Angler holds on to win Lake Guntersville tourney
GUNTERSVILLE – When he launched his boat onto Lake Guntersville on a cold Sunday morning, pro Drew Gill of Mount Carmel, Illinois, never considered that he would end the day hoisting his third Bass Pro Tour trophy.
Turns out, Gill was still able to use his mastery of forward-facing sonar to stack up weight in a hurry. The 23-year old boated 20 bass for 53 pounds, 5 ounces in the first period, building a lead of more than 24 pounds over his nearest pursuer. Then, he did just enough to hold off hard charges from Jacob Walker, Jacob Wheeler and others. Walker landed a 6-9 brute right before lines out, but it wasn’t quite enough. Gill’s 82-4 total edged him by 1-5.
The victory occurred in the B&W Trailer Hitches Stage 1 Tournament held on Lake Guntersville with weigh-in held at Civitan Park. The win marks Gill’s third Bass Pro Tour victory and fourth total MLF win and earned him the first $125,000 paycheck of the 2026 season. He’s also the early leader in the Fishing Clash Angler of the Year race, a title he’s coveted since arriving on tour.
The four-day event presented by Mercury was hosted by Marshall County Tourism & Sports and featured a roster of 51 of the top professional anglers in the world competing for a $125,000 top prize and their share of the $600,000 purse, along with valuable Angler of the Year (AOY) points in hopes of qualifying for the MLF Heavy Hitters all-star event and REDCREST 2027, the Bass Pro Tour championship.
“This is the first time I’ve made a Top 10 where I’ve been like, ‘I know it’s not possible tomorrow,’” Gill said. “Because I had burned my ‘Scope stuff. I mean, I caught 150 pounds off one place for the last three days, and they got progressively harder to catch every day. And I couldn’t get a no-‘Scope bite going yesterday to save my life. So, I was like, ‘I’m cooked.’” While a 24-pound lead after the first period might seem like significant breathing room, Gill knew it wouldn’t be nearly enough to win. All week, the shallow winding bite had been getting better in the afternoon, leading to some big third-period comebacks.
Walker, who caught four bass over 6 pounds on the day, including a 7-4 that earned Berkley Big Bass honors, looked for a moment like he had pulled off a second miraculous buzzer-beater in his BPT debut, but his last-min- ute fish weighed just a little light.
That left Gill to celebrate a win he never saw coming with his parents and fiancée watching from shore.
“I’ve gotten to win a Pro Circuit and now three Bass Pro tour events, but I’ve never had my family present for one,” Gill said. “My parents are here, and my fiancée is here, and that’s super, super cool. It means the world to me to get to experience this with them.”
The final results included the top 10 anglers:
1st: Drew Gill, Mount Carmel, Ill., 28 bass, 82-4 2nd: Jacob Walker, Springville, Ala., 20 bass, 80-15 3rd: Jacob Wheeler, Harrison, Tenn., 22 bass, 75-4 4th: Zack Birge, Blanchard, Okla., 19 bass, 65-12 5th: Banks Shaw, Harrison, Tenn., 21 bass, 63-14 6th: Justin Cooper, Zwolle, La., 18 bass, 49-12 7th: Wesley Strader, Spring City, Tenn., 17 bass, 48-8 8th: Mark Daniels Jr., Tuskegee, Ala., 17 bass, 44-1 9th: Chris Lane, Guntersville, Ala., 12 bass, 37-10 10th: Keith Carson, DeBary, Fla., 11 bass, 36-14
Overall, there were 185 bass caught weighing 584 pounds, 14 ounces, caught by the final 10 Bass Pro Tour anglers on Sunday. Sunday’s $1,000 Berkley Big Bass Award went to pro Jacob Walker who weighed in a 7-pound, 4-ounce largemouth during the third period on a bladed swim jig. Berkley awards $1,000 to the angler who weighs the heaviest bass each day.
One of the local pros in the tournament, Chris Lane, who finished ninth and won $20,500, had a rally of his own catching 29 bass for a weight of 91-10 to win the Saturday Knockout Round and advanced to the final 10 for Sunday’s Championship Round.
The 2026 Bass Pro Tour features a field of 51 of the best 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 Heavy Hitters all-star event and the REDCREST 2027 championship.
