Wesley Gore Expects 17- to 19-Pound Bags at Guntersville EQ Finale

The last 2026 Nitro Boats Bassmaster Elite Qualifier goes to Lake Guntersville in Alabama on Nov. 11-13, and Elite Series pro Wesley Gore thinks the fall feed will produce heavy weights. Gore, who is from Alabama, told Bassmaster he expects many anglers to bring in 17- to 19-pound bags and that those weights will probably mark the range for a cash check. The event also settles which qualifiers earn a place on the 2027 Elite Series.

Schedule and what is at stake

Anglers launch at 7 a.m. CT from Guntersville City Harbor each day and come back to weigh in at 3 p.m. CT. Everyone fishes the first two days. After Day 2 the field is cut to the Top 10, who fish Championship Friday.

The winner takes the first-place cash prize and a berth in the 2027 Bassmaster Classic. A second prize runs on points: the Top 10 anglers in Elite Qualifier points after this event are invited to join the 2027 Bassmaster Elite Series, the top level of the B.A.S.S. tournament trail.

Bassmaster.com will stream Bassmaster LIVE on all three days from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. ET, with the weigh-in following at 4 p.m. Marshall County Tourism and Sports is the host.

Why Guntersville in November draws attention

Guntersville sits on the Tennessee River and is known for large numbers of 4- to 6-pound largemouth. Smallmouth and spotted bass live there too, though Bassmaster says catching them takes a narrower approach in particular areas. “November is one of the best times to fish Guntersville,” Gore said, adding that the number of fish per acre is unbelievable.

B.A.S.S. has not held a fall event on the lake for several years. The most recent was an Elite Series tournament in the first week of October 2020, which Frank Talley won with 64-3 (64 pounds, 3 ounces). Gore expects this field to beat those weights. He pointed to a local Black Friday tournament held every year, where Tucker Smith won last year with 36 pounds, though Gore noted that event allowed forward-facing sonar, the live-view electronics anglers often call “Scope.”

Grass, shad and bridges: the likely patterns

Much of the lake’s appeal comes from its aquatic plants, both submerged grass and plants that grow above the surface. In recent years eelgrass has been the main offshore grass, with hydrilla and milfoil also present. Gore expects some of the grass on the south end to be dying back, while vegetation farther up the lake should hold. Up there, he said, anglers can flip heavy baits into cover, throw frogs, or reel bladed jigs and swim jigs. He thinks many of the paycheck weights will come from that upper section, but he picks the south end to produce the winner.

Other options he listed:

• bass schooling under balls of shad, the baitfish they feed on in fall
• bridges and riprap (rock-lined) banks, which have produced fish in every season
• topwater walking baits and buzzbaits fished around the lake
• bluff ends and channel swing banks, where the old river channel bends close to shore

Gore said someone could win by targeting fish that anglers would normally find with live sonar, using a jerkbait, a swimbait or a minnow cast blind at a bait ball. He compared it to how Hank Cherry won an Elite Series event earlier this year and how Jamie Hartman also caught fish.

A smallmouth gamble upriver

Anglers willing to take a risk can run up the river toward the Tennessee state line for smallmouth. Gore said he would not be surprised to see an 18- to 22-pound bag of smallmouth there. He also warned that the bite depends on how much water the dams are releasing, and that schedule changes, so a big day could be hard to repeat. The area has been dry, though some rain fell the week before his comments and more was in the forecast. Big largemouth can come from that part of the river as well.

The points race going in

Kaden Buchmann of North Carolina leads the Elite Qualifier standings with 244 points. Alabama’s Brody Robison is second with 239, Louisiana’s Brennan Flick third with 223, Alabama’s Peyton Harris fourth with 221 and South Carolina’s Cody Abbott fifth with 220. Kollin Crawford (219), Trey Schroeder (219), Colby Bryant (216), Noah Winslow (216) and Bailey Gay (213) fill out the Top 10.

The margins are thin. Dalton Head sits just outside with 213 points, the same total as Gay, followed by Lucas Lindsay (211), Bryson Osteen (211), Nathan Reynolds (204) and Brooks Anderson (201). For recreational anglers, the event is a chance to watch how pros handle Guntersville during the fall transition, when grass is changing and bass follow shad. Final standings and the list of 2027 Elite Series invitations will be known after the weigh-in on Nov. 13.

Sources: The Fishing Wire, Bassmaster