Nathan Reynolds, 22, Wins Guntersville Qualifier and Classic Berth

Nathan Reynolds, a 22-year-old from Nashville, won the 2026 Nitro Boats Bassmaster Elite Qualifier at Lake Guntersville in Alabama on Friday with three days of bass weighing 58 pounds, 10 ounces, according to Bassmaster. The win paid $65,000 and sends him to the 2027 Bassmaster Classic at Lake Hartwell.

Reynolds also finished second in the qualifier points race, which puts him in the 2027 Elite Series rookie class alongside his University of North Alabama teammate Dylan Nutt. Reynolds, a 2022 Bassmaster High School All-American, is due to graduate in December.

Steady bags through a cold front

No one at Guntersville was more consistent. Reynolds started in eighth place with 19-6, climbed to fourth with 19-9 on Day 2 and closed with 19-11. On the final day a cold northwest wind kept afternoon temperatures near 50 degrees, no angler reached 20 pounds, and only Reynolds and Wisconsin’s Brian Post topped 19.

Reynolds said the result was “overwhelming” and that many anglers spend 10 or 20 years chasing what he did in one weekend.

How Reynolds caught them

He had expected a topwater bite, then changed plans as cold fronts lined up before the event. He focused on mid-depth stretches of short eelgrass mixed with taller hydrilla clumps in 6 to 8 feet of water, found before the off-limits period by looking and with side and down imaging. He averaged only 16 pounds a day in practice. As the water cooled during the week, bigger bass moved onto that grass, as long as baitfish were around.

His main lure was a 5/8-ounce Yo-Zuri Rattlin’ Vibe lipless crankbait in matte ghost smelt, switched to citrus shad under heavy clouds. He threw it on a 7-foot-3 medium-heavy Daiwa rod with a Daiwa Tatula Elite baitcaster and 15-pound fluorocarbon line.

Early in the week a steady retrieve that brushed the tops of the clumps drew strikes. Once the cold settled in, the fish buried deeper in the grass, and he had to rip the bait free to trigger bites. On Friday he caught 13 pounds quickly after moving to one of his best stretches, then added a 4 1/2-pounder and a 5-9.

The rest of the top three

Georgia’s Willie McMullen finished second with 56-10, his second Top 10 of the season. His bags were 17-5, 21-3 (the biggest of Day 2) and 18-2, all from one hydrilla and duckweed mat on the north end of the lake. He punched a Reaction Innovations Sweet Beaver with a 1 1/2-ounce weight on a 4/0 flipping hook, then moved to a 2-ounce weight and a Zoom Z-Craw when the wind came up.

Dillon Falardeau, a Chickamauga Lake guide originally from Rhode Island, placed third with 56-8 after bags of 20-2, 21-5 and 15-1, just missing a second straight Classic. He worked a Strike King KVD Mega Dawg topwater on 65-pound braid along a 2-mile main river bar with hydrilla, milfoil and eelgrass, slowing it over clumps and speeding it up past their edges.

Post’s Day 3 limit of 19-2 included a 7-8 largemouth, the biggest bass of the event, worth a $500 bonus.

What it means for the 2027 Elite Series

Louisiana’s Brennan Flick won Elite Qualifier Angler of the Year with 347 points across the three events, earning $45,000 and an Elite Series spot. Nine more anglers move up with him:

• Nathan Reynolds, 331 points
• Brody Robison of Alabama, 330 points
• Noah Winslow of Connecticut, 328 points
• Kaden Buchmann of North Carolina, 316 points
• Trey Schroeder of Missouri, 308 points
• Cody Abbott of South Carolina, 299 points
• Bryson Osteen of Florida, 296 points
• Bailey Gay of Kentucky, 294 points
• Lucas Lindsay of Alabama, 287 points

Marshall County Tourism and Sports hosted the tournament.

Source: Bassmaster