Dudley The Early Leader By Almost 10 Pounds

By MLF Communications Staff

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 REDCREST, the longtime pro from Lynchburg, Va. 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 Springville, Ala.'s 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. Berrien Springs, Mich., pro Ron Nelson sits 2-1 back of Walker, and Justin Cooper of Zwolle, Louisiana, is 3-0 behind him. On the day, seven anglers topped the 50-pound mark.

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,” he said.

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 and 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.”

Jeff Sprague won the $1,000 Berkley Big Bass Award on Thursday with a 9-pound largemouth that he caught on a soft plastic in Period 2. Berkley awards $1,000 to the angler who weighs the heaviest bass each day of the tournament.

The full field of anglers compete in the two-day Qualifying Round on Thursday and Friday. After the two-day Qualifying Round is complete, the pro with the highest two-day total will advance directly to Sunday’s Championship Round.

Anglers who finish 2nd through 20th will advance to Saturday’s Knockout Round, where weights are zeroed, and the remaining anglers compete to finish in the Top 9 to advance to Sunday’s Championship Round. Weights will again be zeroed for the final round and the highest one-day total wins $300,000.

Anglers launch each morning from Civitan Park, located at 1130 Sunset Dr. in Guntersville, at 7:15 a.m. Fans are welcome to attend all launch events and also encouraged to follow the event online throughout the day on the MLF NOW! livestream and ScoreTracker coverage at MajorLeagueFishing.com.

The free MLF Outdoor Sports Expo will also take place throughout the weekend (Friday throught Sunday) at the Von Braun Center, located at 700 Monroe St. SW in Huntsville. Fishing and outdoor enthusiasts are invited to explore an array of booths and vendors featuring the newest innovations and gear in fishing, boating, and the outdoors.

The MLFNOW! broadcast team of Chad McKee and J.T. Kenney break down the extended action live on each day of competition from 7:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. MLFNOW! is livestreamed on MajorLeagueFishing.com, the MyOutdoorTV (MOTV) app and Rumble.

Qualifying Round – Day 1

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

1. David Dudley -- 71-08 (23) -- 5-13

2. Jacob Walker -- 61-14 (20) -- 4-14

3. Ron Nelson -- 59-13 (18) -- 5-01

4. Justin Cooper -- 56-13 (20) -- 3-15

5. Jeff Sprague -- 54-00 (18) -- 9-00

6. Wesley Strader -- 52-15 (17) -- 6-02

7. Chris Lane -- 50-07 (20) -- 3-14

8. Anthony Gagliardi -- 47-15 (15) -- 5-14

9. Edwin Evers -- 46-06 (20) -- 3-03

10. Marshall Robinson -- 46-03 (15) -- 5-07

11. Zack Birge -- 43-10 (18) -- 4-10

12. Brent Ehrler -- 41-10 (14) -- 5-13

13. Gerald Spohrer -- 41-09 (14) -- 6-08

14. Tyler Stewart -- 41-08 (15) -- 5-15

15. Jake Lawrence -- 40-07 (13) -- 5-11

16. John Hunter -- 39-04 (15) -- 3-14

17. Bryan Thrift -- 38-09 (15) -- 3-10

18. Andrew Nordbye -- 37-09 (15) -- 3-15

19. Mark Davis -- 37-01 (12) -- 7-03

20. Jacob Wall -- 36-03 (14) -- 3-02

21. Jacob Wheeler -- 36-01 (12) -- 5-08

22. Alton Jones Jr. -- 35-05 (13) -- 3-06

23. Michael Neal -- 34-10 (10) -- 5-09

24. Mark Daniels Jr. -- 34-03 (13) -- 3-08

25. Martin Villa -- 33-10 (13) -- 3-07

26. Andy Morgan -- 31-03 (11) -- 6-00

27. Nick Hatfield -- 30-05 (11) -- 3-10

28. Alec Morrison -- 29-10 (10) -- 3-14

29. Paul Marks Jr -- 29-09 (11) -- 3-09

30. Bobby Lane -- 29-08 (12) -- 3-04

31. Luke Clausen -- 29-03 (10) -- 5-00

32. Casey Ashley -- 28-12 (11) -- 4-00

33. Jesse Wiggins -- 28-00 (11) -- 3-09

34. Spencer Shuffield -- 27-09 (10) -- 3-09

35. James Elam -- 24-03 (8) -- 3-10

36. Dustin Connell -- 24-02 (8) -- 5-11

37. Justin Lucas -- 22-12 (7) -- 4-04

38. Skeet Reese -- 22-02 (8) -- 3-12

39. Ott DeFoe -- 20-03 (8) -- 3-07

40. Hayden Marbut -- 19-13 (7) -- 3-13

41. Cole Floyd -- 19-03 (7) -- 3-13

42. Matt Becker -- 18-13 (6) -- 5-00

43. Keith Poche -- 17-15 (6) -- 3-12

44. Drew Gill -- 17-11 (7) -- 3-01

45. Braylon Eggerding -- 14-08 (4) -- 5-02

46. Keith Carson -- 14-07 (5) -- 3-05

47. Adrian Avena -- 10-10 (4) -- 3-06

48. Terry Scroggins -- 8-14 (3) -- 3-05

49. Nick LeBrun -- 6-05 (2) -- 3-09

50. Dylan Hays -- 4-05 (2) -- 2-05