HUNTSVILLE, Ala. — It’s been a little while since David Dudley felt nervous butterflies at takeoff. But after a strong practice on Lake Guntersville prior to Bass Pro Shops REDCREST Presented by MillerTech, the longtime veteran knew he’d have a chance to contend for the $300,000 top prize, and as he launched his Tomcat for Day 1, he was anxious to capitalize on the opportunity.
“I did have a good practice, I’m not going to lie,” he said. “And I haven’t had that nervous, excited feeling in a while.”
Capitalize he did. While a few anglers who used forward-facing sonar in Period 1 got out to early leads, Dudley steadily climbed SCORETRACKER® throughout the day, then closed with a flourish, boating eight scorable bass for 27 pounds, 6 ounces during the final hour. That brought his Day 1 total to 71-8 on 23 bass, which gave him a 9-10 lead over Jacob Walker at the top of the standings.
Plenty of anglers remain within reach of pushing Dudley for the automatic Championship Round berth on the line for the winner of the Qualifying Round. Ron Nelson sits 2-1 back of Walker, and Justin Cooper is 3-0 behind him. On the day, seven pros topped the 50-pound mark.
Complete results can be found here.
Dudley playing to his strengths
Across a touring career that has spanned more than three decades, Dudley has prided himself on qualifying for championship events. Since 1997, he’s competed in the Forrest Wood Cup or REDCREST 24 times – and two of the years he didn’t, he qualified but the event was canceled (2001 and 2020). Only three times in the past 28 seasons has he failed to make the cut.
One of those rare misses came in 2023. So, Dudley was extra fired up about being back in the REDCREST field on Guntersville.
“Not fishing a REDCREST or a championship, it stung a little bit,” said the Virginia pro.
The conditions that greeted him on the legendary lake made him even more excited. Dudley has long excelled around the spawn. So, with fish flocking to their shallow spawning grounds on Guntersville, he found his comfort zone, locking a spinning rod in his hands and fishing slowly.
“It’s my strength,” Dudley said. “When it comes to spawn and postspawn style of fishing, I think I’m comfortable. When they get up there susceptible, I just think I do well.”
Like the rest of the field, Dudley had to adjust to the strong south wind that churned the waters of Guntersville over the past couple days, which blew out at least one area he wanted to fish. But he found a few productive zones, and as the day progressed and temperatures rose, his bite got better and better. Dudley added 37-10 to his total in the final period to climb from eighth at the start of the frame into the lead.
“They just started firing for what I was doing,” he said.
That strong finish could loom large for Dudley. He believes he’ll need to find new water to have a chance at winning his second career championship event; but having a bit of a cushion over his pursuers could allow him to scout new territory on Friday and still have a shot to win the Qualifying Round, thus ensuring his spot in the Top 10.
“I feel like I’m going to have to find some new stuff,” Dudley said. “But the good thing about it is when you have a decent lead, it frees you up to explore a little bit more. So, I’m sure I’ll do that tomorrow.”
No first-time jitters for Walker
In stark contrast to Dudley’s ample championship experience, the angler behind him on SCORETRACKER® took the water Thursday for the first time ever at REDCREST. Walker wasn’t fazed by the moment. The Alabama native, who competes on the Tackle Warehouse Invitationals but earned a spot in the REDCREST field thanks to his 2024 win on Lake Champlain, never doubted he could compete with the best from the Bass Pro Tour.
“I think I have a calmness to me when I know how it’s going to go,” Walker explained. “And I had a feeling how this was going to go. If I didn’t have a good feeling about it, I probably would have been nervous, but I had a pretty good feeling on how this week was going to go.”
In fact, Walker actually thought he’d be able to amass a bit more weight than his 61-14 total. He started the day strong, using forward-facing sonar in Period 1 and boating 11 bass for 35-11, which had him in second at the end of the first frame. But he revealed later that the wind kept him from maximizing the potential of his area. He spent the latter two periods power fishing in a couple of shallow, grassy areas
“Unfortunately, the forecast was wrong, and the direction of the wind was not what I thought it was going to blow,” he said. “So, I kind of had a plan; I stuck with it. It was really pretty difficult. I might change it up tomorrow in terms of where I fish in the first period. But I’m expecting better results tomorrow morning.”
Walker’s one concern entering the event was the fact that it would also represent his first time competing in the every-fish-counts format. He credited Bass Pro Tour rookie Jake Lawrence, a close friend, for reassuring him that he didn’t need to change the strategy he employs for five-fish-limit events.
“He kind of helped me out and gave me some confidence with that and gave me a little calmness,” Walker said of Lawrence. “I don’t realize in a day I probably catch 18, 20 fish in a normal five-fish tournament in the Invitationals. So, it went like I thought it would.”
Walker remains confident. Thanks to his familiarity with the lake, he said he has plenty of spots to fish – the challenge will be deciding which ones to hit, a decision that will largely be dictated by the wind. While he, too, said he’s not sure yet whether he’ll go all-out for the Qualifying Round win, he’s already plotting his strategy for Championship Sunday.
“I knew what they were going to be on, and so I’ve got it all found,” Walker said. “I know where it’s all at. So, I’ve got plenty of water to fish. I’ve got one area in particular I’m planning on not fishing until the last day that, if the ‘Scope period goes good, it’s going to be hard to catch me.”
What’s next at REDCREST
The full 50-angler field will return to the water Friday for the second day of the Qualifying Round. At the conclusion of Friday’s action, the anglers who place second through 20th advance to the Knockout Round while the leader goes straight to Sunday’s Championship Round.
The battle to finish above the elimination line looks like it will involve some big names. Lake Guntersville local Jacob Wall sits in 20th place after Day 1 with 36-3. Sitting within one scorable bass of his total are Jacob Wheeler, Alton Jones Jr. and Michael Neal – all multi-time BPT winners. Mark Daniels Jr. and Martin Villa are also lurking within 3 pounds of the cut.
Stream all the action live on MLFNOW! from 7:30 a.m. through 4 p.m. each day at MajorLeagueFishing.com, the MLF and MyOutdoorTV (MOTV) apps and the Major League Fishing channel on Rumble. Additionally, the REDCREST Outdoor Sports Expo starts tomorrow at the Von Braun Center in Huntsville. Admission is free – come meet legendary anglers, check out the product showcase and hear from the REDCREST competitors after lines. Expo hours are 11 a.m. to 6:30 p.m.
Other notes
- Jeff Sprague caught the Berkley Big Bass with a 9-pound giant. The biggest fish to hit the scales by nearly 2 pounds Thursday, it’s the heaviest bass ever caught across six editions of REDCREST. That fish anchored a 54-0 total that has Sprague in fifth place.
- As has been the case for much of the BPT season, utilizing forward-facing sonar during Period 1 proved to be the popular play Thursday. Thirty-one of the 50 anglers started the day with their transducers unlocked, including each of the top four finishers.
- Five of the anglers never turned on their forward-facing sonar units. That includes two of the top seven: Sprague and Chris Lane, who amassed 50-7 on 20 scorable bass.