Drew Gill Wins 2024 Bass Pro Tour U.S. Air Force Stage Five Presented by WIX Filters!

Mitchell Forde

BASS PRO TOUR

EDENTON, N.C. — Over the past two years, Drew Gill has rocketed up the tournament-fishing ranks about as rapidly as any angler in recent memory. Competing in his fifth Bass Pro Tour event at U.S. Air Force Stage Five Presented by WIX Filters, he made it to the mountaintop.

Gill put together an epic run during the second period of Sunday’s Championship Round on the Chowan River. In a little less than 2 hours, the 22-year-old rookie stacked 10 bass totaling 31 pounds, 12 ounces onto SCORETRACKER®. The best period logged by any angler during the event, it turned a nearly 9-pound deficit to Michael Neal into better than a 14-pound advantage. The rest of the way, Gill would add another 10 pounds and change, bringing his total to 58-14 — also the best day for any angler all week. That topped Neal by 14 pounds, earning Gill $100,000 and his first BPT trophy.

“Everything I’ve wanted for the last few years was to just make it to this field and get to compete against these guys,” Gill said. “To make it to this field and get to compete against them and get a win in my rookie season, the feeling is absolutely unquantifiable.” 

Here’s how the Top 10 pros finished the Championship Round:

1. Drew Gill — 58-14 (22)

2. Michael Neal — 44-14 (18)

3. Dustin Connell — 41-14 (20)

4. Jacob Wheeler — 36-1 (12)

5. Justin Lucas — 31-4 (12)

6. Alton Jones Jr. — 31-0 (13)

7. Matt Becker — 25-10 (7)

8. Zack Birge — 11-8 (5)

9. Ott DeFoe — 11-8 (6)

10. Fred Roumbanis — 9-15 (3)

Complete results

An inevitable win Gill didn’t see coming

On one hand, it might seem like Gill, who started fishing tournaments in 2021 and was competing at the Abu Garcia College Fishing level as recently as this January, came out of nowhere to reach this point. On the other, the victory almost feels like a long time coming.

2023 Bass Pro Tour Favorite Fishing Stage Five Presented by ATG by Wrangler on Cayuga Lake!

Championship Round shaping up to be another epic clash for Stage Five supremacy

UNION SPRINGS, N.Y. – Saturday’s highly-anticipated Knockout Round at Favorite Fishing Stage Five Presented by ATG by Wrangler on Cayuga Lake lived up to the hype, and its name.

The constant catches and subsequent swings on SCORETRACKER® evoked a pair of heavyweight boxers trading blows in a 12-round title fight — except instead of punches, the 40 anglers thrilled fans watching on MLFNOW! by landing Cayuga’s beefy smallmouth bass.

Stage Five has officially become a smallmouth slugfest, with all 10 anglers who qualified for Sunday’s Championship Round weighing exclusively brown fish. Once again, the smallies showed up in quantity and quality never before seen on a national tournament trail, ensuring that this bass brawl will be remembered in fishing lore like Ali and Foreman’s Rumble in the Jungle.

Adrian Avena leads after hauling in 29 pounds, 6 ounces — in his words, “the best smallmouth bass fishing day of my entire life.” It gave him only 2 ounces of cushion over second-place Jacob Wheeler.

It wasn’t just the two traveling partners who caught ‘em, either. It took nearly 26 pounds (25-15) to make the top 10, with Kevin VanDam the last man to qualify for the Championship Round. An astounding 15 anglers topped 25 pounds for the day.

Dustin Connell Wins 2022 Fox Rent A Car Stage Six Presented by Googan Baits!

Connell Conquers Cayuga Smallmouth to Win Second Event in 2022

by Mason Prince 

BASS PRO TOUR PRESS RELEASE

UNION SPRING, N.Y. – For the second time in the 2022 Bass Pro Tour season, Dustin Connell is a champion. Connell is the winner of the Fox Rent A Car Stage Six Presented by Googan Baits on Cayuga Lake after catching 25 bass for 96 pounds, 12 ounces on Thursday to claim his second silver-and-red BPT trophy in six months.

Connell was clutch from start to finish on Cayuga, leading nearly the entirety of the finaly day and never surrendering his commanding lead. The only angler to really threaten Connell all day was second-place Jacob Wheeler, and he was only able to get within 16-3 of Connell when all was said and done.

Once again, it was all about smallmouth for Connell on Cayuga, this time for $100,000. All of his 25 scorable bass were of the brown variety. The Alabama pro knew that if he wanted to win his second event of the year, he was going to have to fish off the beaten path.

“I’m not a good grass fisherman, so I knew I was going to have to do something different,” Connell admitted. “I caught my first smallmouth of this tournament on a Googan Baits Drag N Drop and thought, ‘Oh wow.’ I decided then I was fully committed to smallmouth. To win the tournament on all smallmouth up here is just nuts.”

2022 Fox Rent A Car Stage Six Presented by Googan Baits: Connell Cruises to Knockout Round Win; Wheeler Inches Closer to Clinching Back-to-Back AOYs

by Tyler Brinks

BASS PRO TOUR PRESS RELEASE

UNION SPRINGS, N.Y. – It continues to be a catch fest on Cayuga Lake for the Fox Rent A Car Stage Six Presented by Googan Baits. Wednesday’s Knockout Round was owned by Dustin Connell and seven other pros that will be moving onto the Championship Round to join Michael Neal and Justin Lucas.

Connell Conquers Cayuga

Make it four out of six Championship Round appearances clinched for Connell in the 2022 season. The Alabama pro took the top spot in the Knockout Round after catching 22 bass for 82 pounds, 2 ounces —all of them smallmouth; which may prove to be the difference for Connell if he’s able to come away with a win on Cayuga. In a tournament that’s been dominated by largemouth for the most part, it’s the smallmouth that have carried Connell to a one-in-10 shot at $100,000

“It was a beautiful day in New York and the smallmouth were bitin’,” Connell said with a grin after winning the Knockout Round over his buddy Wheeler. “I set the hook on a few today that I didn’t really want to, but I’m glad that I did so I could just know what’s going on for tomorrow.”

Connell caught most of his smallmouth drop-shotting a Googan Baits Drag N Drop. He brought in nine smallmouth over 4 pounds on Wednesday but no fish over 5 pounds. However, Connell seems to be playing a game of quantity this time around, and it continues to work out for him. Bad news for the other nine competitors left in the field — the Googan Baits pro feels like he still has plenty of smallmouth left to catch tomorrow.

2016 FLW CUP: Interview with Chris Johnston FLW Rookie of the Year

Hometown legend in the making.

By Luigi De Rose 

As the scales settled on the FLW CUP on Wheeler Lake, Alabama on August 7^th, the 2016 Walmart Tour season came to a close.  John Cox was declared champion but there is another champion who was bolting back home to continue his bass tournament season in Canada. Chris Johnston, of Peterborough, Ontario had concluded his rookie season on tour. We caught up with him to discuss his fantastic season and his 8^th place finish at the FLW CUP. 

Chris Johnston 2016 FLW TOUR Rookie of the Year. (Photo: FLW)

IBASSIN: Thanks for taking the time out to chat. 

Chris: No problem we are just about 40 minutes from the Canadian border.

IBASSIN: You had an amazing FLW CUP! Let’s talk a bit about it the championship and how you fished. 

Chris: I am surprised that I did so well. I had a very poor practice. I was expecting to flip trees to get the better bites and I did get a few fish but it was random. The first couple of practice days I could get about 5 to 6 bass a day. I was worried that I couldn’t get a limit each day. The deep bite wasn’t there. I got nothing out deep.

On the third practice day, I found a point that had some schoolers but many of the fish were very small. Some were only a few inches long but there were a few 2 pounders mixed in. So, I determined that I would get a few schoolers each morning then try for the flipping fish.

What I discovered was that the schooling bite got better throughout the day. That is something you shouldn’t figure out during an event but in practice so I got a bit lucky. On Day 1 of the tournament I determine that bite was stronger than what I imagined it would be. 

IBASSIN: FLW had pictures of you with some big smallmouth. Did you catch them mixed in with the small schoolers?

2012 FLW Open Wheeler Lake: Mark Rose Wins

 by David A. Brown
FLW Press Release
DECATUR, Ala. – It's neither fair, nor respectful to other competitors to assume a tournament is "in the bag" just because a guy brings a huge lead into the final round. But Mark Rose, at least indirectly, justified any such murmurings with his dominant wire-to-wire win at the FLW Tour Open event on Wheeler Lake.

Mark lead all four days and took the trophy with ease.
(Photos: FLW)

Ever the humble gentleman, Rose simply won't engage in that line of thinking. He'll thank God, his family and his sponsors and he'll let others draw their own conclusions. For him, it's simply a matter of being fortunate enough to fish his style of fishing during a period when Wheeler's bass were positioned well for it. Essentially, the fish are just starting to move into their fall transition of shallow migration, but the water's still on the warm side, so plenty of quality fish remain out deep. With a solid understanding of these seasonal patterns and significant experience at picking apart the deep bottoms of TVA impoundments, Rose was in his comfort zone and simply went to work methodically locating and engaging his finned opponents.
"I just felt comfortable out there – I just get in tune with it," he said. "It's a passion I have. I really like it. I like it when I'm not catching anything because I'm trying to figure them out.

2012 FLW Open Wheeler Lake Day 3: Mark Rose Continues to Dominate!

Missouri’s Loeffelman Jr. Wins Co-Angler Title, $20,000

FLW Press Release
DECATUR, Ala. – National Guard pro Mark Rose slipped a bit and only weighed in the second-biggest stringer of the day at the Walmart FLW Tour Open on Wheeler Lake presented by Ranger Boats. It was still enough to increase his lead to a near-insurmountable 7 pounds, 1 ounce heading into the fourth and final day. The top cash award of $125,000 is now his to lose as the world’s best bass-fishing pros continued their four-day battle at Wheeler Lake on Saturday.

Rose does a little kneeling and reeling while keeping
a keen eye on the depth finder.
(Photos: FLW)

The West Memphis, Ark., native moves on to the final day of competition as the No. 1 seed with a five-bass limit Saturday of 15-10. Rose’s three-day catch of 15 bass weighing 54-8 gives him a dominating lead heading into Day 4.
“It’s awful special to be able to come out and be in the lead here,” said Rose, who is hunting for his sixth FLW tournament championship. “The Tennessee River just has a really special place in my heart. I’m fishing with a lot of confidence right now, just doing what I love to do.”
Rose said the bites were hard to come by Saturday and he really credits his Lowrance Structure Scan as being the key to his success.
“You have to idle and find these fish, and see where and how they’re set up,” Rose said. “You have to use your Lowrance to find the depths and positioning, and then decide what baits to throw. I couldn’t be doing this without it.

2012 FLW Open Wheeler Lake Day 2: Mark Rose in Total Control

FLW Press Release
by David A. Brown
DECATUR, Ala. – Experience can certainly build confidence, but it's not an absolute requirement. Case in point: National Guard pro Mark Rose admits to having little of the former on Wheeler Lake, but he had plenty of the latter as he maintained his lead on day two of the FLW Tour Open event.
The pro from West Memphis, Ark. caught 21 pounds, 6 ounces on day one and took the top spot by a margin of 3-7 over Alabama pro Blake Nick. Today, Rose added 17-8 and widened his lead to 4-6 with a total weight of 38-14, as Nick also held his position.

Fishing deep is really paying off for Mark Rose.
(Photos: FLW)

"I'm fishing with a lot of confidence right now and I'm comfortable fishing on the Tennessee River, although I don't know as much about Wheeler as the ponds above and below it," Rose said. "I don't have the time on Wheeler, but it's on the Tennessee River and I'm very comfortable at it. I'm fishing my style and I like it."
Asked what defines his style, Rose said it's as much about the hunt as the presentations. He's working two main areas with specific bottom characteristics and giving the fish a good mix of baits.
"I like reading my Lowrance StructureScan and finding deep fish," he said. "I like cranking, I like throwing a big worm, I like throwing a big spoon, I like throwing a big swimbait and that’s the kind of stuff that I'm doing here.

2012 FLW Open Wheeler Lake Day 1: Mark Rose Take Command with 21 pound limit

FLW Press Release

Mark Rose hold up two beasts. Most of the field couldn't break
the 7 pound mark yet Mark caught more than 21 pounds.
(Photo: FLW)

DECATUR, Ala. – Junk fishing was the name of the game Thursday as the world’s best bass-fishing pros began competing at the Walmart FLW Tour Open on Wheeler Lake presented by Ranger Boats. Multiple styles, patterns and presentations were used as pros from all across the United States began the four-day tournament fishing for a top cash award of up to $125,000.
By the end of the weigh-in, one angler had separated himself quite a bit from the pack. National Guard pro Mark Rose of West Memphis, Ark., brought a five-bass limit to the scales Thursday weighing 21 pounds, 6 ounces to lead day one of the event. Rose now holds nearly a 3½-pound lead over Blake Nick of Adger, Ala., who caught five bass weighing 17-15.
“Normally I can say it was this bait, or this pattern,” said Rose, who has career winnings of more than $1.5 million. “Today, I was just blessed and it just happened for me. It was pretty tough, though. I didn’t catch that many fish – I only had seven keepers. Wheeler is definitely a tough lake, but it’s still got them.”

2012 Forrest L. Wood Cup: Bucking the System!

Wheeler gets pasted by Yelas during Day 2 of the Cup
(Photos: FLW)

By Luigi De Rose

This year the FLW Cup is being held at the spotted bass capital of the world, Lake Lanier in Georgia. Spotted bass love the deep, fresh water during the humid summer. This translates to anglers hunting for deep brush piles teaming with bass. To catch them takes small worms or jigs. The western technique of doodling became entrenched with eastern anglers on this lake. Now, drop shotting is king. All predictions indicate that the winner will have a few deep water areas that will produce solid, consistent limits of spotted bass. Well, that might not be true.

Jacob Wheeler, who has lead both day 1 and 2 of this Cup is fishing shallow. Surprisingly, second place angler, Jay Yelas is also fishing shallow largemouths. One angler is a fluke, having the top two anglers doing the same thing is a winning strategy. It seems that as of Day 2, only Scott Martin is fishing exclusively for spotted bass.

Wheeler in the wood. 

This strategy of bucking the local school of thought is reminisce of Tommy Biffle's quest for the Bass Master Classic. On south east impoundments known for off-shore crankbaiting, Tommy had several Classic Championships slip through his fingers. As the pack cranked the bottom, Tommy pointed his boat far up river and flipped and pitched his Lunker Lure jig to wood. Actually, Jay Yelas won the 2002 Classic on Lay Lake fishing shore line cover as his rivals fished transitional summer time patterns.

Will history repeat itself? Will Wheeler and Yelas wash out like Biffle did when water levels ruined his best areas? Or, will bucking the system pay off? Wait and see.