On Friday, Nov. 13, a weigh-in at Guntersville City Harbor will settle which 10 anglers get invitations to the 2027 Progressive Bassmaster Elite Series. The 2026 Nitro Boats Bassmaster Elite Qualifiers run as a three-event postseason, and B.A.S.S. says the top 10 in the EQ standings receive their invitations "at the conclusion of the Lake Guntersville event."
On the home lake, that turns an ordinary November Wednesday through Friday into the final round of a season that started in the Ozarks in September. Boats leave City Harbor at 7 a.m. Central each day, and the weigh-in comes back to the same harbor at 3 p.m.
Two Lakes Down, One to Go
This is only the second year of the EQ format. B.A.S.S. built it to test the top anglers from the Bassmaster Opens, and its schedule announcement says the 2025 debut produced 10 new Elite Series pros, including Fisher Anaya and Russ Lane. The 2026 season covers three very different fisheries, and Guntersville is the last of them.
| Event | Dates | Location | Forward-facing sonar |
|---|---|---|---|
| Norfork Lake | Sept. 23–25 | Mountain Home, Ark. | Not permitted |
| Toledo Bend Reservoir | Oct. 21–23 | Many, La. | Permitted |
| Lake Guntersville | Nov. 11–13 | Guntersville, Ala. | Not permitted |
With Norfork and Toledo Bend now finished, Guntersville is the last chance to move up in the EQ standings that decide the invitations. There's also money on the line beyond the invitations. B.A.S.S. awards $110,000 in Angler of the Year prize money across the series.
Hank Weldon, executive director of tournaments for B.A.S.S., described the pressure this way in the organization's roster announcement:
"With only 10 Elite Series invitations available, consistency will be critical from the first day at Norfork through the final weigh-in at Guntersville."
A Coin Flip Took the Screens Off the Boats
The rule set is what makes this week especially interesting on Lake Guntersville. B.A.S.S. set up the 2026 EQs with one event allowing forward-facing sonar, one banning it, and the finale decided by a coin flip. The flip went against the technology, so it is prohibited at Guntersville, just as it was at Norfork.
Without forward-facing sonar, the deciding event will be fished on what this lake has always rewarded. In its schedule release, B.A.S.S. calls Guntersville "a grass-rich Tennessee River powerhouse that will challenge anglers with shifting fall bait movements, big schools of bass and world-class ledge fishing." Grass lines, ledges and following the bait are things a person learns over many days on this water.
The lake will sit a little lower than it does in July, too. TVA lists Guntersville's typical summer operating range as 594 to 595 feet, with a 593-foot minimum winter elevation that supports navigation depth. In TVA's 2026 operating guide, the zone held at 594 to 595 feet through Sept. 8 and then began easing down. On Nov. 11, the first day of competition, the guide zone is 593.24 to 594.24 feet. That's about three-quarters of a foot below the summer zone, and it keeps dropping until it reaches 593 to 594 feet on Dec. 1. The same table shows the lake actually measured 593.88 feet on Nov. 11, 2025. TVA notes that release schedules can change without notice, so its live Guntersville lake-level page is the number to check the morning you head out. On a shallow reservoir, a fraction of a foot changes which flats and coves a boat can still get into. That holds for a pro chasing a five-fish limit and for anyone running a pontoon back to a dock.
The Home Lake Has Its Own Contenders
B.A.S.S. says the 2026 EQ field brings in anglers from across the country and Japan. The official roster also lists three Guntersville anglers: Laker Howell, Randy Howell and Connor Jacob. For them, the deciding event is on water they can see from town.
The rest of Alabama is well represented. The roster includes:
- Ryan Salzman of Huntsville
- Tripp Berlinsky of Florence
- Lonnie Cochran of Section
- Brody Robison of Dawson
- Dalton Head of Moody
- Andrew Jones of Trussville
- Brady Vernon of Sterrett
- Peyton Harris and CJ Maddux of Birmingham
- Wyatt Burkhalter of Coker
- Cole McAusland of Tuscaloosa
- Lucas Lindsay of Auburn
- Colton Trotter of Dothan
Several of these names come from towns within an easy drive of Lake Guntersville. That should make the Friday weigh-in crowd feel more like a regional homecoming than a stop on a national tour.
How the Three Days Run at City Harbor
City Harbor at 301 Scott St. works well as tournament headquarters because there's plenty to do between takeoff and weigh-in. The Marshall County tourism listing counts seven restaurants at the harbor. Here's how the week lines up:
- Wednesday, Nov. 11, and Thursday, Nov. 12. Takeoff is at 7 a.m. Central, so boats are pulling out at the same hour the harbor's breakfast spot opens. Another Broken Egg's Guntersville location is open daily from 7 a.m. to 2 p.m., with an online waitlist that helps on a busy morning. The weigh-in follows at 3 p.m.
- Friday, Nov. 13. This is the final day. B.A.S.S. moved its EQ events to finish on Fridays for 2026 to draw more viewers heading into the weekend. The 3 p.m. weigh-in sets the final EQ standings and, with them, the 10 Elite Series invitations.
- Friday evening. With the standings final and the weekend starting, it's a good time to stay at the harbor for dinner. Nash's, open in Guntersville since 2023, is one of the harbor's dinner options and posts its events on its own site.
The official tournament page lists the takeoff and weigh-in times and carries the coverage as the event goes. It's the place to check for any schedule change before you drive down.
Why the Final Round Keeps Landing Here
This is the third time in 2026 that a top-level pro bass event has come to Lake Guntersville. In January, Major League Fishing opened its Bass Pro Tour season with B&W Trailer Hitches Stage 1 at Lake Guntersville Presented by Mercury, Jan. 15 to 18, launching from Civitan Park Boat Launch. MLF noted at the time that a winter date was a different time of year for the tour on this lake. The 2026 FXR Bassmaster Elite at Lake Guntersville came in February, Feb. 5 to 8, based at Goose Pond in Scottsboro. Now the year ends with the EQ finale at City Harbor.
Tours schedule events where the fishing can separate a field. When B.A.S.S. needed a place to decide its postseason, it picked the Tennessee River lake it describes as rich in grass, schools and ledges.
These weeks matter in town, too. WAFF reported that the 2024 fall fishing tournaments brought more than $951,200 in regional economic impact, and that officials expected 2025 to top that figure. A three-day event with a field of more than 130 boats, wrapping up on a Friday at City Harbor, is the kind of week that number counts.
If you live on the water, the week also shows the lake from a different angle. The same coves, ledges and grass lines you pass on the way out from your dock will decide who fishes the Elite Series next year. For more on the town around the harbor, see our Guntersville neighborhood guide and our look at life on Lake Guntersville.
If watching the pros work these ledges has you thinking about your own stretch of shoreline, whether that means a dock on deeper water or a lot closer to the harbor, Jeri Franks knows this lake and would be glad to talk it through with you. Let's Connect.
