Gill Continues Hot Start To '24 With Win At Rayburn

By MLF Communications Staff

BROOKELAND, Texas – Drew Gill has been on a heater for a while, and it was only a matter of time before the LiveScope whiz closed out a high-level win. After sacking up 26 pounds, 3 ounces on Sunday, Gill took the title at the first MLF Invitational of the season at Sam Rayburn Reservoir with a 69-6 total.

Gill topped fellow electronics master Jake Lawrence (second, 67-15), and had enough to overcome local Marshall Hughes’ (third, 67-4) mega-bag on Day 2, which put him more than 6 pounds ahead of the pack going into the final day. For the win, Gill pocketed $80,000 and locked up his 2025 REDCREST qualification early.

Though still a fledgling circuit, Gill is now the youngest to win an Invitationals event, setting the mark to beat at 21 years, 8 months. Historically speaking, when you factor in FLW Tour stats, Gill slots in between Stetson Blaylock’s win at Lake Norman in 2009 (21 years, 7 months) and Jacob Wheeler’s 2012 Forrest Wood Cup title (21 years, 10 months).

Gill has started the season about as about as well as an angler can. Just last week, he finished third in the Bass Pro Tour season opener on Toledo Bend, and, for good measure, he also finished 19th in the Abu Garcia College Fishing National Championship with partner Evan Fields back in January.

“Any year you can do consistently well and have a lot of Top 10s is a win in itself,” said Gill. “Goal No. 1 every year is always Angler of the Year. Goal No. 1 is not to win an event. However, that is a very close goal No. 2, and to be able to accomplish that in the first event of the Invitationals season after having a third at Toledo last week, I could not be more stoked for how fishing is going right now.”

Love it or hate it, any list of the best anglers with forward-facing sonar has Gill on it, and he rode his signature strength to victory this week. Seeming to always find enough fish for a quality bag (and to trigger enough fish to bite), he stayed ahead of a lot of other anglers trying to do similar things.

A big part of that was recognizing that he needed to leave winter behind and get closer to the bank. Luckily, that might be where his LiveScope skills shine the most – when it comes to shallow ‘Scoping, Gill is near or at the top of the list.

“The first day of the tournament, I was trying to replicate what I found in practice,” he explained. “I was catching them at the fronts of main-lake pockets and drains – the very main lake. I noticed they were going down and eating my Damiki (rig) off the bottom, and I didn’t think that was going to work all week.

“Day 2, I was throwing a Damiki and a Neko, and fishing more drains than the fronts of creeks,” Gill added. “Today, I was fishing midway back of just about every pocket I fished. These were short main-lake pockets and not big main creeks; those were unmanageable and there weren’t enough fish for me to fish a major creek. If five fish roll up into an area that’s a mile long, I’m not going to find them. If they roll up into a place that’s 400 yards long, your odds of running into those five big ones is pretty high.”

For his jighead minnow, Gill used a 3/16-ounce head and a 4-inch bait. For his Neko, he used a 6-inch Big Bite Baits Shaking Squirrel Worm, a 1/8-ounce weight and a No. 1 Roboworm Rebarb Hook.

On the last two days, when Gill honed his approach, he was fishing specifically for bass that were low in the water column and not too far from classic later-winter and prespawn locales.

“I was fishing some transition areas, basically – places that were adjacent to a contour or a drain, and I had to have some sort of cover in conjunction with that that would lead them along an edge,” Gill said. “Something that would lead them swimming one direction or another and keep them on a path that I could predict. I was running edges of grass, edges of rock, edges where sand dropped off a couple feet; places where bass should travel along, and the few good ones I was around, I could run right into them.

“Almost every big one I caught this week ate it off the bottom,” he said. “I was in about 7 to 14 feet of water most of them time, and generally they would be 2 or 3 feet above the bottom. Not suspended, but hovering almost, like a maglev train. They’d follow it down … ‘bonk, zzzzzzzzz.’”

The last few years have seen a lot of young anglers excel on big stages. Some of it is collegiate fishing, some of it is skill with electronics, some of it is networking. A lot of it is time on the water with forward-facing sonar, which may have taught anglers more about bass behavior than every magazine ever printed. Gill is the perfect storm, a passionate young angler who has learned as much about bass in the last few years as many will learn in a lifetime.

“When you spend as many hours watching fish behave in their natural environment as I have, you’re destined to learn a lot about fish behavior, and you’re going to be really good at reading their movements,” said Gill. “I’ve spent a lot of time watching fish, not listening to fishermen or the logic built up in bass fishing lore. I’ve just gone out and watched fish behave, around their food, with the cover they relate to, with the contours they use. When you understand that much about fish, they become pretty predictable.”

Final Standings

1. Drew Gill -- 21-01 (5) -- 22-02 (5) -- 26-03 (5) -- 69-06 (15) -- $80,000

2. Jake Lawrence -- 20-09 (5) -- 23-00 (5) -- 24-06 (5) -- 67-15 (15) -- $50,000

3. Marshall Hughes -- 12-07 (5) -- 38-07 (5) -- 16-06 (5) -- 67-04 (15) -- $20,000

4. Cal Lane -- 21-07 (5) -- 22-02 (5) -- 21-12 (5) -- 65-05 (15) -- $18,000

5. Keith Poche -- 22-12 (5) -- 19-02 (5) -- 23-01 (5) -- 64-15 (15) -- $17,000

6. Nick Hatfield -- 23-06 (5) -- 17-11 (5) -- 21-06 (5) -- 62-07 (15) -- $17,000

7. Mark Condron -- 15-00 (5) -- 17-06 (5) -- 26-13 (5) -- 59-03 (15) -- $15,000

8. Nick LeBrun -- 21-05 (5) -- 17-01 (5) -- 20-03 (5) -- 58-09 (15) -- $14,000

9. Alec Morrison -- 18-10 (5) -- 25-09 (5) -- 13-13 (5) -- 58-00 (15) -- $13,000

10. Ramie Colson Jr -- 19-11 (5) -- 14-07 (5) -- 23-14 (5) -- 58-00 (15) -- $12,000

11. Dillon Harrell -- 17-07 (5) -- 20-15 (5) -- 19-01 (5) -- 57-07 (15) -- $10,000

12. Jordan Wiggins -- 16-05 (5) -- 17-12 (5) -- 20-12 (5) -- 54-13 (15) -- $10,000

13. Jaden Parrish -- 18-08 (5) -- 18-11 (5) -- 17-06 (5) -- 54-09 (15) -- $10,000

14. Andrew Nordbye -- 18-09 (5) -- 16-08 (5) -- 19-07 (5) -- 54-08 (15) -- $10,000

15. Brody Campbell -- 23-05 (5) -- 18-00 (5) -- 12-08 (5) -- 53-13 (15) -- $10,300

16. Matt Becker -- 18-06 (5) -- 19-05 (5) -- 16-01 (5) -- 53-12 (15) -- $10,000

17. Dakota Ebare -- 16-13 (5) -- 18-11 (5) -- 17-07 (5) -- 52-15 (15) -- $10,000

18. Ty Faber -- 17-14 (5) -- 15-12 (5) -- 19-00 (5) -- 52-10 (15) -- $10,000

19. Brock Reinkemeyer -- 24-07 (5) -- 14-01 (5) -- 13-15 (5) -- 52-07 (15) -- $10,000

20. Lane Olson -- 14-01 (5) -- 21-11 (5) -- 15-11 (5) -- 51-07 (15) -- $10,000

21. Cole Breeden -- 14-08 (5) -- 22-04 (5) -- 14-07 (5) -- 51-03 (15) -- $11,000

22. Terry Fisher -- 20-05 (5) -- 12-08 (5) -- 18-06 (5) -- 51-03 (15) -- $10,000

23. Britt Myers Jr -- 16-08 (5) -- 19-12 (5) -- 14-00 (5) -- 50-04 (15) -- $10,000

24. Kelly Jordon -- 15-01 (5) -- 19-07 (5) -- 15-10 (5) -- 50-02 (15) -- $10,000

25. Jacob Walker -- 13-12 (5) -- 19-11 (5) -- 15-00 (5) -- 48-07 (15) -- $10,000

26. Michael Harlin -- 19-11 (5) -- 14-04 (5) -- 14-02 (5) -- 48-01 (15) -- $10,000

27. Rick Harris -- 11-03 (5) -- 20-07 (5) -- 16-04 (5) -- 47-14 (15) -- $10,000

28. Mitchell Robinson -- 21-03 (5) -- 12-08 (5) -- 13-14 (5) -- 47-09 (15) -- $10,000

29. Kyle Hall -- 16-06 (5) -- 16-02 (5) -- 14-02 (5) -- 46-10 (15) -- $10,000

30. Clayton Batts -- 22-01 (5) -- 13-04 (5) -- 10-05 (5) -- 45-10 (15) -- $10,000

The following anglers did not make the cut and did not fish on Day 3

31. Tim Cales -- 16-01 (5) -- 15-08 (5) -- 0-00 (0) -- 31-09 (10) -- $8,000

32. Keith Carson -- 13-04 (5) -- 17-15 (5) -- 0-00 (0) -- 31-03 (10) -- $8,000

33. Travis Harriman -- 17-00 (5) -- 14-02 (5) -- 0-00 (0) -- 31-02 (10) -- $8,000

34. Randy Despino -- 14-10 (5) -- 15-09 (5) -- 0-00 (0) -- 30-03 (10) -- $8,000

35. Cody Ross -- 13-12 (5) -- 16-05 (5) -- 0-00 (0) -- 30-01 (10) -- $8,000

36. Brad Jelinek -- 17-13 (5) -- 12-03 (5) -- 0-00 (0) -- 30-00 (10) -- $8,000

37. Alex Bradley -- 15-02 (5) -- 14-14 (5) -- 0-00 (0) -- 30-00 (10) -- $8,000

38. Colby Miller -- 13-14 (5) -- 16-01 (5) -- 0-00 (0) -- 29-15 (10) -- $8,000

39. Christian Rich -- 14-06 (5) -- 15-08 (5) -- 0-00 (0) -- 29-14 (10) -- $8,000

40. Troy Stokes -- 12-01 (5) -- 17-11 (5) -- 0-00 (0) -- 29-12 (10) -- $8,000

41. Matt Reed -- 12-08 (5) -- 16-15 (5) -- 0-00 (0) -- 29-07 (10) -- $8,000

42. Randy Deaver -- 12-01 (5) -- 17-04 (5) -- 0-00 (0) -- 29-05 (10) -- $8,000

43. Jordan Hirt -- 15-00 (5) -- 14-05 (5) -- 0-00 (0) -- 29-05 (10) -- $8,000

44. Ryan Armstrong -- 12-04 (5) -- 17-00 (5) -- 0-00 (0) -- 29-04 (10) -- $8,000

45. Cody Petit -- 13-06 (5) -- 15-11 (5) -- 0-00 (0) -- 29-01 (10) -- $8,000

46. John Cox -- 10-03 (5) -- 18-12 (5) -- 0-00 (0) -- 28-15 (10) -- $8,000

47. Ethan Greene -- 12-07 (5) -- 16-08 (5) -- 0-00 (0) -- 28-15 (10) -- $8,000

48. Jordan Collom -- 14-08 (5) -- 14-07 (5) -- 0-00 (0) -- 28-15 (10) -- $8,000

49. Jack Daniel Williams -- 15-07 (5) -- 13-06 (5) -- 0-00 (0) -- 28-13 (10) -- $8,000

50. Blake Martin -- 13-02 (5) -- 15-06 (5) -- 0-00 (0) -- 28-08 (10) -- $8,000

51. Kyle Cortiana -- 12-13 (5) -- 15-09 (5) -- 0-00 (0) -- 28-06 (10)

52. Ken Thompson -- 11-12 (5) -- 16-07 (5) -- 0-00 (0) -- 28-03 (10)

52. Robby Lefere -- 16-07 (5) -- 11-12 (5) -- 0-00 (0) -- 28-03 (10)

54. Spencer Shuffield -- 12-12 (5) -- 15-07 (5) -- 0-00 (0) -- 28-03 (10)

55. Dennis Burdette -- 14-09 (5) -- 13-09 (5) -- 0-00 (0) -- 28-02 (10)

56. Cameron Mattison -- 10-01 (5) -- 18-00 (5) -- 0-00 (0) -- 28-01 (10)

57. Hunter Mills -- 12-05 (5) -- 15-09 (5) -- 0-00 (0) -- 27-14 (10)

58. Hunter Eubanks -- 12-07 (5) -- 14-04 (5) -- 0-00 (0) -- 26-11 (10)

59. Colby Dark -- 13-15 (5) -- 12-11 (5) -- 0-00 (0) -- 26-10 (10)

60. Bobby Lane -- 15-01 (5) -- 11-07 (5) -- 0-00 (0) -- 26-08 (10)

61. Tommy Dickerson -- 13-13 (5) -- 12-11 (5) -- 0-00 (0) -- 26-08 (10)

62. JD Chandler -- 13-11 (5) -- 12-06 (5) -- 0-00 (0) -- 26-01 (10)

63. Brett Carnright -- 14-12 (5) -- 11-04 (5) -- 0-00 (0) -- 26-00 (10)

64. Chris Kanute -- 14-05 (5) -- 11-08 (5) -- 0-00 (0) -- 25-13 (10)

65. Chris Groh -- 17-07 (5) -- 8-05 (5) -- 0-00 (0) -- 25-12 (10)

66. Tyler Stewart -- 11-05 (5) -- 14-03 (5) -- 0-00 (0) -- 25-08 (10)

66. Braxton Setzer -- 14-03 (5) -- 11-05 (5) -- 0-00 (0) -- 25-08 (10)

68. Austin Culbertson -- 9-12 (5) -- 15-11 (5) -- 0-00 (0) -- 25-07 (10)

69. Shayne McFarlin -- 12-15 (5) -- 12-06 (5) -- 0-00 (0) -- 25-05 (10)

70. Connor Cunningham -- 12-03 (5) -- 13-00 (5) -- 0-00 (0) -- 25-03 (10)

71. Laker Howell -- 12-08 (5) -- 12-11 (5) -- 0-00 (0) -- 25-03 (10)

72. Taylor Parker -- 9-12 (5) -- 15-06 (5) -- 0-00 (0) -- 25-02 (10)

73. Derik Hudson -- 11-05 (5) -- 13-13 (5) -- 0-00 (0) -- 25-02 (10)

74. Steve Lopez -- 12-00 (5) -- 13-02 (5) -- 0-00 (0) -- 25-02 (10)

75. Adrian Avena -- 12-10 (5) -- 12-03 (5) -- 0-00 (0) -- 24-13 (10)

76. Alex Davis -- 11-02 (5) -- 13-10 (5) -- 0-00 (0) -- 24-12 (10)

77. Flint Davis -- 12-04 (5) -- 12-07 (5) -- 0-00 (0) -- 24-11 (10)

78. Kennie Steverson -- 11-08 (5) -- 13-01 (5) -- 0-00 (0) -- 24-09 (10)

79. Terry Olinger -- 12-14 (5) -- 11-10 (5) -- 0-00 (0) -- 24-08 (10)

80. Jon Canada -- 11-08 (5) -- 12-11 (5) -- 0-00 (0) -- 24-03 (10)

81. Dicky Newberry -- 11-10 (5) -- 12-08 (5) -- 0-00 (0) -- 24-02 (10)

82. Chad Mrazek -- 12-06 (5) -- 11-11 (5) -- 0-00 (0) -- 24-01 (10)

83. Ben McCann -- 9-15 (5) -- 13-13 (5) -- 0-00 (0) -- 23-12 (10)

84. Robert Nakatomi -- 12-00 (5) -- 11-12 (5) -- 0-00 (0) -- 23-12 (10)

85. Evan Barnes -- 12-15 (5) -- 10-06 (5) -- 0-00 (0) -- 23-05 (10)

86. Cody Spetz -- 10-13 (5) -- 12-06 (5) -- 0-00 (0) -- 23-03 (10)

87. Eric Panzironi -- 11-01 (5) -- 12-02 (5) -- 0-00 (0) -- 23-03 (10)

88. Thomas Guthke -- 13-06 (5) -- 9-11 (5) -- 0-00 (0) -- 23-01 (10)

89. Brian Latimer -- 12-15 (5) -- 10-02 (5) -- 0-00 (0) -- 23-01 (10)

90. Jimmy Reese -- 7-01 (4) -- 15-12 (5) -- 0-00 (0) -- 22-13 (9)

91. Todd Walters -- 10-12 (5) -- 12-00 (5) -- 0-00 (0) -- 22-12 (10)

92. Brock Bolden -- 10-15 (5) -- 11-12 (5) -- 0-00 (0) -- 22-11 (10)

93. Destin Lesesne -- 11-10 (5) -- 11-01 (5) -- 0-00 (0) -- 22-11 (10)

94. Shaw Grigsby -- 10-09 (5) -- 12-01 (5) -- 0-00 (0) -- 22-10 (10)

95. Scotty Villines -- 9-00 (5) -- 13-09 (5) -- 0-00 (0) -- 22-09 (10)

96. Spike Stoker -- 9-15 (5) -- 12-07 (5) -- 0-00 (0) -- 22-06 (10)

97. Aspen Martin -- 11-06 (5) -- 10-15 (5) -- 0-00 (0) -- 22-05 (10)

98. Scott Wiley -- 10-14 (5) -- 11-06 (5) -- 0-00 (0) -- 22-04 (10)

99. Paul Elias -- 11-02 (5) -- 10-08 (5) -- 0-00 (0) -- 21-10 (10)

100. James Maupin -- 9-10 (5) -- 11-15 (5) -- 0-00 (0) -- 21-09 (10)

101. Christian Greico -- 11-03 (5) -- 10-02 (5) -- 0-00 (0) -- 21-05 (10)

102. Joe Grafeman -- 10-04 (5) -- 11-01 (5) -- 0-00 (0) -- 21-05 (10)

103. Chandler Brewer -- 11-14 (5) -- 9-04 (5) -- 0-00 (0) -- 21-02 (10)

104. Tom Redington -- 11-15 (5) -- 9-01 (5) -- 0-00 (0) -- 21-00 (10)

105. Thomas Wooten -- 7-12 (5) -- 13-01 (5) -- 0-00 (0) -- 20-13 (10)

106. Matt Baty -- 8-05 (5) -- 12-08 (5) -- 0-00 (0) -- 20-13 (10)

107. Ben Cox -- 10-08 (5) -- 10-05 (5) -- 0-00 (0) -- 20-13 (10)

108. Blake Hall -- 11-00 (5) -- 9-12 (5) -- 0-00 (0) -- 20-12 (10)

109. Charles Abshire -- 8-09 (5) -- 12-00 (5) -- 0-00 (0) -- 20-09 (10)

110. Travis Coleman -- 7-01 (4) -- 13-06 (5) -- 0-00 (0) -- 20-07 (9)

111. Craig Burwell -- 7-10 (5) -- 12-12 (5) -- 0-00 (0) -- 20-06 (10)

112. Jeremy Southerly -- 9-12 (5) -- 10-00 (4) -- 0-00 (0) -- 19-12 (9)

113. Adam Lynn -- 9-15 (5) -- 9-07 (5) -- 0-00 (0) -- 19-06 (10)

114. Bryan McNeal -- 9-03 (5) -- 10-02 (5) -- 0-00 (0) -- 19-05 (10)

115. Mark Fisher -- 10-00 (5) -- 9-03 (5) -- 0-00 (0) -- 19-03 (10)

116. Matt Greenblatt -- 8-07 (4) -- 10-10 (5) -- 0-00 (0) -- 19-01 (9)

117. Jeff Harper -- 8-10 (5) -- 10-07 (5) -- 0-00 (0) -- 19-01 (10)

118. Terry Luedtke -- 8-03 (4) -- 10-11 (4) -- 0-00 (0) -- 18-14 (8)

119. Rusty Salewske -- 9-13 (5) -- 9-00 (5) -- 0-00 (0) -- 18-13 (10)

120. Mike Smola -- 9-06 (5) -- 9-00 (5) -- 0-00 (0) -- 18-06 (10)

121. Bronk McDaniel -- 8-06 (4) -- 9-13 (5) -- 0-00 (0) -- 18-03 (9)

122. Charlie Evans -- 6-09 (4) -- 11-06 (5) -- 0-00 (0) -- 17-15 (9)

123. Darrell Ivey Jr. -- 7-07 (4) -- 10-02 (5) -- 0-00 (0) -- 17-09 (9)

124. Mike Greenwell -- 7-12 (4) -- 9-00 (5) -- 0-00 (0) -- 16-12 (9)

125. David Boelkins -- 10-01 (5) -- 6-08 (3) -- 0-00 (0) -- 16-09 (8)

126. Drew Boggs -- 7-06 (4) -- 8-11 (5) -- 0-00 (0) -- 16-01 (9)

127. Paul Hodges III -- 6-06 (4) -- 9-06 (4) -- 0-00 (0) -- 15-12 (8)

128. Curtis Shaw -- 6-04 (4) -- 8-09 (5) -- 0-00 (0) -- 14-13 (9)

129. Logan Beverung -- 5-04 (3) -- 9-08 (5) -- 0-00 (0) -- 14-12 (8)

130. William Kronander -- 3-09 (2) -- 10-10 (5) -- 0-00 (0) -- 14-03 (7)

131. Tony Muina -- 5-05 (3) -- 8-04 (5) -- 0-00 (0) -- 13-09 (8)

132. Frank Kitchens III -- 7-02 (4) -- 6-03 (4) -- 0-00 (0) -- 13-05 (8)

133. Nick Hargis -- 3-12 (3) -- 9-04 (5) -- 0-00 (0) -- 13-00 (8)

134. Jacob Heath -- 6-11 (4) -- 5-09 (3) -- 0-00 (0) -- 12-04 (7)

135. Joshua McGeary -- 2-05 (1) -- 9-09 (5) -- 0-00 (0) -- 11-14 (6)

136. Robert Grabow -- 1-09 (1) -- 10-01 (5) -- 0-00 (0) -- 11-10 (6)

137. Jeff Bridges -- 11-08 (5) -- 0-00 (0) -- 0-00 (0) -- 11-08 (5)

138. Tim Tyson -- 9-03 (4) -- 1-12 (1) -- 0-00 (0) -- 10-15 (5)

139. Jason Carpenter -- 4-11 (1) -- 6-02 (3) -- 0-00 (0) -- 10-13 (4)

140. Shannon Abbott -- 1-06 (1) -- 9-03 (5) -- 0-00 (0) -- 10-09 (6)

141. Byron Haseotes -- 8-08 (5) -- 1-13 (1) -- 0-00 (0) -- 10-05 (6)

142. Stephen Toth -- 6-04 (3) -- 3-14 (2) -- 0-00 (0) -- 10-02 (5)

143. Wesley Dawson -- 8-10 (5) -- 0-00 (0) -- 0-00 (0) -- 8-10 (5)

144. Scott Lindstam -- 2-06 (1) -- 5-14 (3) -- 0-00 (0) -- 8-04 (4)

145. Tim Sprouse -- 1-14 (1) -- 5-12 (3) -- 0-00 (0) -- 7-10 (4)

146. Brett Haake -- 2-02 (1) -- 3-14 (2) -- 0-00 (0) -- 6-00 (3)

147. Charley Slaton -- 4-13 (2) -- 0-00 (0) -- 0-00 (0) -- 4-13 (2)

148. Dean Cox -- 2-06 (1) -- 2-05 (1) -- 0-00 (0) -- 4-11 (2)

149. Michael Hood -- 3-06 (2) -- 0-00 (0) -- 0-00 (0) -- 3-06 (2)

150. Martin Villa -- 0-00 (0) -- 0-00 (0) -- 0-00 (0) -- 0-00 (0)