GUNTERSVILLE, Ala. — With one period left in the Qualifying Round Friday afternoon, Chris Lane 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 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 in a battle for the first trophy and $125,000 paycheck of the year. Watch all the action on the MLFNOW! livestream from 7:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. CT at MajorLeagueFishing.com, the MLF and MyOutdoorTV (MOTV) apps and the Major League Fishing channel on Rumble.
Full results can be found here.
Key adjustments fuel Lane’s strong start
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.”
Other notes:
- Throughout this event, anglers have put up weight in flurries as they’ve found schools of biting bass, making for a volatile leaderboard. Daniels made the biggest move during the Knockout Round. He caught just one bass during the opening period (albeit a 5-pounder) but stacked up 25 for 73-11 the rest of the way.
- Florida pro Keith Carson is best known for his shallow-water and sight-fishing prowess, but Carson has been making hay during his one period per day with forward-facing sonar throughout Stage 1. He used the technology to boat 20 scorable bass for 65-8 during Period 1 on Saturday, the best period any angler has put together all event.
- Anglers played musical chairs around the Lucas Oil Cut Line for the entire third period. Wesley Strader ultimately claimed the ninth and final spot in the Championship Round after a furious third-period comeback. Strader, who finished second at REDCREST on Guntersville last spring, found himself nearly 28 pounds behind ninth with 2 hours left to fish. He caught 16 scorable bass for 45 pounds from that point on, including a 2-4 and a 3-3 in the last 5 minutes.
- Banks Shaw continued the incredible start to his young career. The Bass Pro Tour rookie put together a strong third period to advance to the Championship Round, highlighted by a 7-11 giant. That fish not only earned Berkley Big Bass honors for the day but is the biggest fish of the event so far. Shaw has now made the Top 10 in each of his first eight national-level events dating back to his AOY-winning 2025 campaign on the Tackle Warehouse Invitationals.