Lane rallies with 29 bass for 91-10 to win Knockout Round and Advance, Final 10 Now Set for Championship Sunday Shootout for $125,000
GUNTERSVILLE, Ala. (Jan. 17, 2026) – With one period left in the Qualifying Round on Friday afternoon, pro Chris Lane of Guntersville, Alabama, faced an uphill climb just to make the cut and advance to the Knockout Round at B&W Trailer Hitches Stage 1 Presented by Mercury . Twenty-four hours later, he found himself atop SCORETRACKER® and safely booked into Sunday’s Championship Round, quite possibly the angler to beat on his adopted home lake, Lake Guntersville.
Lane, who caught more than 30 pounds in the third period Friday, carried that momentum to Saturday morning. He boated 18 scorable bass totaling 62 pounds, 5 ounces in the first period alone. He then added nearly 22 pounds in the second frame, which allowed him to spend a final period that was stressful for just about everyone else scouting new water. Lane finished the day with 91-10, 12-13 ahead of fellow Alabama resident, Tuskegee’s Mark Daniels Jr.
Weights will once again reset overnight, then Lane and the rest of the top nine finishers from the Knockout Round will join Qualifying Round winner Jacob Walker of Springville, Alabama, in a battle for the first trophy and $125,000 paycheck of the year.
Link to Day 3 Photo Gallery: Anglers put on a Lake Guntersville gun show for Stage 1 Knockout Round
Link to HD Video of Highlights from Day 3 Competition
Lane’s massive third period Friday came after he moved to a new area. No surprise, he started the Knockout Round there, but he put together his strong morning using a different bait on different spots.
Those decisions resulted from a combination of well-honed Guntersville instincts and a fortunate break from Mother Nature. When Lane arrived at the area Saturday morning, he elected not to run all the way to his best stretch from the prior afternoon due to the fog, figuring he could fish his way there. That decision quickly paid off – he caught three scorable bass in the first 5 minutes after lines in.
“I went into the same area except a different spot,” he said. “That’s what was probably the game-changer. It was so foggy, I said, ‘Well, I need to be over there, but I’ll just work my way over there.’ And I never got over there until middle of the second period.”
Whereas Lane had done most of his damage Friday on a Bass Pro Shops XPS Chatterbomb bladed jig, he read the conditions and started Saturday with an XPS Staredown jerkbait instead. That proved prudent. Lane didn’t realize it at the time, but the slick calm conditions made it difficult for just about anyone else to generate an early winding bite.
“I think it was my very first cast, I got a bite, and I’m like, ‘oh boy,’” Lane said. “Then my next cast, I got another bite. And I’m like, ‘Okay, this is what they want.’ I switched up and picked up a Chatterbomb and threw it out there – what I caught them on yesterday. And I never had a bite.”
Lane is in his comfort zone not only because he’s competing on the lake where he’s lived since 2009 but because he’s fishing his preferred style. He never turned on his forward-facing sonar during the Knockout Round (nor did Daniels, for that matter).
Lane thinks there are still plenty of fish left in his area, although he knows it’ll take a big day to earn his second Bass Pro Tour victory. He predicted the winning weight could be north of 100 pounds. During his afternoon scouting expedition, he did find a couple more productive spots, although he thinks they’re more likely to yield a bite or two than house a big school. Still, he can use them during the Championship Round to give his main zone a chance to rest if need be.
“I’m going to burn up everything I’ve got for two periods, then maybe go make an adjustment on some spots that I found later today where I caught two or three of them,” he said. “And maybe I can catch five there and then go back to where I started late in the day and try to be there about an hour before lines out and see if they really turn on. If they do, then I feel like I can get right very quick.”
Lane, whose one prior BPT win came in 2023 on Florida’s Kissimmee Chain of Lakes, where he grew up, said a victory on his new home water would be an “amazing” addition to his many fond Guntersville memories.
“It would probably be pretty emotional and pretty exciting, just because this is where my kids grew up,” he said. “This is where we spent all of our time out on the lake, whether it was taking the kids fishing when they were really young and letting them catch a bunch of fish or taking the pontoon out and just cruising around the lake.”
The top nine pros that advanced to Championship Sunday on Lake Guntersville are:
1st: Chris Lane, Guntersville, Ala., 29 bass, 91-10
2nd: Mark Daniels Jr., Tuskegee, Ala., 26 bass, 78-13
3rd: Banks Shaw, Harrison, Tenn., 22 bass, 76-14
4th: Keith Carson, DeBary, Fla., 24 bass, 76-10
5th: Zack Birge, Blanchard, Okla., 27 bass, 72-9
6th: Jacob Wheeler, Harrison, Tenn., 23 bass, 72-1
7th: Drew Gill, Mount Carmel, Ill., 23 bass, 70-14
8th: Justin Cooper, Zwolle, La., 20 bass, 68-0
9th: Wesley Strader, Spring City, Tenn., 23 bass, 66-9
*QR Winner: Jacob Walker, Springville, Ala.
Eliminated from competition are:
11th: Ott DeFoe, Blaine, Tenn., 21 bass, 62-14, $15,900
12th: Justin Lucas, Guntersville, Ala., 22 bass, 57-8, $15,800
13th: Casey Ashley, Donalds, S.C., 17 bass, 50-13, $15,700
14th: Spencer Shuffield, Hot Springs, Ark., 16 bass, 48-13, $15,600
15th: Michael Neal, Dayton, Tenn., 15 bass, 46-14, $15,500
16th: Jeff Sprague, Wills Point, Texas, 14 bass, 45-15, $15,400
17th: Dustin Connell, Clanton, Ala., 14 bass, 42-9, $15,300
18th: Mark Davis, Mount Ida, Ark., 13 bass, 40-11, $15,200
19th: Brent Ehrler, Redlands, Calif., 15 bass, 39-9, $15,100
20th: Cole Floyd, Leesburg, Ohio, 11 bass, 34-8, $15,000
21st: Colby Miller, Elmer, La., nine bass, 26-8, $15,000
22nd: Jacob Wall, New Hope, Ala., 10 bass, 25-8, $15,000
23rd: Nick Hatfield, Greeneville, Tenn., eight bass, 23-2, $15,000
24th: Dean Rojas, Lake Havasu City, Ariz., six bass, 17-4, $15,000
25th: Andy Montgomery, Blacksburg, S.C., five bass, 17-1, $15,000
A complete list of results can be found at MajorLeagueFishing.com.
Overall, there were 413 bass caught weighing 1,253 pounds, 9 ounces, caught by the 24 Bass Pro Tour anglers on Saturday.
The $1,000 Berkley Big Bass Award on Saturday went to pro Banks Shaw of Harrison, Tennessee, who caught a 7-pound, 11-ounce largemouth during the third period on a jighead minnow. Berkley awards $1,000 to the angler who weighs the heaviest bass each day.
Hosted by Marshall County Tourism & Sports, the four-day event features a roster of 51 of the top professional anglers in the world competing for a $125,000 top prize and their share of the $600,000 purse, along with valuable Angler of the Year (AOY) points in hopes of qualifying for the MLF Heavy Hitters all-star event and REDCREST 2027, the Bass Pro Tour championship.
The full field of 51 anglers competed in the two-day Qualifying Round on Thursday and Friday. After the two-day Qualifying Round was complete, the pro with the heaviest two-day total – Jacob Walker – advanced directly to Sunday’s Championship Round. Anglers that finished 2nd through 25th competed in Saturday’s Knockout Round. In the Knockout Round, weights were zeroed, and the remaining anglers competed to finish in the top nine to advance to Sunday’s Championship Round. In Sunday’s final-day Championship Round, weights are zeroed, and the highest one-day total wins the top prize of $125,000.
The final 10 anglers will arrive Sunday morning at 5:30 a.m. CT to the Civitan Park Boat Launch, located at 1130 Sunset Drive in Guntersville, Alabama. The Bass Pro Tour trailering policy has been enacted for this event, so anglers will depart Civitan Park each morning at 6 a.m. to launch ramps located around the fishery. Anglers will return to the Civitan Park Boat Launch each evening following the end of competition at 3:45 p.m. Fans are welcome to attend all launch and takeout events and also encouraged to watch the event live online throughout the day on the MLFNOW!® livestream and follow along with SCORETRACKER® coverage at MajorLeagueFishing.com.
The MLFNOW!® broadcast team of Chad McKee and J.T. Kenney will break down the extended action live on Championship Sunday from 7:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. CT. MLFNOW!® will be livestreamed on MajorLeagueFishing.com, the MyOutdoorTV (MOTV) app and Rumble.
On Sunday, Jan. 18, from 3–6 p.m., MLF invites fans of all ages to Nash’s at City Harbor, located at 299 Scott St., in Guntersville, for the MLF Fan Experience & Watch Party. Fans can watch the Bass Pro Tour pros live on the MLFNOW!® big screen, enjoy free food for the first 100 fans, enter hourly giveaways, browse MLF merchandise and the bargain bait bin, and cheer on their favorite anglers. Youth of all ages can take part in a fishing derby (gear and bait provided, weather permitting) and a casting contest. Live music from Jackson Cannon begins at 4 p.m., followed by Top 10 angler interviews and the trophy presentation at 5 p.m., including autographs and photos with Bass Pro Tour finalists. The first 50 kids ages 14 and under will also receive a free rod and reel combo.
The B&W Trailer Hitches Stage 1 at Lake Guntersville Presented by Mercury features anglers competing with a 2-pound minimum weight requirement for a bass to be deemed scorable. The MLF Fisheries Management Division determines minimum weights for each body of water that the Bass Pro Tour visits, based on the productivity, bass population and anticipated average size of fish in each fishery.
The 2026 Bass Pro Tour features a field of 51 of the best 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 annual Heavy Hitters all-star event and the REDCREST 2027 championship.
Television coverage of the B&W Trailer Hitches Stage 1 at Lake Guntersville Presented by Mercury will premiere as a two-hour episode starting at 7 a.m. ET, on Saturday, July 4, on Discovery. New MLF episodes premiere each Saturday morning on Discovery, with re-airings on Outdoor Channel.
Proud sponsors of the MLF Bass Pro Tour include: Abu Garcia, Athletic Brewing Co., Bass Force, B&W Trailer Hitches, Bass Pro Shops, Berkley, BUBBA, Cigars International, Grizzly, Lowrance, Mercury, MillerTech, NITRO Boats, OFF! Deep Woods, O’Reilly Auto Parts, Power-Pole, Ranger Boats, Rapala, Star brite, Suzuki Marine, Toyota, Yuengling and Zenni.