Neal Catches 21 For Early REDCREST Lead

By MLF Communications Staff

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – In the days leading up to REDCREST 2024, no one seemed to know what to expect from Lay Lake. While it’s normal for competitors to keep coy prior to lines in, the air of mystery felt real this time – Kevin VanDam even reported that he took the water on Day 1 with 43 rods rigged and ready.

Through one day, at least, the answer has been lots of bass, particularly offshore on the main lake. The 50-angler field accounted for 362 total scorable bass, with 20 pros topping the 20-pound mark. And even though air temperatures climbed into the 80s Thursday and water hit the 60s, spotted bass chasing bait in the main channel on the lower end of the reservoir produced much of that weight, with more than half of the Top 10, including Day-1 Michael Neal of Dayton, Tenn., roaming the same stretch.

Neal stacked 21 scorable bass weighing 52 pounds, 9 ounces on ScoreTracker, giving him an 8-3 lead over Dalton Head of Moody, Ala.. Head, the 21-year-old University of Montevallo angler, put his local knowledge to good use, creating plenty of distance between himself and the cut line and even climbing to the top of the standings at one point. Anthony Gagliardi of Prosperity, S.C., who fished within sight of Neal for much of the day, sits in third with 38-13, just 13 ounces clear of Coosa River local Dustin Connell of Clanton, Ala., who ended the day in fourth.

While many of the top performers Thursday employed similar approaches, that could change as the weather, water clarity and current all remain in flux. Connell even went so far as to predict that using forward-facing sonar to target suspended fish will not win. And with weights set to zero twice before a champion is crowned, the event is still wide open.

For about the first six hours of competition, Neal never cranked up his Mercury. He spent that entire time milling around in an area on the main lake, spinning rod in hand, scanning for spotted bass.

It didn’t take long to see why he started in that area, which he found the final day of practice, and spent so much time hunkered there. During a 30-minute flurry that started around 8 a.m., he boated seven scorable bass that weighed a combined 17-10, vaulting to the top of leaderb oard in the process.

Neal described his approach as typical late winter/early spring spotted bass fishing: find the baitfish, find the bass.

“They focus their whole life around bait besides when they go to spawn, and that’s what I’ve been doing is just focusing on bait,” he explained. “It doesn’t really matter how deep it is or where it’s really located; just the more bait the better.”

Yesteryear’s conventional wisdom would have suggested that, with the water temperature in the 60s, it was time to beat the bank. And while there were a few anglers sight-fishing for spawning bass Thursday, Neal believes the healthy population of Alabama bass in Lay Lake spawn later than their largemouth counterparts, especially given the amount of current that’s been rolling through the reservoir recently.

“I went to the bank and tried to make them be on the bank, kind of like everybody else did, and just didn’t get any bites,” Neal said. “And the ones I did were just real little. It’s just a matter of listening to what the fish have got to say and not worrying a whole lot about what the weather’s telling you. You’ve just got to fish where they are and let them tell you what they’re doing.

“I think these spots will be spawning way after the largemouth here. I think they wait on like no current and things like that to spawn on the river, and they just haven’t had those options yet.”

While Neal said he could have put more weight on ScoreTracker – he went into practice mode with about 90 minutes left in Period 3, once he hit the 50-pound mark – he doesn’t think he can ride his starting spot to a championship. For one thing, he’s concerned about the number of other anglers in the area. Neal plans to use the second day of qualifying to try to find a less-popular school.

“I've got some other places I can go run, and I’ve pretty much got a full day tomorrow to go try and find some other stuff, too,” he said. “Just gotta be smart with how I play the day tomorrow to try and find some fresh stuff.”

There’s also a weather change in the forecast, with thunderstorms expected Friday. While Neal doesn’t think that will have too great an impact on the fish he’s targeting – of all the bass in the reservoir, they should be the most stable – he said there’s a chance it stirs up the pollen that has collected in the water. Pollen has proved to be the enemy of ‘Scopers, clouding their screens and making it difficult to identify fish.

“It wasn’t bad – like, I didn’t really notice it to start,” Neal said of the pollen Thursday. “But as the day went on, it got worse and worse. But we’re supposed to have like an inch of rain tomorrow, so it’s going to change. Whether it makes it better or worse with the pollen, I don’t know, but it’ll be one or the other.”

While he hopes to find new fish Friday, Neal doesn’t plan to veer too drastically from his game plan. He’s fully committed to targeting spotted bass on the lower end of Lay Lake.

“I’m going to do some shallow stuff, but I’m not going largemouth fishing at all,” he said. “I’m going to go in some pockets and fish some places where I feel like spots would spawn and stuff, but I’m going to go to the same area of the lake and kind of put all my eggs in one basket and hope for the best.”

Salzman earned Thursday’s $1,000 Berkley Big Bass Award with a 5-10 spotted bass that he caught on a squarebill crankbait in Period 1. Berkley awards $1,000 to the angler who weighs the heaviest bass each day and a $3,000 bonus to the angler who weighs the heaviest bass of the tournament.

All 50 Anglers will compete on Day 2. After two days of competition, the field is cut to just the Top 20 based on cumulative weight. Weights are zeroed, and the top 20 anglers compete on Day 3 (Saturday). Only the Top 10 anglers advance to the fourth day, when weights are zeroed again, and the winner is determined by the heaviest one-day total.

Anglers launch at 7 a.m. each day from Beeswax Landing, located at 245 Beeswax Park Road in Columbiana, Ala. and return after competition ends at 3:30 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.

The MLFNOW! broadcast team of Chad McKee and J.T. Kenney break down the extended from 7:15 a.m. to 4 p.m. CT. MLFNOW! is livestreamed on MajorLeagueFishing.com and the MyOutdoorTV (MOTV) app.

Qualifying Round – Day 1

(Figure at far right indicates weight of angler's heaviest fish for the day)

1. Michael Neal -- 52-09 (21) -- 3-09

2. Dalton Head -- 44-06 (17) -- 3-13

3. Anthony Gagliardi -- 38-13 (15) -- 4-01

4. Dustin Connell -- 38-00 (16) -- 3-02

5. Ryan Salzman -- 35-11 (10) -- 5-10

6. Jacob Wheeler -- 35-09 (15) -- 2-12

7. Ron Nelson -- 33-14 (13) -- 3-02

8. Cole Floyd -- 32-01 (13) -- 3-07

9. Keith Poche -- 31-00 (10) -- 5-08

10. Nick Hatfield -- 29-02 (11) -- 4-01

11. Jonathon VanDam -- 26-11 (9) -- 4-03

12. John Cox -- 26-09 (10) -- 3-11

13. Alton Jones Jr. -- 25-12 (10) -- 3-02

14. Greg Vinson -- 25-01 (9) -- 4-04

15. Jesse Wiggins -- 24-06 (10) -- 3-10

16. Gerald Spohrer -- 22-15 (9) -- 3-09

17. Matt Becker -- 22-09 (7) -- 4-12

18. Ott DeFoe -- 21-14 (8) -- 3-12

19. Todd Faircloth -- 21-04 (8) -- 5-05

20. Matthew Stefan -- 20-11 (8) -- 3-08

21. Bradley Roy -- 19-11 (8) -- 2-11

22. Jeremy Lawyer -- 18-15 (8) -- 2-14

23. Spencer Shuffield -- 18-14 (7) -- 4-09

24. Dakota Ebare -- 17-15 (6) -- 4-02

25. Nick LeBrun -- 17-05 (6) -- 3-11

26. Takahiro Omori -- 16-08 (6) -- 3-11

27. Adrian Avena -- 16-06 (6) -- 3-06

28. John Hunter -- 15-06 (6) -- 3-09

29. Alton Jones -- 14-14 (6) -- 3-04

30. Cliff Pace -- 14-12 (5) -- 4-07

31. Dylan Hays -- 14-05 (5) -- 4-11

32. Cody Meyer -- 13-12 (5) -- 3-07

33. David Dudley -- 13-11 (5) -- 3-12

34. Bryan Thrift -- 13-08 (4) -- 4-13

35. Brent Ehrler -- 13-02 (5) -- 3-06

36. Justin Lucas -- 13-01 (5) -- 3-06

37. Joshua Weaver -- 11-15 (4) -- 3-13

38. Mark Rose -- 11-06 (5) -- 2-10

39. Jordan Lee -- 10-08 (3) -- 3-13

40. Emil Wagner -- 10-04 (4) -- 2-12

41. Mark Daniels Jr. -- 9-02 (3) -- 3-12

42. Andy Morgan -- 8-12 (3) -- 3-09

43. Jeff Sprague -- 8-09 (3) -- 4-03

44. Josh Butler -- 7-08 (3) -- 2-15

45. Edwin Evers -- 7-00 (3) -- 2-13

46. Kelly Jordon -- 6-05 (3) -- 2-05

47. Chad Mrazek -- 5-12 (2) -- 2-14

48. Chris Lane -- 4-04 (2) -- 2-02

49. Kevin VanDam -- 3-08 (1) -- 3-08

50. Andy Montgomery -- 3-02 (1) -- 3-02