SHREVEPORT-BOSSIER CITY, La. (Major League Fishing) — A mid-match slump turned into a dominant closing run for Brent Ehrler and Justin Lucas, who unlocked a crucial dock bite in the final period Thursday to win Knockout Match 2 of the Bass Pro Shops Summit Cup Presented by Zenni on Cypress Bayou and punch their ticket to Friday’s Championship Round. Representing Team Ferguson, the pair closed out a tense, back-and-forth battle with a total of 30 pounds, 5 ounces on 18 scorable bass to overtake a tight field in the closing stretch and secure the win.
Team Kubota – Cole Floyd and Nick Hatfield – held steady throughout the day to finish second with 13 bass for 23 pounds, 7 ounces, earning the final berth in the Championship Round. Meanwhile, Team Fishing Clash – Keith Carson and Ron Nelson – struggled to maintain momentum in the third period, weighing 10 bass for 18-9 and finishing 4-14 below the Lucas Oil Cut Line to end their Summit Cup run.
The four-team field is now set for the final Team Series Championship Round of 2025. Teams Ferguson and Kubota will square off with Todd Faircloth and Nick LeBrun of Team B&W Trailer Hitches as well as Drew Gill and Marshall Robinson of Team Lucas Oil on a new, unknown fishery with the trophies on the line.
Watch the action unfold from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. CT on the RFD-TV Now Livestream, or at MajorLeagueFishing.com, the MLF and MyOutdoorTV (MOTV) apps, Game & Fish TV and the Major League Fishing channel on Rumble. RFD-TV will also air the final period (1-4 p.m.).
Boat docks key afternoon rally
Ehrler and Lucas started the day strong, targeting a hard spot along the dam with a Lucky Craft 1.5 Squarebill crankbait to set an early pace. But as that bite faded, their momentum stalled, and the duo temporarily fell to the bottom of SCORETRACKER® before a critical adjustment reignited their day.
“Justin and I really took turns catching them today,” said Ehrler in his postgame interview. “We started off great and were leading the pack but then stalled out midday and found ourselves in last place there for a second.”
The turning point came when Ehrler fired a Lucky Craft Pointer 78DD jerkbait to the corner of a dock, hooking up almost instantly.
“We got on a really good pattern going into the third period,” said Lucas. “Brent caught a fish on the jerkbait, and that changed things up for us. I picked up the drop-shot rig and caught some on that. We had a nice little one-two punch going.”
From that moment on, Team Ferguson dialed in a consistent rhythm, targeting docks sitting over a distinct 4- to 8-foot break along the bank. The combination of Ehrler’s jerkbait paired with Lucas’ drop-shot rig (and an occasional Neko rig with a Yamamoto Sensei Worm) allowed them to systematically pick apart productive water and regain control of the round.
“It seemed like the bite just completely turned midday,” Ehrler said. “They were chasing bait in the morning, kind of through midday, and then they just stopped, and they were on the bottom.”
“I got one that weighed 1-3 about halfway through the second period, and I was like, ‘Oh my god, I got a bite,’” said Lucas. “Then I caught another one, and that gave me all the confidence in the world. That was a game-changer in our day for sure.”
Together, the duo managed the emotional roller coaster of fluctuating leaderboard positions and switched up their pattern at exactly the right time. This marks the second Championship Round appearance in three Team Series events together for the two California natives.
“It was a stressful day because it was really close for a long time, and we just started to pull away at the end,” said Lucas. “But I think we had a nice little back-and-forth pattern going.”
