makes your life a lot easier, and you’re not getting hooks in your hand, either.”
Sprague isn’t worried about spending a day off the water. He’s committed to his pattern no matter what, and he thinks the upper-70s temperatures forecast for Saturday will only push more bass shallow.
His 14th career Bass Pro Tour Top 10 secured, his focus now is on finally landing his first tour-level win. Only pro Brent Ehrler has more Top-10 finishes in BPT competition without a victory. After so many close calls, Sprague didn’t want to get ahead of himself and talk too much about what it would mean to finally hoist a trophy, but he thinks this could be one of his best opportunities yet.
“I feel like I’ve been cursed for the past five years from getting one of these things closed out, if you want to know the truth,” he said. “I legitimately feel like I have an opportunity to make it happen here. I really do. Either way, it’s been an amazing week, and it’s just a lot of fun to catch these fish. But I do feel like I’m on the winning way to catch them.”
The top 20 pros that now advance in competition on Lake Murray are:
1st: Jeff Sprague, Wills Point, Texas, 36 bass, 122-0
2nd: Terry Scroggins, San Mateo, Fla., 28 bass, 90-6
3rd: Marshall Robinson, Landrum, S.C., 27 bass, 89-1
4th: Brent Ehrler, Redlands, Calif., 27 bass, 81-6
5th: Brent Chapman, Lake Quivira, Kan., 23 bass, 81-5
6th: Jacob Wheeler, Harrison, Tenn., 26 bass, 80-5
7th: Bryan Thrift, Shelby, N.C., 28 bass, 79-15
8th: Drew Gill, Mount Carmel, Ill., 28 bass, 78-3
9th: Marshall Hughes, Hemphill, Texas, 23 bass, 76-6
10th: Alton Jones Jr., Waco, Texas, 24 bass, 73-12
11th: Jake Lawrence, Paris, Tenn., 26 bass, 73-5
12th: Mark Davis, Mount Ida, Ark., 21 bass, 73-3
13th: James Elam, Tulsa, Okla., 23 bass, 68-14
14th: Anthony Gagliardi, Prosperity, S.C., 24 bass, 66-11
15th: Mark Daniels Jr., Tuskegee, Ala., 21 bass, 63-8
16th: Britt Myers, Lake Wylie, S.C., 20 bass, 61-12
17th: Justin Lucas, Guntersville, Ala., 20 bass, 60-13
18th: Keith Carson, DeBary, Fla., 20 bass, 59-8
19th: Colby Miller, Elmer, La., 19 bass, 59-0
20th: Matt Becker, Ten Mile, Tenn., 17 bass, 58-14
For a full list of results visit MajorLeagueFishing.com.
Overall, there were 540 scorable bass weighing 1,661 pounds, 14 ounces caught by the 66 pros on Friday.
Friday’s Berkley Big Bass Award went to Erie, Pennsylvania pro Dave Lefebre, who caught a nice 7-pound, 8-ounce largemouth in Period 3. Berkley awards $1,000 to the angler who weighs the heaviest bass each day.
The full field of anglers competed in the two-day Qualifying Round on Thursday and Friday. With the two-day Qualifying Round now complete, Sprague 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 Sprague 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 Dreher Island State Park, located at 3677 State Park Road in Prosperity. Each day’s takeout will be held at the same location, beginning at 3:45 p.m. 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, March 8-9 from 3 p.m. to 6 p.m. MLF welcomes fans of all ages to visit Dreher Island State Park for the MLF Fan Experience & Watch Party. Fans can watch the pros live on the MLFNOW! big screen, enjoy free food, participate in casting contests, enter to win hourly giveaways, listen to live music and cheer on their favorite pros. The first 50 kids 14 and under will receive a free Abu Garcia rod and reel each day. The event also includes a meet and greet with Paw Patrol’s Skye and Marshall and a youth fishing derby. The Bass Pro Tour anglers will be on hand both days to meet and greet fans, sign autographs and take selfies.
The PowerStop Brakes Stage 3 at Lake Murray Presented by Strike King is hosted by Capital City/Lake Murray Country Regional Tourism Board and 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 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 General Tire Heavy Hitters all-star event and the REDCREST 2026 championship.
