After five days of intense competition, the Championship Round of the Favorite Fishing Stage Two Presented by Bass Cat is set. Jeff Sprague, Michael Neal and James Elam all made it into the Top 10, despite the fact that they each had a day of competition where things simply didn’t go their way this week.

Sprague is one of several pros who zeroed during their first day on Okeechobee. He didn’t catch a single scorable bass during Qualifying Day 2. But he turned things around during Qualifying Day 4 to make the cut, and in the Knockout Round, he managed to finish third, well above the Elimination Line.

Michael Neal had the opposite experience during his Qualifying Round. He came out on top of SCORETRACKER® during Qualifying Day 1 but proceeded to catch no scorable bass during Qualifying Day 3. Neal went back to the same area during the Knockout Round, where he found success and managed to end the day in fifth place.

James Elam barely made it into the Knockout Round after catching only one scorable bass during his first day of competition. But he made a change in location when it mattered most and caught some key bass at the very end of Period 3 during his second day on the water (Qualifying Day 4). During the Knockout Round, he led the group of 38 at the start of the day, thanks in part to a 7-pounder. But he slipped below the Elimination Line in Period 3. In the last 10 minutes of the day, he caught two key bass that moved him into eighth place, barely above the Elimination Line.