By MLF Communications Staff

Mark Davis of Mount Ida, Arkansas caught 10 scorable bass Wednesday weighing 25 pounds, 12 ounces, to win the Knockout Round and advance to the final day of competition at the MLF Bass Pro Tour event on Watts Bar Lake in Spring City, Tenn.

After taking over the lead mid-day, the Bass Fishing Hall of Famer and three-time Bassmaster Angler of the Year (AOY) rose to the top of a stacked field going into Thursday’s Championship Round. Among the star-studded field of pros competing in the Championship Round are fellow Bass Fishing Hall of Famer and Michigan native Kevin VanDam of Kalamazoo , who won an automatic berth to the Championship Round on Monday and boasts a staggering eight AOY awards in his astounding career, along with Forrest Wood Cup champion Randall Tharp of Port Saint Joe, Florida , who has seven major wins and more than 30 Top-10 finishes in his career. Tharp finished in second place Wednesday with 11 bass weighing 23-15.

Here are the anglers who'll compete on the final day:

1st: Mark Davis, Mount Ida, Ark., 10 bass, 25-12
2nd: Randall Tharp, Port St. Joe, Fla., 11 bass, 23-15
3rd: Ryan Salzman, Huntsville, Ala., 13 bass, 23-09
4th: Jacob Wheeler, Harrison, Tenn., nine bass, 23-09
5th: Dakota Ebare, Brookeland, Texas, nine bass, 22-11
6th: Brent Ehrler, Redlands, Calif., 11 bass, 21-11
7th: Fletcher Shryock, Guntersville, Ala., nine bass, 19-01
8th: Alton Jones, Sr., Lorena, Texas, eight bass, 18-00

They’ll be joined by Qualifying Round winners VanDam and David Walker of Sevierville, Tenn.

“Man, what a great day,” Davis said. “I’ve had two bad tournaments, but I feel like I’m back on track now with my fishing.”

Davis spent most of his day fishing slowly and methodically, cranking and throwing a worm in the back of a creek on a big grass flat, targeting isolated hard cover.

“It’s been a fantastic day, fishing the way I like to fish,” Davis said. “A lot of the fish in this lake are suspended – and that was my back-up pattern for today – but I found a creek that’s about 10-foot-deep, where they aren’t suspended, and you can catch them just fishing stumps, trees and other hard cover.

“The last two days that I’ve fished this creek have been bright, bluebird skies with a little afternoon wind, and I caught a few 5-pounders and a 3-pounder, so I knew the bigger and better fish lived in here,” Davis continued. “I had a lot of other stuff I could hit today, but I was hoping with the cloud cover and the rain we had this morning, this place would really show out, so I got in here today and just slowed everything down.”

It was a winning technique as he bested 37 other anglers in the Knockout Round to end the day in the top spot.

“I know this creek has had a lot of pressure because it’s the prettiest creek on the lake,” Davis said. “Earlier in the week I was able to get them to eat a big Texas-rigged worm, but today it took a dropshot, finesse-fishing real slow to get them to bite, but we got it done.”

Chris Lane of Guntersville, Ala. caught a 5-05 largemouth on a jig in the first period to earn Wednesday’s $1,000 Berkley Big Bass Award. Berkley awards $1,000 to the angler who weighs the heaviest bass each day and a $3,000 bonus to the angler who weighs the heaviest bass of the tournament.

The final 10 anglers competing in Thursday’s Championship Round will launch at 7:30 a.m. ET from the Spring City Boat Ramp, located at 417 Toestring Valley Road in Spring City. The takeou will be held at the ramp beginning at 4 p.m. Fans are welcome and encouraged to attend all launch and takeout events and to follow the event online throughout the day on the MLF NOW! livestream and ScoreTracker coverage at MajorLeagueFishing.com.

Also on Thursday from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. ET, MLF will host a celebration event for fans of all ages, inviting fans to come out and celebrate with the BPT anglers as they crown the champion of the tournament. The first 50 middle school or high school anglers will receive a free Abu Garcia rod and reel combo valued at $100. The final 10 Championship Round anglers will be on hand to meet and greet fans, sign autographs, take selfies and participate in tackle giveaways.

The tournament features anglers competing with a 1 1/2-pound minimum weight requirement for a bass to be deemed scorable. Minimum weights are determined individually for each competition waters that the Bass Pro Tour visits, based on the productivity, bass population and anticipated average size of fish in each fishery.

The MLF NOW! broadcast team of Chad McKee, Marty Stone and J.T. Kenney breaks down the extended action on all six days of competition from 7:45 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. ET. MLF NOW! is livestreamed on MajorLeagueFishing.com and the MyOutdoorTV (MOTV) app.



Knockout Round

(Figure at far right indicates weight of angler's heaviest fish for the day)

1. Mark Davis -- 25-12 (10) -- 3-10

2. Randall Tharp -- 23-15 (11) -- 3-11

3. Ryan Salzman -- 23-09 (13) -- 2-09

4. Jacob Wheeler -- 23-09 (9) -- 3-04

5. Dakota Ebare -- 22-11 (9) -- 4-10

6. Brent Ehrler -- 21-11 (11) -- 4-00

7. Fletcher Shryock -- 19-01 (9) -- 2-14

8. Alton Jones -- 18-00 (8) -- 3-10

The following anglers did not make the cut and will not advance to the Knockout Round

9. Takahiro Omori -- 16-14 (8) -- 3-01

10. Chris Lane -- 16-12 (7) -- 5-05

11. Jared Lintner -- 15-00 (8) -- 3-08

12. Mark Daniels Jr. -- 14-13 (7) -- 5-01

13. Bryan Thrift -- 14-11 (7) -- 3-06

14. Clabion Johns -- 13-07 (6) -- 4-09

15. Ott DeFoe -- 13-06 (6) -- 3-03

16. Bobby Lane -- 12-10 (6) -- 2-15

17. Scott Suggs -- 12-05 (7) -- 2-09

18. Michael Neal -- 12-04 (6) -- 3-00

19. Andy Morgan -- 12-02 (6) -- 3-00

20. Josh Bertrand -- 12-01 (5) -- 3-03

21. Jordan Lee -- 11-15 (5) -- 4-09

22. Justin Lucas -- 11-10 (5) -- 2-12

23. Jeff Sprague -- 11-08 (7) -- 1-14

24. Paul Elias -- 11-02 (5) -- 3-06

25. Wesley Strader -- 9-05 (4) -- 3-08

26. Dave Lefebre -- 9-03 (5) -- 2-06

27. Jeremy Lawyer -- 9-02 (5) -- 2-05

28. Gary Klein -- 8-15 (4) -- 2-10

29. Dustin Connell -- 8-13 (3) -- 4-09

30. Brandon Coulter -- 8-06 (4) -- 2-07

31. Gerald Spohrer -- 7-12 (4) -- 2-05

32. Zack Birge -- 7-11 (4) -- 2-10

33. Casey Ashley -- 7-04 (3) -- 3-05

34. Andy Montgomery -- 7-00 (4) -- 2-05

35. Ish Monroe -- 3-15 (1) -- 3-15

36. Timmy Horton -- 3-07 (1) -- 3-07

37. Adrian Avena -- 0-00 (0) -- 0-00

37. Kelly Jordon -- 0-00 (0) -- 0-00