GUNTERSVILLE, Ala. — Dylan Fogarty took a win or go home approach to the final 2026 Nitro Boats Bassmaster Elite Qualifier at Lake Guntersville presented by Bass Pro Shops.
So far, that approach is working out as the Pennsylvania angler landed a five-bass limit weighing 21 pounds, 7 ounces to take the Day 1 lead in northern Alabama. Fogarty holds a 1-ounce advantage over Wisconsin’s Grant Neubauer and a 12-ounce lead over Lucas Toliver in third.
Entering the week in 121st place in Nitro Boats Bassmaster Elite Qualifiers presented by Bass Pro Shops points, Fogarty knew he had no chance of making the Progressive Bassmaster Elite Series. Instead, he did his best to find a pattern that may lift him into the 2027 Bass Pro Shops Bassmaster Classic presented by Under Armour.
“I was calm the whole practice,” Fogarty said. “I knew I would either go out and smash or I wouldn’t and it would be alright since I’m not in contention (for the EQ points). I wanted to win or cash a check and then go deer hunting.”
While plenty of limits between 17 and 19 pounds were caught on the legendary reservoir, Guntersville did not produce as many big bags as many expected during this tournament. A series of cold fronts have passed through the area, and many of the bass are chasing bait and hard to target without forward-facing sonar, which is prohibited in this tournament.
Fogarty has been to Guntersville several times during his college career, and that history helped him figure out productive areas to fish in this tournament. His practice revealed areas where good bass lived, but he didn’t think they were the quality to build a 20-pound bag with.
“I fished most of practice without hooks, but I thought I could get up to 18 pounds potentially,” he said.
The morning started fast. Fogarty caught three bass in the first half hour, two of those being 5-pounders. He lost another bass that would have given him a better total. After his early success, Fogarty knew he had to stick with the pattern all day.
“I knew if I got bit early that is what I was going to do all day,” Fogarty said. “I threw a ChatterBait for maybe 10 casts, but other than that it was topwater.”
Submerged hydrilla along main lake bars have attracted the gizzard shad, and the big bass have followed. On Day 1, partly to mostly cloudy skies prevailed, but when the sun popped out, Fogarty saw the bite improve dramatically.
“There are a lot of different grasses on these bars, and the hydrilla has stayed healthy during these cold fronts. That is why the bigger ones are there, and when they have a big knocking topwater coming over their heads they can’t help but eat it. There are a lot of 8- to 12-inch gizzard shad around.”
Neubauer, meanwhile, struggled to generate momentum in practice, but as Day 1 went along, he discovered an important nuance in the vegetation he was fishing.
“I started on some stuff I got bites around in practice. I knew I was around bass but didn’t know how to catch them,” he said. “I ended up on one little sneaky deal. I caught a 5-pounder and a 4-pounder back-to-back.”
The Wisconsin angler is fishing an expansive stretch of Guntersville, but his sweet spot is a 100-yard stretch with a mix of vegetation that includes hydrilla and coontail. In this area, Neubauer is seeing plenty of big gizzard shad that he feels the big bass are targeting. He rotated between three baits during the day.
Neubauer is no stranger to river systems with vegetation. He lives close to the Upper Mississippi River, but has struggled with Guntersville in his visits up to this point.
“So far it has worked out really well,” he said. “Guntersville is more expansive. There are so many places for them to hide. At home, you can hit targets. Here, you are sort of blind casting into the abyss.”
Toliver, meanwhile, landed 20-13 to finish the opening round in third place. If he can maintain his momentum, it would be his first Top 10 of the season. The Michigan native went back to his roots at Guntersville, targeting several areas of vegetation to round up his limit.
“I thought I was going to throw a frog all day, and it did not work out that way,” he explained. “I got so irritated with them missing it today that I picked up a flipping rod and caught a 5-pounder. I went back to my roots when I first started fishing.”
The mats Toliver is fishing are a mix of coontail, hyacinth and hydrilla. Dips in the hydrilla near shallow bars produced his better bites. He could tell most of the bass are trying to ambush shad and are sitting right under the mat.
“They would never hit it on the bottom,” Toliver said. “As soon as it broke the surface, they would eat it and I would swing.”
A cold front is expected to move through overnight, bringing cooler air and wind with it. That has Toliver nervous about Day 2.
Alabama’s Wyatt Burkhalter anchored his 20-10 fourth place limit with a 6-6 largemouth, earning Phoenix Boats Big Bass of the Day honors.
Louisiana’s Brennan Flick leads the Elite Qualifiers points with 334 points followed by Tennessee’s Nathan Reynolds in second with 324 points and Kentucky’s Bailey Gay in third with 314 points. Connecticut’s Noah Winslow is fourth with 309 points and Peyton Harris rounds out the Top 5 with 301 points.
Tripp Berklinsky (297), Cody Stahl (296), Lucas Lindsay (291), Kollin Crawford (291) and Kaden Buchmann (288) round out the Top 10. As it stands, Connor Jacob is the first man out of Elite Series invite with 278 points.
The full field of anglers will launch from Guntersville City Harbor at 7 a.m. CT and return for weigh-in at 3 p.m. The Top 10 anglers at the end of the Day 2 weigh-in will advance to Championship Friday for a chance to win the $70,000 first-place prize and earn a spot in the 2027 Bassmaster Classic.
The Top 10 anglers in EQ points will receive invites to the 2027 Bassmaster Elite Series roster.
Marshall County Tourism and Sports are hosting the tournament.