2026 MLF Bass Pro Tour kicks off season at Guntersville Lake

GUNTERSVILLE, Ala. (WHNT) — The Bass Pro Tour kicked off its 2026 season at Guntersville Lake this morning, bringing anglers from all over the country to North Alabama.

“Lake Guntersville in North Alabama is a bass fishing mecca,” MLF senior director of communications Joe Opager said.

Fifty-one anglers are competing for the chance to win a $125,000 prize. Four of these anglers are from North Alabama.

“There’s been a lot of doc talk and chatter of whether a local hometown advantage is going to play a role this week, and we really think it could with the way the weather’s shaping up,” MLF senior director of communications Joe Opager said.

But not everyone in this group will stick around.

On Saturday, the field will be cut into only the top 25, and on championship Sunday, just the top 10.

From there, the winner will have a chance of qualifying for the MLF Heavy Hitters All-Star Event and the Bass Pro Tour Championship — Redcrest 2027.

With a ton of things on the line, Opager said Guntersville Lake is the perfect place to start.

“Tons of big bass live here. It’s a great fishery that’s able to sustain, you know, four days of fishing pressure and consistently put out big limits every single day. And it’s something that the fans really love to see,” Opager said.

The Bass Pro Tour was created in 2011 by Guntersville’s very own Boyd Duckett. Opager said Duckett and other key investors founded Major League Fishing with a focus on conservation.

“We’ve got a unique format in the fact that we catch and release the fish immediately. The fish are caught, they’re weighed on the boat by the official and they’re immediately released back into the water,” Opager said.

Winning the tournament, Opager said, will take someone finding the best spot.

“In order to win this week, you’re going to have to really separate yourself from the competition. You know, Lake Guntersville is loaded with big fish, but the key to doing well is going to be finding those little off-the-wall places and having them to yourselves and places that can hold up over four days of competition,” Opager said.

A livestream of the top 25 and the top 10 will be shown on Saturday, Jan. 17, and on Sunday, Jan. 18 at Nash’s at City Harbor from 3 p.m. to 6 p.m.

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