Team Ferguson Catches 29-9 to Lead Wire-to-Wire and Win Final Fishing Clash Team Series Event of Season
SHREVEPORT-BOSSIER CITY, La. (Nov. 21, 2025) – The Team Ferguson duo of Justin Lucas and Brent Ehrler powered through a stingy Championship Day on Cross Lake to claim the 2025 Bass Pro Shops Summit Cup Presented by Zenni, capping a gritty wire-to-wire performance in one of the tightest final rounds of the season.
Lucas stacked 10 scorable bass for 19 pounds, 1 ounce, while Ehrler’s late surge pushed the team to a commanding finishing weight of 29-9, securing the title over Team Lucas Oil – defending Summit Cup champs Drew Gill and Marshall Robinson.
The four-team field competed on Cross Lake for the first time this week, and the Louisiana fishery proved challenging. Early rain, muddy water and scattered bait kept the entire field in check and prevented any team from pulling away. Through the grind, Lucas and Ehrler proved to be the only duo able to generate steady opportunities across all three periods, and they stacked seven scorable bass in the final two hours to secure the victory.
Link to HD Video Clip of Summit Cup Championship Round Highlights
Link to Morning Photo Gallery: Cross Lake sets the scene for Summit Cup Championship Round
Link to Winner’s Photo Gallery: Lucas and Ehrler top the Summit Cup
Lucas, who now calls Guntersville, Alabama, home but grew up in California, noted how fitting it was to win alongside Ehrler, a fellow West Coast product he looked up to as a young angler.
“This one feels special,” Lucas said. “Brent and I kind of came up in the same circles back home, and to win this one together – especially in Louisiana – that’s something I’ll never forget. Today wasn’t easy. Nobody was running away with it, and we had to grind every single minute.”
The team started on the dam with a shallow-running crankbait – including an older, discontinued model Lucas grabbed off his garage wall on the way out the door – and quickly put a pair of scorable fish on the board. As the bite slowed, they adjusted by targeting shallow, rocky points where bait was sliding up with the wind. The crankbait continued to play throughout the afternoon, but the biggest strategic shift came when Ehrler moved to a finesse flipping setup to clean up behind Lucas.
“When Justin gets on a roll with a crankbait, there isn’t much point in me trying to do the same thing behind him,” Ehrler said. “I tied on the Yamamoto Yama Bug and just started pitching around the walkways and docks. It’s a new bait – I only had four packs of them. But it was the right adjustment. Those bites came fast, and they were the ones that really sealed the deal for us.”
Despite entering the final period just over 4 pounds behind Team Ferguson, the Team Lucas Oil duo of Gill and Robinson couldn’t match the late-day momentum. Meanwhile, Team B&W Trailer Hitches mounted a charge behind Todd Faircloth’s 4-pound, 14-ounce Berkley Big Bass of the Day, but the gap was simply too large to close in the remaining time. Local favorite Nick LeBrun , who had previously won the 2018 BFL All-American on Cross Lake, made a late run with Faircloth in the shallow cypress forest on the west end, but it wasn’t enough to catch Ehrler and Lucas.
Lucas said the victory was the result of constant communication and trust – two things that define a successful Team Series partnership.
“We made the right calls,” he said. “We stuck together, we stayed patient, and when things got tough ,we didn’t panic. Brent caught some absolutely critical fish behind me, and that’s what makes this format so fun. You’re never out of it as long as you’re making good decisions.”
“It’s been a while since either of us has won one of these,” Ehrler agreed as he was awarded the Summit Cup trophy. “We worked hard this week, we adjusted when we had to, and we got it done today in a really challenging place. Sharing this win with Justin, after all the years we’ve fished against each other – and now with each other – is just awesome.”
The final four teams at the Bass Pro Shops Summit Cup Presented by Zenni finished:
1st: Team Ferguson, 15 bass, 29-9
Brent Ehrler, Redlands, Calif., five bass, 10-8
Justin Lucas, Guntersville, Ala., 10 bass, 19-1
2nd: Team Lucas Oil, 11 bass, 16-15
Drew Gill, Mount Carmel, Ill., eight bass, 13-4
Marshall Robinson, Landrum, S.C., three bass, 3-11
3rd: Team B&W Trailer Hitches, six bass, 16-6
Todd Faircloth, Jasper, Texas, four bass, 9-13
Nick LeBrun, Bossier City, La., two bass, 6-9
4th: Team Kubota, two bass, 3-6
Cole Floyd, Leesburg, Ohio, two bass, 3-6
Nick Hatfield, Greeneville, Tenn., zero bass, 0-0
Complete results from throughout the week can be found at MajorLeagueFishing.com.
Overall, there were 34 bass weighing 66 pounds, 4 ounces caught by the final four teams Friday in the Championship Round on Cross Lake. Team B&W Trailer Hitches pro Todd Faircloth weighed a largemouth bass totaling 4 pounds, 14 ounces – the largest of the day – to earn the Berkley Big Bass of the Day honors.
The Bass Pro Shops Summit Cup Presented by Zenni was hosted by the Shreveport-Bossier Sports Commission and took place over six days in Shreveport-Bossier City, Louisiana. The competition water for each day was top secret and only revealed to the anglers when they arrived at the boat ramp each morning.
The Summit Cup featured 12 two-man teams divided into three groups as they entered the one-day Elimination Round matches. Each of the three Elimination Round matches featured four new teams, with the top two teams from each match of the Elimination Round advancing to the Knockout Round on Days 4 & 5. In the Knockout Rounds, three teams competed each day, with the top two teams from each Knockout Round match moving on to the Championship Round on Day 6. In the Day 6 Championship Round, the final four teams competed in a one-day shootout to determine which team would be declared the 2025 Bass Pro Shops Summit Cup Presented by Zenni champions.
The MLF Fishing Clash Team Series Presented by Bass Pro Shops featured four Cup events in 2025 – the Challenge, Heritage, Patriot, and Summit Cups – with 12 two-man teams of Bass Pro Tour anglers competing for a share of $560,000 in prize money.
Television coverage of the Bass Pro Shops Summit Cup Presented by Zenni will premiere on Outdoor Channel as six two-hour original episodes each Saturday afternoon starting May 9, 2026. The complete television schedule for the Fishing Clash Team Series on Outdoor Channel will be posted at MajorLeagueFishing.com.
