The Starting Spot: 2026 REDCREST Location, a Rare Hybrid Super Bass, and Wheeler As Seen by KVD

The Starting Spot Daily Bass Fishing Headlines are the perfect way to start your day with some of the top bass fishing articles on the internet. It’s the quick, informative, how, where, and who you need to know. So, rub the sleep from your eyes, pour that first cup of the day, and head to your Starting Spot.

In The Starting Spot Today: 2026 REDCREST Location, a Rare Hybrid Super Bass, and Wheeler As Seen by KVD | Photo by Kurt Mazurek

In this edition of The Starting Spot:

-Major League Fishing has announced the location of the 2026 REDCREST Championship tournament. And maybe more exciting to bass fans, they’ve announced the date of the event, which finally puts a full month between this championship and the Bassmaster Classic.

-Meanmouth bass, a hybrid bass resulting from the combination of largemouth and smallmouth bass, aren’t new. But in the northeast, where both largemouth and smallmouth are present in many waters, the two don’t seem to intermingle very often. But recently, a New York angler landed a unicorn.

-As they say, game recognizes game. Jacob Wheeler’s astonishing accomplishments have not gone unnoticed by the angler universally recognized as the G.O.A.T., KVD.

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MLF Announces Bass Pro Shops REDCREST 2026 on Table Rock Lake

by Charity Muehlenweg

In a story on MajorLeagueFishing.com: Major League Fishing (MLF) today unveiled a long-awaited announcement and one of the most exciting championship destinations in its history – Bass Pro Shops REDCREST 2026, the Bass Pro Tour Championship, will take place on Table Rock Lake near Springfield, Missouri, on April 17-19, 2026.

For the first time ever, the premier event will be held near the birthplace of Bass Pro Shops, the original anchor sponsor of Major League Fishing and title sponsor of the Bass Pro Tour since its inception. The prestigious event will showcase 35 of the top bass-fishing professionals in the world competing for the seventh REDCREST Championship trophy and a $300,000 top prize.

In another first for the championship…MORE.

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New York Angler Catches Once-In-A-Lifetime Fish: A Meanmouth Bass

by Nick Petrou

From an article on Wired2Fish.com: Like on any guide trip, I never really know what to expect. Whether it’s my clients, the fish, or the weather, you just never know what you’re going to get. And on August 18, 2025, I certainly wasn’t expecting my client to land a super-rare fish.

As we left the boat ramp on Conesus Lake, the westernmost of the Finger Lakes in New York, we motored to a piece of hard structure that has been good to me in the past. We were targeting big northern pike, but a few bass were a welcome bonus. After getting the boat in position and spot-locked, I told 15-year-old Liam Fuller of Canandaigua, NY, to cast toward the structure. 

A few chunky smallmouth bass hit the deck, but the next cast was one to remember. As he pitched a dropshot rig over the structure, his rod immediately doubled over. After a quick fight, I scooped up what I thought was a largemouth. But on closer inspection, the fish showed tell-tale signs of a different kind of fish—a fish so rare in the Northeast that it only appears every so often during the bass breeding season. This is a fish anglers search for their whole lives. I was jumping for joy and my inner fish nerd was showing out in a big way…MORE.

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In Wheeler, KVD Sees Shades of His Past

by Pete Robbins

According to an article on BassFan.com: Jacob Wheeler has undeniably become the face of this era of professional bass fishing not by resisting changes, or merely accepting them, but rather by seemingly bending them to his will.

Whether it’s moving to a new tour, integrating forward-facing sonar into his game plan, or adjusting to changes in the BPT rules, nothing seems to faze him. He’s winning both titles and individual events at rocket speed.

In the circuit’s seven years of existence, he’s won 10 BPT events and collected four of the past five Angler of the Year titles, having yet to finish lower than fourth place. He's been atop the BassFan World Rankings for six years and counting. Both his winnings and his accolades dwarf those of any of his contemporaries.

Sound familiar?…MORE.

Thanks for starting your day with Fishing On SI. Lines in!