Major League Fishing’s (MLF) most prestigious event is heading to Alabama Power’s Lay Lake.

The Bass Pro Shops REDCREST 2024 presented by OPTIMA Lithium is slated to take place March 14-17 and will crown bass fishing’s newest world champion.

The four-day tournament, portions of which will be broadcast on the Discovery Channel and the Outdoor Channel, features 50 top MLF anglers, including the top 40 anglers from the Bass Pro Tour along with champions and top finishers from the 2023 Toyota Series, the Phoenix Bass Fishing League and the Abu Garcia College Fishing circuits. Top prize for the REDCREST Championship: a cool $300,000.

The event also offers plenty of free fun at the family friendly REDCREST Outdoor Sports Expo, which takes place from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. March 15-17 at the Birmingham-Jefferson Convention Complex. The expo features booths and vendors showcasing the latest gear and toys in fishing, boating and the outdoors. Children can play in the MLF Kids Zone, and giveaways and prizes are scheduled throughout the event, including signed MLF angler jerseys, rods and reels, gift cards and more. On Sunday, March 17, one lucky attendee will walk away with a new 2024 Toyota Tacoma truck. Fans must be present to win the Tacoma grand prize. For more information about the expo, click here.

Alabama Power’s Lay Lake. (Alabama News Center)

The General Tire Take Off Ceremony launches each morning of the competition at 6:15 a.m. from Beeswax Landing on Lay Lake, 245 Beeswax Park Road in Columbiana. Anglers depart at 7 a.m. each day and return after competition ends at 4 p.m. Fans are welcome to attend all launch events. For those who prefer to watch online, a livestream is planned at majorleaguefishing.com.

The competition features the MLF “catch, weigh, immediate-release” format, in which anglers catch as much weight as they can each day. All 50 Anglers compete on Days 1 and 2. On Day 3, only the top 20 continue on, based on two-day total cumulative weight. Weights are zeroed for the Day 3 competition. On Day 4, the final day of competition, only the top 10 anglers will compete, with weights zeroed again. The winner is determined by the heaviest one-day total cumulative weight, with the victor earning $300,000 and the REDCREST 2024 trophy.

The 2023 Bass Pro Tour featured a field of 80 top professional anglers competing across seven regular-season tournaments across the country. The top 40 anglers in the Angler of the Year standings after the seven events qualified to compete in REDCREST 2024.

Jacob Wheeler took home the top prize Feb. 25 at the latest Bass Pro Tour event in South Carolina. (Garrick Dixon)

Sponsors of the 2024 MLF Bass Pro Tour include: Abu Garcia, B&W Trailer Hitches, Bass Pro Shops, Berkley, BUBBA, Epic Baits, Fishing Clash, Garmin, General Tire, Humminbird, Lowrance, Mercury, MillerTech, Minn Kota, Mossy Oak Fishing, NITRO, Onyx, Plano, Power-Pole, Rapala, StarBrite, Suzuki, Toyota and the U.S. Air Force.

For more information about Major League Fishing and the Bass Pro Tour, visit majorleaguefishing.com.