Illinois pro catches 36 smallmouth weighing 100-4 to jump out to early lead for Group B, Group A to wrap Qualifying Round Thursday

MASSENA, N.Y. (Aug. 7, 2024) – Bass Pro Tour angler Drew Gill of Mount Carmel, Illinois, has enjoyed a lot of memorable days on the water during his rapid rise through the tournament ranks. The Bass Pro Tour rookie has two wins this season — one at Stage Five on the Chowan River and one at the Tackle Warehouse Invitationals season opener on Sam Rayburn Reservoir — and has finished in the Top 10 eight times in 11 total events across those two circuits.

But Gill’s first day of competition at the Minn Kota Stage Seven at the St. Lawrence River Presented by Humminbird earned a special place in his memory bank. Gill racked up 36 scorable bass for 100 pounds, 4 ounces. That has him atop SCORETRACKER® after the first day of qualifying for Group B, 16 pounds, 6 ounces, ahead of Hot Springs, Arkansas’ Spencer Shuffield.

“If you want to rank the level of fun, it’s like not even on the grading scale,” Gill said. “It’s like S-Tier levels of fun. It is absolutely a blast. I think today was probably the most fun day of smallmouth fishing I’ve ever had in a tournament.”

Gill was far from the only angler to stack up a gaudy total on the fruitful fishery. As was also the case for Group A’s first day on the water, it took more than 58 pounds to claim a spot in the Top 10, and nine anglers crossed the 60-pound mark.

Gill admitted that it can feel at times like catching bass on the St. Lawrence is easy. In some ways, though, that actually makes strategy more stressful for the pros, as they have to be just about perfect in order to keep up with the pace.

While some anglers (like Shuffield, who boated eight smallmouth of 4 pounds or heavier) targeted a bigger average size, and a few even amassed strong totals of all or mostly largemouth, Gill’s gameplan focused on maximizing his catch rate. He started fishing right at “lines in” and only spent about 20 minutes of his day running his Mercury. His resulting tally of 36 scorable bass (35 of them being smallmouth) bested his next-closest competitor by seven and marked the most fish he’s boated in a day of competition this season.

“Time management and keeping the pace is the most important thing in a slugfest tournament,” Gill said. “And the best way to keep that pace is to make the run time as manageable as possible. … Just making decisions that are really time-management conscientious and focusing on maximizing fishing time, because every interaction you have with a fish here can be a 3- to 5-pound smallmouth.”

While Gill noted that his catch count could have been even higher had he not lost nine or 10 scorable bites, he’s excited by the fact that he maintained his rapid rate despite sampling several different areas and techniques. A forward-facing sonar guru who can often be spotted with just a handful of rods on his front deck, Gill said that’s not the case this week. He caught bass from as little as 5 feet of water to as deep as 54. He also found a new stretch of productive water during Period 3 that he’d never fished before and caught nearly 20 pounds off it in 22 minutes.

Gill believes having multiple options at his disposal will be key as the fishery evolves throughout the event.

“This is not one of those tournaments where you’ve got primary stuff and you’ve got some stuff in your back pocket,” he said. “Dude, you’ve got to be in all the pockets in this tournament. Front pockets, back pockets, side pockets, all the pockets, because if you’re not firing on all cylinders, you’re getting left behind.”

Gill will look to add to his repertoire of areas and techniques when he returns to the water Friday. With more than 45 pounds of cushion over 11th place, he can use the day as extra practice in advance of the Knockout Round. And with northern smallmouth known for their transient nature plus stormy weather from Hurricane Debby forecast to arrive this weekend, Gill knows he’ll need to adapt if he wants to add another trophy to his rapidly growing collection.

“Now that we’ve given ourselves a little bit of a head start, I’m looking forward to the time to expand the strategy,” he said. “I’m going to go expand on it, hopefully go find a few more areas, keep an eye on the stuff I’m fishing and try to prepare for the weekend.”

The top 20 pros in Group B after Day 1 on the St. Lawrence River are:

1st:        Drew Gill, Mount Carmel, Ill., 36 bass, 100-4
2nd:      Spencer Shuffield, Hot Springs, Ark., 24 bass, 83-14
3rd:       Jacob Wheeler, Harrison, Tenn., 29 bass, 74-5
4th:        Bryan Thrift, Shelby, N.C., 25 bass, 68-13
5th:        Fletcher Shryock, Guntersville, Ala., 23 bass, 65-6
6th:        Michael Neal, Dayton, Tenn., 19 bass, 64-3
7th:        Skeet Reese, Auburn, Calif., 20 bass, 63-7
8th:        Justin Cooper, Zwolle, La., 18 bass, 61-10
9th:        Josh Bertrand, Queen Creek, Ariz., 21 bass, 60-14
10th:     Chris Lane, Guntersville, Ala., 22 bass, 59-2
11th:     John Murray, Spring City, Tenn., 17 bass, 54-10
12th:     Keith Carson, DeBary, Fla., 17 bass, 54-3
13th:     Ron Nelson, Berrien Springs, Mich., 18 bass, 53-5
14th:     Jared Lintner, Covington, Ga., 19 bass, 52-13
15th:     Martin Villa, Charlottesville, Va., 17 bass, 52-12
16th:     Adrian Avena, Vineland, N.J., 17 bass, 49-2
17th:     Mark Daniels, Jr., Tuskegee, Ala., 16 bass, 48-4
18th:     Alton Jones, Sr., Lorena, Texas, 15 bass, 47-4
19th:     Jeremy Lawyer, Sarcoxie, Mo., 15 bass, 43-3
20th:     Jeff Sprague, Wills Point, Texas, 14 bass, 41-1

A complete list of results can be found at MajorLeagueFishing.com.

Overall, there were 592 scorable bass weighing 1,763 pounds, 10 ounces caught by the 39 pros Wednesday.

The Day 2 $1,000 Berkley Big Bass Award went to pro Spencer Shuffield of Hot Springs, Arkansas, who weighed in a chunky 6-pound smallmouth that he caught in Period 3. Berkley awards $1,000 to the angler who weighs the heaviest bass each day, and another $3,000 bonus to the angler who weighs the heaviest bass of the tournament.

Pro Jacob Wheeler of Harrison, Tennessee, entered Stage Seven needing only to advance to the Knockout Round to clinch his third Fishing Clash Angler of the Year title in the past four years. He’s off to a strong start.

Wheeler totaled 74-5 on 29 bass, which has him third in Group B. He’s nearly 20 pounds clear of 11th place. One more day like that and Wheeler will join a select group of anglers to win three AOY crowns on national tours. Should he falter, Waco, Texas’ Alton Jones, Jr. would be best positioned to take advantage, as he entered the regular-season finale 19 points behind Wheeler.

The six-day tournament, hosted by the Town of Massena, showcases 78 of the best professional anglers in the world competing for a purse of more than $805,000, with a top prize of $100,000 going to the winner.

The 39 Anglers in Group A compete in their two-day Qualifying Round on Tuesday and Thursday – the 39 anglers in Group B on Wednesday and Friday. After each two-day Qualifying Round is complete, the anglers that finish first through 10^th from both groups advance to Saturday’s Knockout Round. In the Knockout Round, weights are zeroed, and the remaining 20 anglers compete to finish in the top 10 to advance to Sunday’s Championship Round. In the final-day Championship Round, weights are zeroed, and the highest one-day total wins the top prize of $100,000.

Anglers will depart at 6:45 a.m. ET each day from the Massena Intake Boat Launch, located at 1415 State Highway 131 in Massena. Anglers are allowed to trailer to any ramp of their choosing within the fishing boundaries, and competition will begin on the water at 7:30 a.m. Each day’s General Tire Takeout will be held at Massena Intake Boat Launch, beginning at 4 p.m. Fans are welcome to attend all launch and takeout events and also encouraged to follow the event online throughout the day on the MLFNOW!® live stream and SCORETRACKER® coverage at MajorLeagueFishing.com .

The MLFNOW!® broadcast team of Chad McKee and J.T. Kenney will break down the extended action live starting Thursday morning from 7:45 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. ET. MLFNOW!® will be live streamed on MajorLeagueFishing.com, the MyOutdoorTV (MOTV) app and Rumble.

On Saturday and Sunday, Aug. 10-11, from 1 p.m. to 6 p.m. MLF welcomes fans of all ages to visit the Massena Intake Boat Launch for the MLF Watch Party. Fans can watch the pros live on the MLFNOW! big screen, enjoy free food, enter to win hourly giveaways and cheer on their favorite pros. Live music will begin each day at 4 p.m. The first 50 kids 14 and under will receive a free rod and reel from Pure Fishing each day. The final 10 Championship Round Bass Pro Tour anglers will be on hand at the trophy celebration on Championship Sunday to meet and greet fans, sign autographs and take selfies.

The Minn Kota Stage Seven at the St. Lawrence River Presented by Humminbird features anglers competing with a 2-pound minimum weight requirement for a bass to be deemed scorable. The MLF Fisheries Management Division determines minimum weights for each body of water that the Bass Pro Tour visits, based on the productivity, bass population and anticipated average size of fish in each fishery.

The 2024 Bass Pro Tour features a field of 78 of the top professional anglers in the world, competing across seven regular-season tournaments around the country, for millions of dollars and valuable points to qualify for the annual General Tire Heavy Hitters all-star event and REDCREST 2025, the Bass Pro Tour championship, set for April 3-6, 2025, on Lake Guntersville in Huntsville, Alabama.

Fishing Clash, an interactive 3D fishing simulation game that’s played by more than 80 million people worldwide, is the official AOY sponsor of the Bass Pro Tour, Tackle Warehouse Invitationals, Toyota Series and Phoenix Bass Fishing League. You can download Fishing Clash for free in the App Store and on Google Play or log on to www.fishingclash.game for more information.

Television coverage of the Minn Kota Stage Seven at the St. Lawrence River Presented by Humminbird will premiere as a two-hour episode starting at 7 a.m. ET, on Saturday, Nov. 16 on Discovery. New MLF episodes premiere each Saturday morning on Discovery, with re-airings on Outdoor Channel.

Proud 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, PowerStop Brakes, Rapala, REDCON1, Star brite, Suzuki, Toyota, WIX Filters and U.S. Air Force.

For complete details and updated information on Major League Fishing and the Bass Pro Tour, visit MajorLeagueFishing.com. For regular updates, photos, tournament news and more, follow MLF’s social media outlets at Facebook, X , Instagram and  YouTube.

About Major League Fishing
Major League Fishing (MLF) is the world’s largest tournament-fishing organization, producing more than 250 events annually at some of the most prestigious fisheries in the world, while broadcasting to America’s living rooms on CBS, Discovery Channel, Outdoor Channel, CBS Sports Network, World Fishing Network and on demand on MyOutdoorTV (MOTV). Headquartered in Benton, Kentucky, the MLF roster of bass anglers includes the world’s top pros and more than 30,000 competitors in all 50 states and 17 countries. Since its founding in 2011, MLF has advanced the sport of competitive fishing through its premier television broadcasts and livestreams and is dedicated to improving the quality of life for bass through research, education, fisheries enhancement and fish care.