Birmingham and Lay Lake ready for Bass Pro Shops REDCREST 2024 Powered by OPTIMA Lithium

Bass Pro Tour championship set to showcase 50 top MLF anglers competing on Lay Lake for $300,000 top prize, REDCREST Outdoor Sports Expo to take place at Birmingham Jefferson Convention Complex

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – Major League Fishing’s Bass Pro Shops REDCREST 2024 Powered by OPTIMA Lithium, MLF’s most prestigious event, is set for Birmingham, Alabama, and Lay Lake next week, March 14-17, to crown professional bass fishing’s newest world champion.

The four-day tournament, hosted by the Greater Birmingham Convention & Vistiors Bureau and shot for television broadcast on Discovery Channel and Outdoor Channel, will showcase 50 anglers – the top 40 anglers from the Bass Pro Tour along with champions and top finishers from the 2023 Toyota Series, Phoenix Bass Fishing League, and Abu Garcia College Fishing circuits competing for the prestigious REDCREST Championship and the top prize of $300,000.

“We are so excited to welcome Major League Fishing to Birmingham for the REDCREST Championship,” said John Oros, president & CEO of the Greater Birmingham Convention & Visitors Bureau. “Hosting an event of this magnitude, with world-class anglers and fans from around the country, further solidifies Birmingham and Alabama’s reputation as a premier fishing destination.”

Among the 50 competitors will be pro Greg Vinson of Wetumpka, Alabama, who will be competing in his fourth REDCREST championship event.

“Lay Lake is a phenomenal fishery, and has a great mix of Alabama spotted bass and largemouth bass, with very good quality on both ends,” Vinson said. “It’s going to be a huge part of the strategy that we’re going to have to piece together for this one. I don’t know if the population of either is going to be enough to carry an angler all the way through the four-day event when every fish counts. I think it is likely going to take mix of both species.

“The biggest key this time of the year is making the right decisions on each day that you are fishing,” Vinson said. There are so many variables that we are going to need to process – multiple rounds, the weather can change, the mood of the fish can change, water level, current, water clarity. How an angler can adjust to the changing conditions is going to be the key to doing well in this event.”

Vinson said that he expects jigs and shaky-head rigs to be tied on and ready on the deck of all 50 tournament anglers, but he’s interested to see how forward-facing sonar will play out on Lay Lake.

“Jigs in all shapes and forms are going to be strong – swimjigs, casting jigs, football jigs – the Coosa River is a great jig fishery, for spots and largemouth,” he said. “Another key bait is going to be a shaky-head worm. That is a bait that can catch numbers and quality, which is invaluable in the Bass Pro Tour format. And I’ll be interested to see how the forward-facing sonar bite plays out. When I was coming up, it wasn’t a favor. But after seeing the success it has had on other fisheries, I’ll definitely be experimenting with that a little bit to see what it can do.”

REDCREST 2024 Powered by OPTIMA Lithium at Lay Lake will feature pros competing using the MLF catch, weigh, immediate-release format, in which anglers catch as much weight as they can each day, while also feeling the pressure and intensity of the SCORETRACKER® leaderboard. Minimum weights are determined individually for each competition waters that the Bass Pro Tour visits, based on the productivity, bass population and anticipated average size of fish in each fishery. The minimum weight for a bass to be deemed scorable on Lay Lake will be 2 pounds.

“Generally, in a five-fish format tournament, 20 to 22 pounds this time of year is really strong,” Vinson said. “With the 2-pound minimum weight and the Bass Pro Tour format, it’s really tough to determine what the potential of the bite will be. I think that 30 to 40 pounds a day is going to be pretty strong, and I think if someone can do that consistently I don’t see any reason why they wouldn’t have a shot on Championship Sunday.”

In conjunction with the event, the FREE, family-friendly REDCREST Outdoor Sports Expo will also take place throughout the weekend, March 15-17 from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. each day at the Birmingham Jefferson Convention Complex, located at 2100 Richard Arrington Jr. Blvd. N., in Birmingham. Fishing and outdoor enthusiasts will have the opportunity to visit numerous booths and vendors, showcasing the latest and greatest in fishing, boating and the outdoors. The biggest names in the outdoor industry will be on hand, including the professional anglers that compete on the Bass Pro Tour and legends of the sport.

Children are welcome to visit and play in the MLF Kids Zone, plus meet Skye & Marshall from PAW Patrol. Throughout the day there will be giveaways and prizes, including signed MLF angler jerseys, rods and reels, gift cards, and more. On Sunday one lucky attendee will walk away with a brand new 2024 Toyota Tacoma truck. Fans must be present to win the Tacoma grand prize. For more information on the MLF Outdoor Sports Expo, visit REDCRESTExpo.com.

The General Tire Take Off Ceremony will begin each morning at 6:15 a.m. each day of competition at Beeswax Landing, located at 245 Beeswax Park Road in Columbiana, Alabama. Anglers will depart at 7 a.m. each day and return after competition ends at 4 p.m. Fans are welcome to attend all launch events and also encouraged to follow the event online throughout the day on the MLF NOW! live stream and SCORETRACKER® coverage at MajorLeagueFishing.com.

All 50 Anglers will compete on Days 1 (Thursday) and 2 (Friday) of the event. After two days of competition, the field is cut to just the top 20 based on two-day total cumulative weight. Weights are zeroed, and the Top 20 anglers compete on Day 3 (Saturday). Only the Top 10 anglers advance to the fourth and final day of competition. Weights are zeroed again for the final-day championship round, and the winner is determined by the heaviest one-day total cumulative weight, with the victor earning the top prize of $300,000 and the REDCREST 2024 trophy.

The 2023 Bass Pro Tour featured a field of 80 of the top professional anglers in the world competing across seven regular-season tournaments around the country. The top 40 anglers in the Angler of the Year (AOY) standings after the seven events qualified to compete in REDCREST 2024 Powered by OPTIMA Lithium.

The MLFNOW! broadcast team of Chad McKee and J.T. Kenney will break down the extended action live on the final four days of competition from 7:15 a.m. to 4 p.m. CT. MLFNOW! will be live streamed on MajorLeagueFishing.com and the MyOutdoorTV (MOTV) app.

Television coverage of REDCREST 2024 Powered by OPTIMA Lithium will be showcased across two, two-hour episodes, premiering at 7 a.m. ET, on Saturday, July 6 and July 13 on Discovery Channel. Starting in July 2024, MLF episodes premiere each Saturday morning on Discovery Channel, with re-airings on Outdoor Channel.

Proud sponsors of the 2024 MLF Bass Pro Tour include: Abu Garcia, B&W Trailer Hitches, Bass Pro Shops, Berkley, BUBBA, Epic Baits, Fishing Clash, Garmin, General Tire, Humminbird, Lowrance, Mercury, MillerTech, Minn Kota, Mossy Oak Fishing, NITRO, Onyx, Plano, Power-Pole, Rapala, StarBrite, Suzuki, Toyota and U.S. Air Force.

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.