HUNTSVILLE, Ala. – When the most exclusive, highest-paying event on the Major League Fishing calendar heads to arguably the most iconic bass fishery in the country, expectations are bound to be high. Such will be the case when Bass Pro Shops REDCREST Presented by MillerTech hits Lake Guntersville next week. The 50-angler field will duke it out April 3-6 for the championship trophy and $300,000 prize that comes with it.

Those who know Guntersville best believe the legendary Alabama impoundment is poised to live up to the hype.

Guntersville has long been synonymous with tournament bass fishing, and in recent years, its productivity has been trending upward. Over the past six months or so, it’s reached a new level. Last fall, local five-fish-limit tournaments regularly saw winning weights of more than 30 pounds. Hayden Marbut, who is in the field for REDCREST, paired up with former Auburn teammate Tucker Smith to win a Black Friday team event with 34.68 pounds.

It’s not just the top-end weights that have been eye-popping, either. Bass Pro Tour angler Jacob Wall, who lives on Guntersville, said most local derbies have seen 20-pound bags brought in by the dozen. Thirty-two anglers hit the 20-pound mark at the Feb. 15 Phoenix Bass Fishing League event on Guntersville.

Given the health of the fishery, the timing of the championship (which should see bass either moving shallow or already on their spawning beds) and the every-fish-counts scoring format, fans can expect to see SCORETRACKER® light up.

“As a whole, I think the lake is just better right now than it ever has been,” Wall said of Guntersville. “The caliber of fish is extremely good. … It’s just chock-full of them. I think it’s going to be a really, really heavy-hitting tournament. Lots of fish are going to be caught in a variety of different ways.”

Big G as good as ever

Offering ample bass forage and habitat both shallow and deep, Guntersville remains one of the nation’s preeminent bass factories. Photo by Rob Matsuura

Guntersville has long been one of, if not the, most productive fisheries on the bass-rich Tennessee River system. There’s a reason REDCREST will mark the 144th MLF/FLW event ever held on the fishery.

“Guntersville, even when it’s not good, it’s good,” said Phil Ekema, a fisheries supervisor for the Alabama Wildlife and Freshwater Fisheries Division who oversees the lake. “People will say, ‘Oh, it’s a down year.’ Well, a down year on Guntersville is still better than a lot of reservoirs.”

That said, the fishing has been especially strong lately for a few reasons. Most important, the lake has seen several strong bass spawns in recent years. Ekema said the 2016 year-class represents many of the 5- to 6-pound bass showing up in tournaments. There were also strong spawns in 2020 and 2021, and those fish should be well over the 2-pound mark by now, making them players at REDCREST, where the minimum scorable bass will be 2 pounds.

Those spawn classes have flourished thanks to the abundance of forage in Guntersville – panfish, crawfish and especially shad – and the abundance of habitat it offers. In addition to offshore ledges and other current-related structure, the 75-mile lake features ample manmade cover like riprap and boat docks. Plus, an explosion of eelgrass in recent years has provided additional shelter for bass and its forage.

“It’s got a good percentage of cover – grass, different types of grass, versus open water,” Ekema said. “That’s usually around 30, 35% – roughly a third – and that seems to be a good mixture of grass versus open water.”

Ekema also theorized that part of the reason for the recent boom has been the proliferation of forward-facing sonar, which has allowed anglers to target entire populations of fish that used to be ignored.

“Fish used to be able to hide, but they can’t hide so good anymore with forward-facing sonar,” he said. “So, some of those populations may get hit harder than they have in the past, and that may be why we’re seeing good weights coming through, good bags coming through, because those fish that used to hide can’t hide anymore.”

Perhaps the most impressive thing about Guntersville isn’t just the caliber of fish it’s producing but the fact that even a constant barrage of fishing pressure hasn’t seemed to slow it down. Ekema said there’s no way to even estimate the number of tournaments held on Guntersville – it’s multiple per week just about every week of the year. Yet it continues to produce. The vegetation has helped in that regard.

“It gets hammered,” Ekema said. “A lot of tournaments, lot of people from up north come down during the winter and during the spawn. It really does get hit hard. But there’s a lot of areas that the fish still can go to and be protected. Back up in the shallow areas where there’s lots of weeds, people can’t really get into it real good. That protects them.”

Will the spawn be on?

Alex Davis, who lives and guides on Guntersville, thinks REDCREST could turn into a full-blown spawn event. Photo by Rob Matsuura

Guntersville’s bass population should be readily accessible for the 50-angler REDCREST field. April typically brings a major wave of spawners to the shallows. Ekema thinks most of the bass will still be in the prespawn stage during the event, while Tackle Warehouse Invitationals pro and Guntersville guide Alex Davis predicted a “full-blown spawning tournament.”

Most likely, there will be some fish in all three phases of the spawn, which means there should be plenty of bass on and around the banks with multiple ways for anglers to target them.

“An angler can find fish that they may feel confident about fishing for on one end of the lake, the back of a creek; and then another angler might find fish mid-lake on the main river off of a flat or a point, and they could be 20 miles apart and both be on really, really productive stuff,” said Wall, who will compete for the REDCREST trophy. “I don’t think this is going to be an event where you’re going to see a lot of guys on top of each other, which I think will be kind of nice. You’re going to see guys doing a variety of different things. I think you’re going to see guys fishing offshore. I think you’re going to see guys fishing real shallow. I think you’re going to see guys looking at them – both with the screen and without. I think it’s going to really showcase how diverse Guntersville is.”

For those targeting prespawn fish, reaction baits like lipless crankbaits, vibrating jigs and jerkbaits could be popular, particularly during low-light conditions. The jighead minnow is always going to get some action, particularly during the one period per day anglers are allowed to use forward-facing sonar.

If competitors are primarily targeting bedding fish, Davis expects soft plastics like wacky worms, Neko rigs and Texas rigs to shine. A few anglers might even reach for a big swimbait or glide bait.

“Usually, first thing in the morning, you can catch some power fishing,” Davis said. “But then you’re going to have to slow down and actually throw soft plastics – either light Texas rigs, wacky, Neko, something along those lines.”

Given Guntersville’s off-color water, Davis doesn’t expect many pros to sight-fish for bedding bass. The key will be finding pockets with enough beds that an angler can fan-cast around the boat and pick them off. He said it’s not unusual to catch 15 or more fish without moving.

“The fish spawn a little deeper, the water is a little stained; you’re not physically sight-fishing for them, so you’re just blind casting,” Davis said. “But if you get in the right place, it’s Power-Pole down, throw, watch this.”

Keys to victory

Wall finished second to Jacob Wheeler in 2023, the last time the Bass Pro Tour visited Guntersville. Photo by Tyler Brinks

Davis might make it sound easy to stack up weight on Guntersville. But the battle to claim the REDCREST trophy will still require contenders to deal with several variables.

For one thing, a strong wind would make it tough to target spawning fish, so anglers will need to find productive areas that are protected. Wall also said managing fish will be key. It’s unlikely an angler will be able to catch enough weight from one pocket or even one area of the lake across all four days. The winning area might even be found during competition, where a fresh wave of fish pulls up.

“The guy that wins this event is going to be a guy that is willing to adapt and also somebody that’s willing to grind,” Wall said. “It may not always be easy. You’re going to have to always be on the fly, figuring out your next move.”

There’s also the ever-present question of how big of a role forward-facing sonar will play. Davis thinks it’ll be most useful to identify the pockets containing the largest populations of bass during practice, not so much to catch them – although there could also be a few pros who use forward-facing sonar to target groups of offshore fish during the first period then head shallow in search of spawners the rest of the day.

“I think it’s probably going to be more beneficial in practice, because you’re going to be able to figure out where they’re bedding,” Davis said. “You’ll figure out, ‘Oh, there’s four here. Oh, there’s 40 here.’”

Both Davis and Ekema think fans will see some sizable weight totals. Ekema noted that the average bass brought to weigh-in at a recent Alabama Bass Trail event on the lake went 3.67 pounds. He expects the average scorable bass at REDCREST to be over 3, with plenty of 5-plus-pounders mixed in and the big bass each day likely over 8 pounds.

“I can’t even fathom how many pounds these guys are going to weigh in,” he said.

Davis thinks it will take at least 120 pounds across the two-day Qualifying Round to advance to the Knockout Round. He expects to see a few 100-pound days – a mark that’s never before been hit at REDCREST. If the weather cooperates, he believes the winner might even approach 150 pounds during the Championship Round.

“If it’s perfect spawn conditions, I would think a man can easily catch 50 (scorable bass) in a day. So, you’re looking at 125 to 150 pounds. If it’s a one-day shootout and you zero the weights the final day, it’s going to take 125 pounds to win.”

Get in on the action

All four days of competition will be streamed live on MLFNOW! from 7:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. CT each day at MajorLeagueFishing.com, the MLF and MyOutdoorTV (MOTV) apps and the Major League Fishing channel on Rumble. Additionally, the REDCREST Outdoor Expo will coincide with the event April 4-6 at the Von Braun Center in Huntsville. Admission is free – come check out the product showcase, interact with anglers and watch live interviews with the competitors each evening.