ROUNDING OUT THE REDCREST TOP 10
PHOTO BY PHOENIX MOORE PHOTO BY PHOENIX MOORE PHOTO BY GARRICK DIXON
5 .
To those who know four-time Angler of the Year David Dudley well , it came as no surprise that the Virginia pro eschewed the forward-facingsonar route at REDCREST and powered his way into the final round by fishing docks . Dudley worked his way solidly into the middle of the qualifying group of 20 the first two days , catching 13-7 on Day 1 and adding 15-0 on Day 2 .
He then outlasted Kevin VanDam during an extremely stingy Knockout Round to earn his group ’ s last bid to the Championship Round . Dudley seemed to be onto something early on the final day , stacking three fish onto SCORETRACKER ® during a 20-minute flurry with a shaky head , and telling the MLF cameraman and official on the boat “ I think I see something good .” What Dudley saw was a proliferation of fish on beds , but his pattern didn ’ t come together quite fast enough in the last half of the day .
6 .
With water conditions gradually percolating toward that magic time when fish rush to the banks at Lake Eufaula , Takahiro Omori was a solid bet to contend for the REDCREST trophy . Omori has proven to be one of the most skilled players of the MLF “ every scoreable bass counts ” game – he ’ s won a handful of MLF Cup events – and is especially efficient at locating fish with vibrating jigs , crankbaits and the like .
That approach paid off for the Daiwa pro in his first three competition rounds as he breezed into the Championship Round courtesy of a vibrating jig and crankbait . Omori ’ s pattern failed to materialize on the final day , though : He eventually connected with five fish for 11-6 , nonetheless earning him a stout payday to start the 2021 season .
7 .
DAVID DUDLEY
LYNCHBURG , VA
CHAMPIONSHIP WEIGHT 18-12
TAKAHIRO OMORI
EMORY , TX
CHAMPIONSHIP WEIGHT 11-6
OTT DEFOE
BLAINE , TN
CHAMPIONSHIP WEIGHT 10-15
Ott DeFoe was upfront and matter-of-fact about his plans for Lake Eufaula : “ I ’ m going to go fish the places I caught ‘ em at in 2020 ,” DeFoe admitted . “ Sometimes history will kill you , but with one day of practice , I feel better about history than I do about anything else I found .”
DeFoe ’ s history was pretty darn good to begin with . He finished third in the 2020 season opener at Eufaula , latching on to the same offshore brushpile bite that carried Wheeler to victory in that event . And history looked to be repeating itself early the first day of REDCREST as DeFoe dueled for the lead with Bryan Thrift and finished the day with nine fish for 31-2 . The Mercury pro connected with 23-14 in the Knockout Round , but he could tell his areas were fading . DeFoe caught four scoreable bass the final day but earned his sixth top 10 in two years of Bass Pro Tour competition .
42 MAJORLEAGUEFISHING . COM | APRIL-MAY 2021