Skeet Reese will be among the many famed anglers chasing the $300,000 first prize at Alabama’s Lake Guntersville this week in the MLF REDCREST Championship.
Most of the big names in bass fishing all of us have been reading about and seeing on videos for the past 20 years will be competing in the Major League Fishing REDCREST Championship this week on Lake Guntersville, with daily weigh-ins at Huntsville’s Von Braun Center.
Included are big names like Casey Ashley, two-time winner Dustin Connell, Bass Fishing Hall of Famer Mark Davis, lure-designer Ott DeFoe, Edwin Evers, Alton Jones, Jr., Bobby Lane and brother Chris Lane, Justin Lucas (a Guntersville resident), Michael Neal, Skeet Reese, former winner Bryan Thrift, and frequent AOY winner Jacob Wheeler. Wheeler is currently considered the world’s top bass angler.
Young Hayden Marbut may be a sleeper—his skills with forward facing sonar are rapidly becoming legendary, and he and team partner weighed an astounding five fish bag that went almost 35 pounds—7 pounds per fish, last spring on this lake, which is his home water.
Daily takeoffs are slated for Civitan Park on the west side of Guntersville at Sunset Drive and Route 69, with qualifying rounds Thursday and Friday, the knock-out round Saturday and the final fishoff Sunday. Access to the takeoff area is free, though parking will be a problem, and the village of Guntersville is worth a visit in its own right—don’t miss the waterfront bars and restaurants at City Harbor if you go.
Jason Lucas, who lives on Lake Guntersville, is one of the favorites to finish high in the standings at the Redcrest event this week. (MLF)
Anglers who want to follow their favorites by boat can do so, though they’ll have to launch at one of the other ramps around the lake. And of course MLF asks locals to give the pro’s plenty of space to work and not spook their fish. Take binoculars and you can see what lures they’re using to help your own angling after the event, but remember it’s considered bad form to rush in to fish a hot location as soon as the pro angler pulls up the trolling motor.
Based on how the lake has fished this spring, hotspots are likely to be the bays at North and South Sauty, Town Creek, Browns Creek and Siebold Creek. Some big fish are also showing up the lake beyond Scottsboro, but they seem to be less abundant there.
The REDCREST Outdoors Expo is also part of the event, with a vast display of bassing gear, boats, motors and other equipment near and dear to bass anglers at the VBC. It’s an easy four-lane drive up 431 from the lake to the Huntsville center, and Huntsville is an exceptionally safe and welcoming town for visitors. (Don’t miss the enormous multi-colored carp in the Big Spring Park, just across the street from the VBC, if you go.)
Casey Ashley usually finishes well up in the standings in major MLF events, and has fished Guntersville frequently so he knows the ropes. (MLF)
There are not many hotels directly in Guntersville, and those that are there are likely booked for the event—best bet is to stay in Huntsville, drive to the lake daily and then go back to watch the afternoon weigh-ins close to your hotel.
If you’re too far away to attend, you can watch it online. The MLF broadcast team of Chad McKee and J.T. Kenney will break down the extended action live on each day of competition from 7:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. MLFNOW! is live streamed on MajorLeagueFishing.com, the MyOutdoorTV (MOTV) app and Rumble.
Learn more at https://majorleaguefishing.com/events/2025-04-03-redcrest-lake-guntersville.
— Frank Sargeant
