Bass Pro Tour Championship to Showcase Top 40 Anglers Competing on Lake Palestine for $300,000 Top Prize

FLINT, Texas (Feb. 10, 2021) – Major League Fishing (MLF) Bass Pro Shops REDCREST 2021 presented by Old Wisconsin Sausage is set to visit Lake Palestine and the Flint, Texas area next week, Feb. 21-25, to crown the newest Bass Pro Tour champion. The five-day tournament, shot for television broadcast on CBS, the Discovery Channel and the Outdoor Channel, will showcase the top 40 Bass Pro Tour anglers from the 2020 season competing for the prestigious REDCREST Championship and the top prize of $300,000.

The Old Wisconsin Sausage Company, a premier provider of premium hand-crafted naturally smoked meat snacks, have signed on as the presenting sponsor of REDCREST 2021. Additional details of the sponsorship agreement will be forthcoming.

Originally scheduled to be held at Oklahoma’s Grand Lake O’ the Cherokees, MLF officials agreed to shift REDCREST 2021 to Texas’ Lake Palestine in mid-December after the cancellation of the Outdoor Sports Expo that had been scheduled to be held in conjunction with the event in Tulsa. The 18-mile long Texas reservoir is known for its tremendous bass-fishing and the numerous 10-plus-pound largemouth that live throughout the lake and will provide the perfect venue for the best bass fishermen in the world to crown their champion.

“This event is going to be a lot of fun. Big championships where the top pros in the world can bring their different strong suits to the table and play them are special events,” said Bass Pro Tour superstar Kevin VanDam of Kalamazoo, Michigan , who will be competing in his first career REDCREST championship. “Everyone will be able to fish their strengths here. The crankers can crank, the flippers can flip, the swimbaiters can reel their offerings in and around anything they want. The lake has got everything a guy could want to fish, too, with the exception of offshore hydrilla and milfoil. But there’s plenty of shoreline vegetation that looks good for vibrating jigs and pitching.

“Not many people nationally have heard of Lake Palestine, but they’re going to know about it soon,” VanDam continued. “There are no big ramp facilities where big tournaments can put in, so it usually stays under the radar from the big circuits. Tournament history there is scarce, and that fact alone gets me pumped. Palestine has a lot of quality bass in it. They live there — we’re not fishing for unicorns on this one. If we get good weather, this thing could be epic.”

Tennessee pro Ott DeFoe is another competitor that is extremely excited about his return to the Lone Star State.

“I’ve never fished on Lake Palestine, but from what I’ve researched it looks like an excellent fishery,” DeFoe told MLF reporter Dave Landahl. “I’ve always loved fishing in Texas. My first FLW Tour (now Tackle Warehouse Pro Circuit) event was on Lake Travis, I finished in the Top 10. I had a Top 10 at the Classic on Lake Conroe, I won the Bass Pro Tour event on Lake Fork and Lake Athens, and have cashed a lot of checks in that state over the years. I do well there, I’m always consistent. There’s a lot to get excited about when you fish for bass in Texas.”

All 40 Anglers will compete on Days 1 (Sunday) and 2 (Monday) of the event. After two days of competition, the field is cut to just the top 20 based on two-day total cumulative weight. The remaining 20 anglers are split into two groups – 10 compete on Day 3 (Tuesday) and 10 compete on Day 4 (Wednesday). The top five anglers from each group based on total single-day weight will advance to the sixth and final day of competition, where weights are zeroed and the angler that catches the highest total weight on the final day will be crowned the REDCREST 2021 champion.

Attendance is limited to competing anglers, essential staff and media covering the event only. Fans are encouraged to follow the event online through the MLF NOW!® live stream and SCORETRACKER® coverage at MajorLeagueFishing.com

The 2020 Bass Pro Tour featured a field of 80 of the top professional anglers in the world competing in a COVID-shortened five regular-season tournaments around the country. The top 40 anglers in the Angler of the Year (AOY) standings after the five events qualified to compete in Bass Pro Shops REDCREST 2021 presented by Old Wisconsin Sausage.

The MLF NOW!® broadcast team of Chad McKee, Marty Stone and J.T. Kenney will break down the extended action on all five days of competition from 7:45 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. MLF NOW!® will be live streamed on MajorLeagueFishing.com. and the MyOutdoorTV (MOTV) app.

Television coverage of the Bass Pro Shops REDCREST 2021 presented by Old Wisconsin Sausage will be showcased across two two-hour episodes, premiering at 7 a.m. ET, July 3 on the Discovery Channel. A one-hour special episode of MLF Inside the REDCREST will premiere at 2 p.m. ET, Sunday, July 18 on CBS. New MLF episodes premiere each Saturday morning on the Discovery Channel, with additional re-airings on the Outdoor Channel and the Sportsman Channel. Each two-hour long reality-based episode goes in-depth to break down each day of competition.

For complete details and updated information on REDCREST 2021, visit MajorLeagueFishing.com. For regular updates, photos, tournament news and more, follow MLF’s social media outlets at Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and YouTube .