Top 5 Winning Baits from the 2025 REDCREST on Lake Guntersville

Top Baits for REDCREST 2025 Compared to the Last Guntersville Event

The last time this group of anglers competed on Lake Guntersville was Stage 4 of the 2023 Bass Pro Tour Series. But it was late May, not early April. Seven weeks can make a big difference in the habits and positioning of these Alabama reservoir fish. The deep ledges were where the best fish were, and exactly where eventual winner Jacob Wheeler focused his attention. Interestingly, this was the tournament where the Crush City Freeloader first jumped into the spotlight—the same bait Dustin Connell credited in his 2025 REDCREST victory.

Following is a breakdown of the five most effective baits used by the Top 10 finishers at the 2025 REDCREST Championship on Lake Guntersville in Alabama.

Top 5 Bass Baits That Dominated the 2025 REDCREST

1. Bladed Vibrating Jig

Zack Birge fishing on the final day of the event throwing a bladed vibrating jig. — Third place finisher Zack Birge was among the half of the Top 10 field that credited a bladed vibrating jig. | Major League Fishing

I would say this first bait, the bladed vibrating jig, is a fairly obvious choice for a tournament where most of the bass, and therefore nearly all of the anglers, were in relatively shallow, weedy flats. A vibrating jig was mentioned five times among the Top 10 anglers, but surprisingly not by the tournament winner, Dustin Connell, who consciously decided to stay away from the shallow weedy areas everyone else was targeting.

2. Craw/Creature Bait

Bass Pro Paul Marks Jr. holding up two rods, one rigged with a white Texas-rigged creature bait. — The anglers used craw/creature baits for pitching around spawning fish. | Major League Fishing

A Texas-rigged craw or creature bait was mentioned by four of the 10 final anglers, but again, not by the winner. Third place finisher Zack Birge used a Zoom Baby Brush Hog, Marks Jr. rigged a white Zoom Z-Craw Jr., Chris Lane threw a Bass Pro Shops XPS Log Father in tilapia magic, and Ron Nelson said a creature bait was best for him on Day 1. Pretty consistent among these anglers was using these baits for pitching around spawning fish.

3. Ball-Head Jig Minnow

Dustin Connell posing for the camera after his victory, holding both the Crush City Freeloader and Mooch Minnow. — Dustin Connell used both the Crush City Freeloader and Mooch Minnow to claim his third REDCREST trophy. | Major League Fishing

This is what Connell used to claim his third REDCREST title. In fact, he used two variations—a Crush City Freeloader on a scrounge head and Crush City Mooch Minnow on a 3/8 ounce VMC jig head.

Connell said, “I knew if I was going to have a chance to win this event, I’d have to do something different,” he said. “I’m not a bed fisherman, and I also don’t like dragging baits around for spawners that I can’t see. I thought my best chance was to fish the current for smallmouth and largemouth and try to make that work.”

Connell’s closest challenger, Wesley Strader said, “I used a 5-inch Zoom Winged Fluke in Tennessee Shad with a 1/8-ounce Big Daddy Spotlighter tungsten jighead. I had my forward-facing sonar on when I could but wasn’t using it because the fish were all closer to the bank around boulders.”

Wesley Strader standing in is bass boat in the rain holding up his bait for a picture. — Second place finisher Wesley Strader used a ball-head minnow to catch a bunch of big Guntersville smallmouth bass. | Major League Fishing

Another angler who credited some key fish to a ball-head minnow was fifth place finisher, Jake Lawrence. He explained that he had used some of his scoping periods looking for roamers moving along the banks. He was a little tight-lipped on details, but said, “I caught the vast majority of those on a new Yamamoto minnow that will be out at ICAST.”

4. Soft Stick Worm

Zack Birge poses with the soft plastic stick worm that was a valuable part of his arsenal on Lake Guntersville. | Major League Fishing

Three competitors, Zack Birge, Brent Ehrler and Bobby Lane, thanked the always popular, soft plastic stick bait rigged wacky style. They all described using it when they could see the white outlines of beds but couldn’t see well enough to watch the fish.

5.) Drop-Shot Finesse Worm

Bobby Lane fishing a drop-shot work from the front deck of his bass boat on a rainy day. — Bobby Lane said when the wind picked up and he couldn't go weightless, he fished a green pumpkin Berkley MaxScent Hit Worm on a drop-shot. | Major league Fishing

Seventh place, Brent Ehrler and eighth place, David Dudley credited a drop-shot among their most useful baits this week. Ehrler said, “I was fishing a 6-inch Roboworm straight tail worm in morning dawn chartreuse with a 3/16-ounce Ark tungsten weight and a Size 1 Gamakatsu Stinger hook. I also fished the Yamamoto Sensei worm in green pumpkin blue flake rigged wacky style on the drop-shot so I could basically fish a wacky rig faster and more efficiently in the wind.”

Key Takeaway from the Lake Guntersville REDCREST

Dustin Connell fishing a ball-head minnow near the dam on the final day of REDCREST 2025. — Dustin Connell was the guy who zigged when everyone else zagged. | Major League Fishing

The 2025 REDCREST on Lake Guntersville showed once again that even one of the most fished lakes in the country can be, and in fact probably will be, won by the angler bold and confident enough to do things his own way. While the Top 10 all fished a strong event, capitalizing on the timing of the bass spawn, Connell took the victory by intentionally doing something the rest of the crowd had mostly ignored.