David Dudley took a big gamble and it paid off with the biggest check of his young career.

Dudley, of Manteo, N.C., caught five fish weighing 15 pounds, 15 ounces last weekend to win the $3.64 million Ranger M1 bass tournament out of Mobile, Ala. He earned $700,000 for winning the sport’s richest event, held on the Mobile-Tensaw Delta in Florida.

Dudley caught the heaviest stringer by fishing a spot he hadn’t tried the first three days of the event. Randy Blaukat of Lamar, Mo., who led the top 10 pros into the final round, was second at 14-0.

“I felt my water was fished out,” said Dudley of the place he fished during qualifying. “I just didn’t have any more confidence in the area, so I took a gamble and it paid off.”

Dudley, 26, said he plans to use his winnings to build a church in Lynchburg, Va.