Once the bass spawn, some bass move to deeper water, but plenty stick around in the shallows. This is when the shallows are alive with bass guarding fry and spawning activity for bluegill, shad, and herring—all of which keep the bass in shallow water.
Professional bass anglers and Segar Pro Staff, Luke Clausen and Drew Gill, know this and stay in skinny water for much of the post-spawn with various approaches.
Clausen’s Mix of the Old and New School
Like most professional anglers, Luke Clausen’s bass boat and office on the water is decked out with plenty of big electronic screens and the most up-to-date technology. He uses it plenty, but the Bassmaster Classic and Forrest Wood Cup champion often relies on the old-fashioned way during the post-spawn: using his eyes and paying attention to clues from his surroundings.
After the bass spawn, one of his main focuses is the spawns of some of their favorite meals. The bluegill, shad, and herring spawns are critical to his approach. His electronics help, but years of experience and some hints from the environment guide his approach.
“Tools like side scan are good for locating bluegill beds, and you can use your forward-facing sonar to find baitfish and bass guarding fry this time of year, but so much of it is just done by watching and using your eyes,” he said. “Your electronics help a bunch with deeper bluegill beds, but the shallower ones are best just looking around on flat places, around vegetation, or the back of a pocket. They rarely spawn on something that’s not very flat, and it needs to be somewhat protected.”
He’ll mix various techniques to catch these bass feasting on spawning bluegill, from a wacky rig to topwater lures like frogs, walking baits, prop baits, and poppers.
“I like a popper for the sound and the ability to stop it in place, and a small walking bait is a great choice,” he said. “I fish it on 30 lb Seaguar Smackdown in the Stealth Gray color, and that thin line is great for accurate casts with those light baits. The worst thing you can do with a topwater is to pull a topwater bait away from a fish, so I keep the bait in place when one rolls on it, and you’ll hook a lot of those fish because there’s no stretch in the line.”
Clausen goes white-colored baits like a spinnerbait, buzzbait, or swim jig when targeting bass feeding on spawning shad. “The shad spawn is always going to happen first thing in the morning, and they’ll always spawn around hard places, either rocks, docks, or somewhere with a hard surface,” he said. “It’s hard to beat fast-moving baits like swim jigs and buzzbaits, and I fish all of those on 50 lb Seaguar Smackdown, which is still very thin to get long casts to reach any surface activity you see. I like 15 lb Seaguar Red Label for my spinnerbaits because it has a little less stretch, which is important for short-range hooksets.”
Gill’s New Age Approach
Bass Pro Tour angler Drew Gill is one of the poster boys of the new generation of professional bass anglers, getting the most out of his electronics to find bass. While many consider forward-facing sonar an offshore approach dominated by finesse techniques, he finds it successful in shallow water with a wide range of baits. It’s something that he employs all spring, especially in the post-spawn.
“After the bass spawn, you have the bluegill bed thing and throwing topwaters around shallow cover,” said Gill. “It’s a tandem thing, and forward-facing sonar plays a role in both. It helps you locate the bluegill beds, showing the harder bottom areas they use to spawn. It’s also great for finding shallow targets that provide shade to cast a topwater lure to.”
Once he finds bedding bluegill, Gill will use standard finesse techniques but likes to use heavier weights. “I’m going to use a plastic worm in some form or fashion, but want something fast and snappy, so I use heavier weights than I normally use,” he said. “I want something a little more intrusive, whether a Texas rig, drop-shot, shaky head, or some other way to rig the worm. The heavier weights allow me to get that bass to react when fishing around bluegill beds.”
Even though Gill primarily uses spinning gear and finesse tactics, he likes to beef up his fluorocarbon leader material to 15 or 17-lb Seaguar Tatsu.
“This time of year, fishing this way, your average size of bass goes way up,” he said. “I like to use heavier lines to manhandle the fish because you tend to catch some really big post-spawn fish doing this.”
Gill also likes to stay back on bluegill beds he finds with his electronics, sticking to 50 to 80 feet away and making casts to what he sees. “Fishing at a distance is critical in shallow water because the bass are very mobile this time of year as they roam chasing bluegill and tend to be very aware of their surroundings,” he said.
Aside from soft plastics, Gill also likes to mix in moving baits like topwater lures. “It’s a one-two punch for me, and I also like to use a lure that will call them up to the surface, either a walking topwater or some sort of bait that will draw them like a glide bait,” he said. “These baits are great when searching and looking across shallow flats. For topwater walking baits, I like 20 lb Seaguar Smackdown in Stealth Gray with a very short leader of 15 or 17-pound Seaguar Tatsu to keep the braid from wrapping around the treble hooks. It seems light, but I like how the bait reacts to each movement, and heavier braids tend to overpower a bait.”
Bass fishing in shallow water is an excellent approach almost any time of the year, but around the spawn and for a few weeks afterward, it can be the way to find big and hungry bass.
Seaguar Smackdown braid is available in high visibility Flash Green and low visibility Stealth Gray. It is available in 150- and 300-yard spools in sizes ranging from 10 to 65 lb tests
Seaguar Tatsu Fluorocarbon mainline is available in 200- and 1,000-yard spools from 4 to 25 lb tests
Seaguar Red Label Fluorocarbon mainline is available in 200- and 1,000-yard spools from 4 to 20 lb tests.
Seeing a ferocious strike from a huge largemouth bass as it blows up on a topwater lure at sunrise or sunset is absolutely thrilling. To witness the power and aggressiveness on full display sends a collective shiver down the spine of any passionate angler; it’s also one of the most consistent ways to catch big bass throughout the hot summer months.
When it comes to topwater bass fishing, there are several categories of lures, which are effective in certain situations. Among the favorites are poppers, walkers and prop baits, as well as frogs. For this, we’ll just consider the first three since frogs fall in a category all their own.
Largemouth bass are ambush predators and are willing to strike nearly anything that comes into range. They can sense a lure visually, by sound or by picking up vibrations through their lateral line as it swims across heavy cover. That’s one reason poppers, like the familiar Rebel Pop-R and prop baits including the Smithwick Devil’s Horse are especially effective in off-color water, since they can draw in fish from the sound alone. Whether it’s the gulping bubble of a popper or the buzz of a prop bait, bass sure love ‘em. Walkers, like the old standby Heddon Zara Spook, tend to work better in clearer water, where the fish can track the lure visually. It takes some practice but the walk-the-dog technique of zig-zagging a stickbait past heavy cover will draw ferocious strikes.
On the bite, bass create suction by forcing water through its mouth and out past its gills. If the fish misses the lure on the first strike, allow it to sit twitching—the fish will often circle back to consume what it believes is a crippled prey.
Topwater bass fishing can mean hundreds of casts though, and hand fatigue can become an issue. There are also those little cuts, nicks and scrapes we get from a long day on the water, from fins, gill plates, hooks, braided line and more. Fish Monkey’s Free Style fishing glove is a perfect match for topwater fishing. It offers a number of key features, including a second-skin fit with ultralight, moisture-wicking fabrics offeringUPF 50-plus sun protection as well as light padding and protection in all the right places. This means you can lip a big bass or take a wrap with heavy braid without worry of the line cutting into your hand. The Free Style is also designed to allow the user to remove any fingertips they wish without having the glove fray or split. This is key for tying knots or manipulating snap swivels without having to remove the glove. And because of the additional padding and grip in the palms, making hundreds of casts a day is much less fatiguing.
The Stubby is another great choice. It’s designed for those who prefer shorter cuffs and fingers. It’s not short on features though, with PVC Monkey Grip in the palms that works as well when wet as it does dry, plus UPF 50-plus sun protection. That ultralight fabric and second-skin fit means you’ll forget you’re even wearing gloves after about five casts.
A third choice is the Pro 365 Guide Glove. It’s designed with professional guides in mind, with a slightly longer cuff and fingers than the Stubby, but with all those same great features, fit and sun protection. Want even more coverage? Check out the Half Finger or even the Full Finger Guide Gloves.
Although topwater bass fishing can mean a ton of casting, those explosive strikes from giant largemouths make it all worthwhile.
I grew up reading the big three outdoor magazines of the time: Outdoor Life, Sports Afield and Field and Stream. At one time I had every copy of all three from 1964 until about 2000. Those magazines made me want to catch salmon in an Alaska stream and shoot doves in Argentina.
Sometimes an article applied directly to this country Georgia boy. I distinctly remember a tip that redwing blackbirds often lit in bushes hanging over the water and watched a bass under them, expecting the bass to injure a minnow the bird could than eat.
A few days later while fishing Harrison’s Pond with my trusty Mitchell 300 and a Devil’s Horse, I saw a redwing blackbird sitting on a small bush growing from the top of a stump about 40 feet off the bank. It took me a couple of cast to place the Devil’s Horse perfectly and bring it by the stump, but I got an explosive strike from a nice two-pound bass.
More recently I had gotten my fishing stuff ready for a Jackson night tournament and was killing time waiting to leave. I read an online report on an Arkansas lake. It said the bass were hitting a jig and pig at night.
I went out and tied one on for the tournament. At midnight I had not caught a fish and had just two hours left to fish. Remembering the article and jig, I picked it up and started casting it to a rocky point. I landed five bass on it in the next hour and won the tournament.
The big three magazines were national and covered everything about the outdoors. Then around my senior year in high school, 1968, I heard about a new group that published a magazine. But it was different. The Bass Anglers Sportsman Society (BASS) was nothing but black bass fishing.
Youth nowadays have almost unlimited information available to them and many of them take advantage of it. Some college bass fishermen have more bass fishing knowledge than I have accumulated in 65 years of bass fishing. They constantly study and read about bass fishing.
I share recaps of my tournament here and hope they help fishermen catch fish. Sometimes another fisherman sharing what they catch fish on and how they are caught is a big help. For the same reason I post a variety of fishing reports on my web site. You never know where or when a tip may help you in the future.
I hope somehow my reports help you catch a bass!
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I wish I had read something or heard something to help me at West Point last weekend! That lake has been my bane this year in tournaments, finishing near the bottom in Potato Creek and a Sportsman Club tournaments in February.
Last Sunday 12 members and guests fished from 6:30 AM to 3:00 PM to land 40 bass weighing about 40 pounds at West Point. There were four five-bass limits and one person didn’t weigh in a fish.
Raymond English won with five weighing 10.31 pounds and got big fish with a 2.59 pounder. Second went to Billy Roberts with five at 6.33 pounds, third was Lee Hancock with five at 5.30 pounds and Jay Gerson was fourth with five weighing 4.97 pounds. My four weighing 4.69 pounds was fifth, one place out of the money again!
Before the tournament Lee said a big tournament there the day before produced a winning weight of 18 pounds. He asked “How do they do that?” I told him I thought they ran way up the river and threw topwater frogs around grass and other shallow cover, working hard all day for five bites from quality largemouth. I also said I could not fish like that anymore, my old body won’t let me.
Instead I tend to fish memories, trying to catch fish in the same places and the same ways I caught them the same time of year in the past. Sometimes it kinda works.
After a club member helped me launch my boat and I sat waiting on blastoff Sunday morning, the fairly strong wind make me change my plans. I knew the wind would be blowing right into three rocky points down the lake where I caught fish two weeks ago, usually a good thing. I decided to start there rather than a place upstream I originally planned to go.
Wind was blowing into the points and a crow walking the edge of the water, looking for shad I thought, made me think I had made a good decision. I quickly missed a bite on topwater and picked up a Carolina rig and landed a 11.9-inch spot. Not a keeper.
And it was the only bite I got until I ran back up the lake to where I planned to start at 9:00. I finally caught three fish on a shaky head worm on rocky points and one on a whacky rigged worm under a dock.
I hooked exactly five bass all day! I just could not catch that fifth keeper.
And it continued last year and again this year, although i did get big fish this year with a pretty 6.8 pounder!!
I seem to have a special jinx on Lake Hartwell. Last weekend, for the fourth Potato Creek Bassmasters tournament in a row, I came in one place out of winning some money. Every year I seem to come up just a little short. Last weekend was especially close.
In 17 hours of casting last Friday and Saturday 11 members of the club landed 91 keeper bass weighing about 142 pounds. There were 16 five bass limits in the two days and no one zeroed.
Glen Anderson won with ten bass weighing 21.37 pounds and Mitchell Cardell was second with ten at 18,64 pounds. Third place went to Kwong Yu with eight bass weighing 17.12 pounds and his 5.31 pounder was big fish. Raymond English came in fourth with ten at 16.27 pounds.
I caught ten weighing 16.13 pounds for fifth. The club pays the top four places.
I camped at Hartwell State Park at exit 1 off I-85 in South Carolina, only 11.8 miles from the tournament ramp. It was very peaceful and quiet until Saturday when some folks came to the site beside me. They had two dogs that barked constantly.
In practice I tried to find some kind of pattern but caught only a few small fish. And in the tournament, I never got on any kind of pattern. On Friday I caught one on an underspin off a bridge piling, two on a Carolina rig on a gravel bank, and two on a whacky rigged worm on docks.
On Saturday I saw some fish schooling on top and missed two on topwater but landed one on a Sebile swim bait. Later I got two on a Carolina Rig on a rocky point, one on a shaky head on a rock pile and one on the whacky rig. Both days I landed my fifth keeper with less than 30 minutes to fish.
My biggest fish was a pretty spot but it weighed only about 2.5 pounds. Both days my smallest fish were skinny spots that weighed less than a pound. I just could not get a bigger bass to help out my weight.
Two years ago 12 members of the Spalding County Sportsman Club fished our April tournament at Clarks Hill. We fished 16.5 hours in two days to land 102 bass weighing about 180 pounds. There were 17 five bass limits and one fisherman went home early and didn’t weigh in.
My 10 weighing 28.86 pounds won and Niles Murray had ten at 20.60 pound for second. Glenn Anderson weighed in eight keepers at 17.46 pounds for third and had a 5.20 pounder for big fish. Raymond English was third with ten weighing 16.71 pounds for fourth.
I fished Thursday and Friday trying to find a pattern and it seemed fairly easy to catch keeper bass, but they were all males weighing less than two pounds. I am pretty sure they were guarding fry. I saw several balls of tiny bass up in shallow water. A local fisherman told me for my GON fishing report he thought a great majority of bass at Clarks Hill spawned the week before we fished.
In the spring when the length of daylight and water temperatures get right, male bass go up in shallow water and fan out a bed. They use their tails to “fan” the water, pushing silt off hard gravel or sand to make a good place for eggs.
Females move in and pick the best-looking bed and drop their eggs. They may release eggs in several beds before going back out to deeper water and basically sitting still for several days to recover.
The poor male stays around the bed chasing off bream and other predators that would eat the eggs. They will hit just about any bait that comes near them during this time.
For about a week after the eggs hatch the male stay around the young fry, protection them. But then he will get so hungry he will start eating his own young. Those males are very easy to catch during this process.
I was lucky enough to find four rocky points where bigger bass were feeding on the shad spawn and caught five weighing 13.56 pounds on Saturday. I was able to rotate around the points all day. When fish stopped hitting on one I would go to the next one. Although other fishermen pulled up on them and fished a short time, none stayed on them for a long time.
Sunday I was blocked from fishing three of those points, one by a pontoon anchored on it two others by fellow club fishermen that followed me to them that morning. But I was lucky enough to land five weighing 15.30 on the one point I could fish to insure the win.
Surprise, Surprise. Two years ago on a Saturday it poured down rain all day for our Flint River Bass Club April tournament at Oconee the week before a Sportsman Club tournament on Oconee. Four of us braved the cold wind and water falling from the sky to land 13 bass weighing about 21 pounds. There were two five bass limits and no one zeroed.
My five weighing 8.45 pounds won and Brent Drake had five at 8.16 for second with a 2.24 pound bass for big fish. Zane Fleck came in third with two at 2.75 and JR Proctor was fourth with one weighing 1.47 pounds.
We took off in the rain and I managed to get to my favorite point but there was a boat fishing it. A Po Boys tournament took off at Long Shoals just before we did and an ABA took off from Sugar Creek a little before we did, so the lake was crowded.
After about 30 minutes and two missed bites on my crankbait lightning started flashing and I got back in the same ditch I hid in two weeks ago. This was worse, with a flash, crack, boom with no time between them. Luckily it lasted only 20 minutes and was gone for the rest of the day, all I had to put up with was cold wind and rain.
I didn’t get a bite until noon when I caught a bare keeper on a Carolina rig. I was fishing back in a creek where I was protected from the wind somewhat. As I fished down one side I could not help but watch a guy fish down the other side.
He was by himself and intense, leaning forward and concentrating hard on every cast. He hit every post on the front of every dock down that side as I watched. I did not see him catch a fish.
When we got near the back he cranked up and left. I started to go somewhere else but I was mostly out of the wind and had a fish so I kept fishing the bank he had just fished.
I went behind the docks and landed four keepers right against the seawalls on a whacky rigged Senko. I am glad the other guy concentrated on the outside posts!!
D.C. For Three! Alabama’s Dustin Connell Claims Third Championship Title At Bass Pro Shops REDCREST 2025 Presented By MillerTech Energy At Lake Guntersville
By The Fishing Wire
Clanton, Alabama pro goes back-to-back, wins second consecutive REDCREST title with 27 bass weighing 87 pounds, 11 ounces to earn another $300,000 payday
Huntsville, AL – The 2025 iteration of Bass Pro Shops REDCREST Presented by MillerTech on Lake Guntersville marked the third time Major League Fishing’s championship event has been held in the bass-fishing mecca of Alabama.
For the third time, pro Dustin Connell of Clanton, Alabama, is keeping the trophy in his home state.
Connell ran away from the field on Championship Sunday, both figuratively and literally. After making a roughly 70-mile trek away from the history- and largemouth-rich waters of lower Lake Guntersville to the tailrace below the Nickajack Dam, Connell stacked up 87 pounds, 11 ounces on 27 scorable bass. The best single-day total of any angler at the event (despite a 65-minute delay due to weather), that was enough to hold off a late charge from Wesley Strader by 8-5.
Connell earned $300,000 for the win and further cemented himself as the best big-event performer going. The only angler to win REDCREST multiple times, he’s claimed the title in back-to-back years and three times total – he previously won on Lake Eufaula in 2021 and Lay Lake in 2024. He’s now just the third angler ever with three tour championship titles. Only Bass Fishing Hall of Famers Kevin VanDam and Rick Clunn have won more with four apiece.
This also marked his seventh total win on the Bass Pro Tour. Shortly after it became official, an emotional Connell said that, in some ways, it’s the most special one yet.
“I think just me winning the tournament doing my own deal, winning it with my style of fishing that I love, and then coming off of a couple tough tournaments and just a lot of adversity, I was very, very, very shook up,” Connell said.
Ironically, to keep his REDCREST track record perfect in his home state, Connell ventured all the way to Tennessee. Connell grew up fishing current on the Coosa River, and he said he’s been thinking for months about venturing to the Nickajack Dam so he could fish in his comfort zone.
That flew in the face of conventional Guntersville wisdom, which Connell admits gave him pause.
“I had this in my mind literally six months ago,” he said. “I was like, I want to go up that river, I want to go up that river. But Guntersville is such a badass lake, and on the way, I just didn’t think that I could compete up there. I was like, I feel dumb even going up here.”
So, Connell started Day 1 trying to target spawning largemouth at the lower end of the fishery. Pre-tournament chatter suggested that would be the dominant pattern, but Connell caught just one scorable bass during the opening period of the event. He ran to Nickajack in Period 2, but strong winds made for a long trip. He only added one more fish during that period, and at the end of it, he sat in 47th place out of 50 anglers.
“I just wasn’t catching them,” Connell said. “The wind was blowing again, and there was pollen everywhere. It just was not the deal.
“I get to the dam, and I caught 20-something pounds at the dam late in the day. So, I said, screw this; I’m fishing the whole tournament up there, good, bad or ugly.”
Connell, who caught all three species of bass (largemouth, smallmouth and spotted) in the tailrace, steadily climbed SCORETRACKER® throughout Day 2. Still, he needed a last-minute flurry to earn a spot in the Top 20 and advance to the Knockout Round. He caught four bass totaling 12-6 in the last 13 minutes before lines out to jump from the wrong side of the elimination line into 17th.
Connell attributed that rally to a bait change. After spending most of the day throwing a 2.5-inch CrushCity The Mayorswimbait, he switched to a CrushCity Mooch Minnow. Even without the aid of forward-facing sonar (he didn’t catch a bass all week that he first saw on his screen), he was able to shake it in the current breaks along the dam’s concrete walls and trigger bites.
“The sun was out, and they kind of quit biting,” Connell said. “I was initially catching them on a Mayor, and I was winding it down the walls. … Well, late in the day, I picked that rod up with a Mooch Minnow on there. And I made like three casts with it, and I caught two back-to-back. And I figured out the bait that they were really wanting, and the action of it.”
It’s not just the REDCREST champion that will be familiar to MLF fans but the baits that won him the trophy. While Connell said he caught a few fish on both a CrushCity Janitor worm and a Rapala Mavrik jerkbait, the two tools that did most of his damage were a Mooch Minnow and a CrushCity Freeloader – the same baits he used most often in his win on Lay Lake last year. He rigged the Freeloader on a scrounger head and threw it on baitcast gear with 17-pound Seaguar Invizx fluorocarbon. The Mooch Minnow he affixed to a 3/16-ounce VMC Redline tungsten jighead.
Even after his strong finish to the Qualifying Round, Connell wasn’t sure he’d found the winning pattern. However, during Saturday’s Knockout Round, he noticed how well the bass were biting during early-morning, low-light conditions. Knowing the forecast for Sunday called for storms all day, he started to get excited.
“Yesterday morning, I was like, dude, this tournament just got real interesting,” he said. “I was like, there is a chance this could go down.”
Thunderstorms delayed takeoff, giving Connell less time to catch up after his long run, and made for a rough ride. But once he arrived, it didn’t take long to see that his hopes were well-founded. The storms both ignited a feeding frenzy below the dam and killed the sight-fishing pattern much of the Top 10 had relied on to get to the Championship Round.
Connell arrived at his starting spot around 9:35 a.m., 45 minutes after lines in. On his second cast, he landed his first scorable bass. By 9:50, he’d caught three more and brought his total to 14-15, taking a lead he would never relinquish. In all, Connell caught 31-0 in the span of 36 minutes before the period break.
While Connell consistently added to his total, Strader – who also made a long run up the river, albeit not all the way to the dam – stayed on his heels. It seemed like every time Connell had pulled away, Strader would cut his lead to 10 pounds or so. Connell didn’t catch a scorable bass during the final 47 minutes before lines out, and Strader trimmed his deficit from more than 20 pounds at the start of Period 3 to less than 9. However, he could never quite get over the hump.
Connell called the final period “the most stressful period of bass fishing I’ve had in my life.”
“I know how big it is of an event, and I knew it was mine to lose,” he said. “I was like, dude, if I could just add on a few more fish – don’t light it on fire, just catch some. And I did my job.”
Key for Connell was the caliber of fish he found during the Championship Round. Strader actually caught two more scorable bass on the day, but Connell boated six weighing 4 pounds or more, including three over 5. His average scorable bass weighed about 3.25 pounds compared to 2.72 for the rest of the field – more than half a pound per fish.
“I knew there were some big ones up there,” Connell said. “But I did not expect to catch the quality I caught today. I mean, it was unreal.”
Connell didn’t have an explanation for why he’s become so dominant on the biggest stage. He said he prepares for REDCREST like any other event. But he did note that, once he makes it to the Championship Round, he’s not easy to beat. Indeed, nearly half the time he’s made the Top 10, he’s wound up in the winner’s circle (seven out of 16). Connell attributed that to his fish-to-win approach. He’s always looking for the winning bite rather than settling for a pattern that can earn him a check.
“When I make the Championship Round, I’m normally really dialed in,” he explained. “That’s the thing about me. If I don’t feel like I’m on a winning pattern, I typically don’t do well at all, because I’m always trying to win.”
Even though he’s been there plenty of times before, Connell called this win extra special. In the moments after lines out, he sat on his front deck, and tears began to flow. He said he was “more shook up with this one” than any of his previous wins.
Connell admitted the start to his 2025 season on the Bass Pro Tour hadn’t been up to his standards. He finished 55th at the Harris Chain of Lakes and 36th at Lake Murray, and that wore on him. To not only bounce back but do so with his wife, Victoria, and nearly-one-year-old son, Trent, on hand to celebrate with him for the first time after one of his victories made this one particularly sweet. A dozen or so family members joined him on stage as he lifted the trophy.
“Lately, it ain’t been easy on me,” Connell said. “The last three tournaments, two tournaments I’ve had have been absolutely brutal. I go to Lake Murray, and it’s just a brutal tournament. Florida was brutal. And you’ve got all these people just hating on you and saying, ‘Oh, you can’t catch them without this and that,’ and it just weighs on you.
“I try to surround myself with positive people, and my family, my wife, my little boy – he was here last year, but he wasn’t where I could hold him. And to win this tournament with him and my family here, oh my gosh. I can’t believe it.”
The top 10 pros at REDCREST 2025 Presented by MillerTech Energy at Lake Guntersville finished:
1st: Dustin Connell, Clanton, Ala., 27 bass, 87-11, $300,000 2nd: Wesley Strader, Spring City, Tenn., 29 bass, 79-6, $50,000 3rd: Zack Birge, Blanchard, Okla., 17 bass, 44-12, $40,000 4th: Paul Marks Jr., Cumming, Ga., 15 bass, 43-5, $28,000 5th: Jake Lawrence, Paris, Tenn., 15 bass, 38-10, $25,000 6th: Chris Lane, Guntersville, Ala., 16 bass, 38-10, $20,000 7th: Brent Ehrler, Redlands, Calif., 14 bass, 37-12, $18,000 8th: David Dudley, Lynchburg, Va., 10 bass, 33-8, $16,000 9th: Ron Nelson, Berrien Springs, Mich., six bass, 15-2, $14,500 10th: Bobby Lane, Lakeland, Fla., three bass, 8-5, $12,500
Overall, there were 152 scorable bass weighing 427 pounds, 1 ounce caught by the final 10 pros on Sunday. Throughout the entire four-day event, the 50 competitors in REDCREST 2025 caught a total of 1,614 scorable bass weighing 4,456 pounds, 4 ounces.
Pro Brent Ehrler earned Sunday’s $1,000 Berkley Big Bass Award with a 5-pound, 6-ounce largemouth bass that he caught in Period 1. Berkley awards $1,000 to the angler who weighs the heaviest bass each day.
Television coverage of MLF’s Bass Pro Shops REDCREST 2025 Presented by MillerTech Energy at Lake Guntersville will premiere as a two-hour episode starting at 7 a.m. ET, on Saturday, July 5 on Discovery, with the Championship Round premiering on Saturday, July 19. New MLF episodes premiere each Saturday morning on Discovery, with re-airings on Outdoor Channel and Vice TV.
Proud sponsors of the MLF Bass Pro Tour and REDCREST 2025 include: 7Brew Coffee, Abu Garcia, Athletic Brewing, Bass Force, B&W Trailer Hitches, Bass Pro Shops, Berkley, BUBBA, E3 Sports Apparel, Fishing Clash, Grizzly, Lowrance, Mercury, MillerTech Energy, Mossy Oak Fishing, NITRO, O’Reilly Auto Parts, Power-Pole, Ranger Boats, Rapala, Star brite, Suzuki Marine and Toyota.
For complete details and updated information on Major League Fishing and the Bass Pro Tour, visit MajorLeagueFishing.com. For regular updates, photos, tournament news and more, follow MLF’s social media outlets at Facebook, X, Instagram and YouTube.
About Major League Fishing (MLF)
Major League Fishing (MLF) is the world’s largest tournament-fishing organization, producing more than 250 events annually at some of the most prestigious fisheries in the world, while broadcasting to America’s living rooms on CBS, Discovery Channel, Outdoor Channel, CBS Sports Network, World Fishing Network and on demand on MyOutdoorTV (MOTV). Headquartered in Benton, Kentucky, the MLF roster of bass anglers includes the world’s top pros and more than 30,000 competitors in all 50 states and 20 countries. Since its founding in 2011, MLF has advanced the sport of competitive fishing through its premier television broadcasts and livestreams and is dedicated to improving the quality of life for bass through research, education, fisheries enhancement and fish care.
Mad dogs and Englishmen may go out in the mid-day sun, but 11 members of the Spalding County Sportsman Club went out in the thunderstorms at Oconee last Sunday. I wonder about my sanity fishing in weather like that.
Weather guessers “forecast” some thunderstorms but light rain most of the day. Wrong. It poured down rain and almost constant lightning all day was much worse than predicted. There was more than 6.5 inch of rain in my gauge in 24 hours.
We were supposed to start at 7:30 AM but a strong storm kept most of us on the bank in our trucks until about 7:45. We had a short break, then the lightning started flashing and the thunder crashing within a few minutes after we took off and continued until about an hour before weigh-in.
In the tournament, 11 of us brought 36 14-inch keeper largemouth weighing about 71 pounds to the scales. There were six five bass limits and three people didn’t catch a fish in the eight rainy hours.
Raymond English won with five weighing 12.79 pounds and Niles Murray was an incredibly close second with five at 12.78 pounds. My five weighing 11.26 pounds was third and I had a 4.55 pound largemouth for big fish. Jay Gerson came in fourth with five weighing 8.72 pounds and for about the third time this year Billy Roberts placed fifth with 5 at 7.92 pounds.
When we took off I made a short run to a rocky point where I caught a 3.5 pound fish in our March tournament two years ago. It was big fish in that tournament. On about my tenth cast with the same crankbait I landed the 4.55 pounder. That was a good start.
After catching a 13.5 inch non keeper out of some grass on that point on a swim jig, the lightning drove me to the back of the cove where I felt the overhanging trees gave me some protection. I ended up sitting against a seawall there trying to cast every few minutes for two hours! I had to run my bilge pumps to keep the boat from filling with water. I did catch three short fish in that time.
I kept looking at my phone and saw the next county south was under a tornado watch. The lightning seemed to be what some call “sheet” lightning, bolts that jump from cloud to cloud rather than cloud to ground. But every few minutes the lake would get bright and the air shake from a nearby ground strike.
It was so bad a very nice homeowner came down to his dock and asked if I was ok. When I said I was just trying to stay in a protected area, he said if it got too bad for me that I could tie up to his dock and come up to his basement, the door was open! There are some nice folks still in this world.
At about 10:00 the storm let up a little and I fished out of the cove. On the point where the big one hit I got my second keeper out of grass on the other side of it on a weightless trick worm.
I made another short run to another good cove and caught several short bass going into the cove, then found a ditch with water dumping into the lake. Back-to-back casts to that muddy inflow produced keepers on a jig and pig. Four in the live well a little before noon, one of them over four pounds, made me feel pretty good.
At 1:00 I cranked up for the third time and ran a half mile to another good series of coves, but they produced nothing but a few short fish. I was getting worried about filling my limit.
At 2:45 I went back to the muddy water inflow and caught a short fish from it. Working up the bank I cast my jig to a grassbed and my line started moving straight to the boat. I set the hook and a solid keeper came up and came off.
I hate to set the hook on a fish swimming toward me. I think they get the lead on a Texas rig, shaky head or jig in their mouth and are clamped down so hard the hook does not move on the hook set and they come off, just like this one that made me feel sick.
I got the boat closer to the bank and cast ahead of it. A few casts later my line moved out and I set the hook and landed my fifth keeper. Since it was 15 minutes to weigh-in I didn’t make another cast, just headed to the ramp.
I felt lucky to land a limit on such a messy dangerous day.
The AFTCO Bass Bus release boats have had another busy season in 2024 helping ensure the safe release of thousands of bass back to the lakes and rivers they were caught in that day. AFTCO sponsors and supports two release boats that are operated and maintained by Ulrich Marine Service in Branson, MO. In 2024, these two boats traveled to dozens of events across the Midwest to aid tournament organizations in releasing fish safely, but also to help spread them out for reduced harvest in the days following an event. Spreading the release of tournament fish out across the lake also ensures that an area does not receive too many fish to safely support them in that area. The Ulrich Marine staff is trained on the proper release methods including “fizzing” and operation of the boats to protect as many fish as possible.
The original AFTCO Bass Bus just completed its seventh season of releasing fish. This boat has supported 43 events in 12 states and released over 27,000 bass back into their waters. AFTCO support for a second boat was added in 2019 and the company now supports two boats in operation in conjunction with Ulrich Marine. AFTCO provides financial support for the operation of these boats free of charge at approved tournaments thru out the year.
In conjunction with the release boat at many events is the AFTCO Bank Bag program and distribution of the AFTCO Bass Care 101 guide for all angler and organizations to use for successful fish care management.
In 2025, both Bass Busses are already scheduled for dozens of events across the Eastern US.
About AFTCO
Family owned and operated, the American Fishing Tackle Company (AFTCO) represents unparalleled quality, performance, and reliability when it counts most. Worn across the globe, AFTCO’s performance fishing clothing and fishing rain gear is designed to handle the harshest elements. Whether you’re a tournament bass angler looking to stay dry in a late fall downpour or an offshore weekend warrior seeking protection from the sun’s harmful UV rays, AFTCO keeps you fishing comfortably.
AFTCO reflects a legacy of firsts. From former company Chairman Milt Shedd’s pioneering conservation achievements, to the invention of the roller guide and the introduction of the world’s first pair of true fishing shorts, AFTCO provides conservation leadership and innovative products proven to deliver performance on the water. Our passion for the outdoors goes beyond our product offering because of an unwavering commitment to help protect our fishing resources and angler rights. Through our 10% Pledge to Protect and Conserve, your purchase of any AFTCO product directly supports conservation initiatives.
The State Of Lake Okeechobee From A Professional Anglers Point Of View – Good or Bad?
By The Fishing Wire
Lake Okeechobee is one of the most historic bass fisheries in the world. The Seminole Tribe named it “big water” for its size, but the size of the bass has historically been what people think of when they hear its name. The lake has and continues to provide anglers from all over the world with a once-in-a-lifetime fishing trip. It is considered by many as the Valhalla of Bass Fishing.
As a professional angler who grew up in Clewiston, Florida, Lake Okeechobee is very special to me because I’ve spent my entire life on it and understand how this lake lives and breathes. It is also a big part of why we are here, as a family, and a big part of why we started our family business on the shores of this wonderful lake. My father–Roland Martin, who has spent his lifetime in the sport—mentored me. I am blessed to have a very successful 22-year career myself by winning bass tournaments all over the country. My family is all involved in the outdoors: my daughter Hilary, seems to be the one that is taking the name to the next generation and continuing our family legacy.
We have a responsibility to act as stewards of this majestic body of water. That’s why we co-founded Angler’s for Lake Okeechobee (AFLO) to advocate for the lake by focusing on solutions to stop large influxes of water and nutrients from entering the lake from urban centers north of us, as well as protecting the habitat and wildlife in the lake. Since starting AFLO, we’ve developed an even deeper personal understanding of how Lake O operates. We’ve seen it at its best and we’ve seen it at its worst and our mission is to maintain and to improve upon its glory. Anglers, business owners, and boat owners as well as fishing guides are all part of this effort to care for the lake, fix the estuary crisis downstream, and reduce spraying of harmful chemicals that are intended to manage and control invasive aquatic plants that can disrupt the native ecosystem, hinder navigation, and negatively impact fish and wildlife habitats.
Lake Okeechobee has suffered several injuries in recent years including mismanagement, chemical assault and negative press coverage from certain groups and people who don’t recognize the Lake’s value or want to blame shift from problems in their own waters to ours. However, there have been significant efforts at the state and federal levels to stabilize the lake and heal it.
I want to share some recent positive developments on the state of the Lake. First, ongoing construction of Aquifer Storage and Recovery (ASR) wells will “slow the flow” of nutrient-laden and contaminated water from Orlando’s urban runoff in the wet season and provide much-needed fresh water during the dry season. Year after year, more than 95 percent of the water and nutrients that end up in the lake flow unimpeded from Orlando and urban centers north draining into the Lake. Leaders in Florida like Governor Ron DeSantis and those in charge of the Florida Legislature deserve significant credit for committing the resources necessary to get these projects done.
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) have begun to shift their lake management philosophy to put the lake into “recovery mode,” which means lower lake levels will create an opportunity for sunlight to once again grow grass and healthier fish habitat. A major new USACE project was just authorized when the Water Resource Development Act was signed on January 4, 2025. The plan proposes an enormous reservoir north of the Lake with the capacity to store 200,000 acre-feet of flow before it ever reaches the Lake. It will limit human-borne contaminates from polluting the Lake–as we see in the estuaries to our west that are filled with pollution from stormwater runoff, septic tanks, and sewage from failing wastewater infrastructure that feed harmful algal blooms and red tides. Lastly, there has been a shift in focus on supporting funding and projects inside Lake Okeechobee so we can do the restoration and habitat projects that are greatly needed there.
Florida is growing, but our population continues to become more aware of its ecosystems and the impact we all have on water. Lake Okeechobee is not toxic as often cited.
Bass fishing continues to take off nationally. It’s increasingly becoming a young person’s sport and there’s nothing better than seeing the lake filled with young anglers from all over the country. They come to compete and fill their bags on what I believe is still the premier bass fishing destination in the world and considered by many fishermen, their ultimate bucket-list destination.
The push to save Lake Okeechobee continues to gain steam. AFLO has brought together many different stakeholders who all care about the Lake including city leaders, farmers, conservationists, outdoor, sports and fishing brands, as well as our coastal neighbors.
There are still challenges to resolve like the ongoing spraying issues that harm bass spawning beds, promote unhealthy lake bottom, and reduce submerged aquatic vegetation (SAV), which promotes fish habitat and provides the filter Lake Okeechobee needs to clean its own water. Lake Okeechobee used to have between 30,000 and 50,000 acres of SAV each year and has been reduced to basically zero over the last 7-8 years.
Also, we need to dispel the idea that Lake Okeechobee is toxic, which has been the result of decades of pseudo-environmentalists attacking our rural communities over water issues.
And finally, we need to promote healthy dialogue among all stakeholders to ensure everyone involved has a better understanding of our shared issues.
The largest freshwater lake in Florida generates more than $30 million in income for businesses annually. That despite all the challenges it has faced over the years. Imagine what a better lake could do for our state and our country.
AFLO, key stakeholders and our family will keep working on this goal by sharing facts and encouraging our leaders to preserve the lake’s status as a world-class bass fishing destination.
–Scott Martin is a professional angler, the host of “The Scott Martin Challenge” and co-founder of Anglers for Lake Okeechobee.
