Final 10 anglers now set for Championship Sunday and One-day Shootout for $300,000
HUNTSVILLE, Ala. (April 5, 2025) – The final 10 anglers who will battle for the title at Bass Pro Shops REDCREST 2025 on Lake Guntersville Presented by MillerTech Energy have been set. After a Knockout Round that saw four anglers hold the top spot on SCORETRACKER® at various points in the second and third periods, pro Ron Nelson of Berrien Springs, Michigan, ended the day atop the standings with 70 pounds, 14 ounces on 23 Lake Guntersville bass. Nelson edged pro Bobby Lane, the REDCREST 2022 champion, by 2-9.
Holding the lead wasn’t nearly as important as the battle to finish among the top nine and earn a spot in Sunday’s Championship Round. Nelson and the rest of those nine anglers will join Qualifying Round winner, Guntersville, Alabama’s Chris Lane, with $300,000 on the line for the angler who has the best day. Not only will weights zero overnight, but a significant storm system that’s forecast to bring 2-plus inches of rain could change the complexion of the fishery, so the race to claim the trophy should be anyone’s to win.
Link to HD Video – Fish-Catch Highlights of REDCREST 2025 Day 3 on Lake Guntersville
Link to Photo Gallery of REDCREST 2025 Day 3 Afternoon Highlights
Between volatile weather, fluctuating water conditions and the typical springtime migration of bass to their spawning areas, a lot has changed since anglers first took to Guntersville for official practice a week ago. Nelson said he’s had to adapt his approach every day, both in terms of what baits he’s throwing and where.
“I’ve had to adjust every day of the tournament, every day of practice,” Nelson said. “There’s been no just go out and do the same thing every day. I went from catching them on a crankbait really, really good to not catching them at all on a crankbait to having to switch to a ChatterBait and having to switch to a jig – just everything has been different. And locations are different, too.”
Nelson cycled between a few different spots on Saturday morning, picking off a few fish here and there, before returning to an area where he’d caught a single 3-pounder the day prior. This time, he found it teeming with bass on spawning beds. Not only was he able to catch males off the beds, but he found some bigger females, too. On the day, Nelson boated five bass over 4 pounds, including a 5-14.
“I had a flurry of nice, big females and catching the pairs, catching the male and the female,” Nelson explained.
“Then I was like, OK, I can add up weight pretty quick to solidify my day and get a cushion. And then the day became fun, because at that point, it was like, oh, I’ll just fish for big fish and have fun.”
Nelson found the day enjoyable in large part because he’s fishing in his comfort zone. The Michigan native has typically performed well on Tennessee River fisheries, which he attributes to his upbringing fishing small rivers and streams. He’s also one of the best in the world when bass are on beds – not just because of his ability to spot submerged beds but, he joked, because of his birthday.
“May 1 is my birthday, so I’m a spring baby,” Nelson said. “So, I guess it’s just my time of year. I just love spring.”
Nelson knows Championship Sunday will necessitate more adjustments. If the forecast proves correct, it could make sight-fishing impossible. Once again, his plan is to “just fish the conditions.”
“A lot is going to change if we actually get severe weather like they’re talking about and the amount of rain they’re talking about,” he said. “Really, a ton is going to change.”
The winner of Angler of the Year titles on both the Tackle Warehouse Pro Circuit (2020) and Tackle Warehouse Invitationals (2023), Nelson has enjoyed consistent success throughout his career. But he’s never won a tour-level event. To have his first national win come at a championship the caliber of REDCREST would be a dream.
“Anytime you fish a championship, it’s special,” Nelson said. “So, just to be here is special. To win it would be kind of a culmination of my career. … You never want to get ahead of yourself, but it would be special.”
The top 10 pros that made it through the Knockout Round and now advance to Sunday’s Championship Round at REDCREST 2025 on Lake Guntersville are:
1st: Ron Nelson, Berrien Springs, Mich., 23 bass, 70-14
2nd: Bobby Lane, Lakeland, Fla., 25 bass, 68-6
3rd: Brent Ehrler, Redlands, Calif., 21 bass, 60-8
4th: Zack Birge, Blanchard, Okla., 17 bass, 51-4
5th: Dustin Connell, Clanton, Ala., 20 bass, 51-1
6th: David Dudley, Lynchburg, Va., 18 bass, 50-7
7th: Wesley Strader, Spring City, Tenn., 18 bass, 50-6
8th: Jake Lawrence, Paris, Tenn., 15 bass, 41-14
9th: Paul Marks Jr., Cumming, Ga., 15 bass, 40-13
*Qualifying Round WINNER: Chris Lane, Guntersville, Ala.
Eliminated from competition in 11th through 20th place were:
11th: Anthony Gagliardi, Prosperity, S.C., 14 bass, 40-0, $10,000
12th: Jeff Sprague, Wills Point, Texas, 14 bass, 37-5, $10,000
13th: Martin Villa, Charlottesville, Va., 13 bass, 31-14, $10,000
14th: Jacob Wall, New Hope, Ala., 10 bass, 30-2, $10,000
15th: Justin Cooper, Zwolle, La., 11 bass, 29-10, $10,000
16th: Marshall Robinson, Landrum, S.C., 10 bass, 28-9, $10,000
17th: Jacob Walker, Springville, Ala., nine bass, 26-8, $10,000
18th: Michael Neal, Dayton, Tenn., eight bass, 22-1, $10,000
19th: Nick Hatfield, Greeneville, Tenn., seven bass, 18-10, $10,000
20th: Edwin Evers, Talala, Okla., seven bass, 16-13, $10,000
Full results for the entire field can be found at MajorLeagueFishing.com.
Overall, there were 275 scorable bass weighing 767 pounds, 1 ounce caught by the 19 pros competing on Saturday.
Pro Zack Birge earned the $1,000 Berkley Big Bass Award Saturday with a 6-pound, 6-ounce largemouth bass that he caught in Period 2. Berkley awards $1,000 to the angler who weighs the heaviest bass each day.
The full field of anglers competed in the two-day Qualifying Round on Thursday and Friday. After the two-day Qualifying Round was complete, leader Chris Lane advanced directly to Sunday’s Championship Round. The anglers that finished 2nd through 20th competed in Saturday’s Knockout Round. In the Knockout Round, weights were zeroed, and the top nine finishers now join Lane in Sunday’s Championship Round. In the Championship Round, weights are zeroed, and the highest one-day total wins the sport’s top prize of $300,000.
The final 10 anglers will launch Sunday morning from Civitan Park, located at 1130 Sunset Drive, in Guntersville, Alabama, at 7:15 a.m. Fans are welcome to attend the event and also encouraged to follow the event online throughout the day on the MLFNOW!® live stream and SCORETRACKER® coverage at MajorLeagueFishing.com.
The free, family-friendly MLF Outdoor Sports Expo will also take place throughout the weekend at the Von Braun Center, located at 700 Monroe St. SW, in Huntsville. Fishing and outdoor enthusiasts are invited to explore an array of booths and vendors, featuring the newest innovations and gear in fishing, boating, and outdoors. Meet some of the biggest names in the industry, including professional anglers from the Bass Pro Tour and legendary Bass Fishing Hall of Famers like Jimmy Houston, Roland Martin and Kevin VanDam.
The four-day event, hosted by the Huntsville/Madison County Convention & Visitors Bureau, the Alabama Mountain Lakes Tourist Association, and the Madison County Commission , showcases the top 50 MLF anglers from 2024 – including the top 40 anglers from the Bass Pro Tour – competing for the prestigious REDCREST Championship and a total prize pool for more than ¾ of a million dollars.
The 2024 Bass Pro Tour featured a field of 78 of the top professional anglers in the world, competing across seven regular-season tournaments around the country, for millions of dollars and valuable points to qualify for the Bass Pro Shops REDCREST 2025 Presented by MillerTech Energy.
The MLFNOW!® 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.
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.
