EDENTON — Drew Gill of Mount Carmel, Illinois, is $100,000 richer after fishing the waters around Edenton for a week.
In less than two hours, he sealed the championship, taking in another 10 bass totaling 31 pounds 12 ounces, bringing his final score to 58 pounds total with an average weight per fish of 14 pounds.
The Edenton competition, officially the U.S. Air Force Stage Five on the Chowan River presented by WIX Filters, began on Tuesday, June 4, and ended on Sunday.
The other top 5 finishers in Sunday’s championship round were Michael Neal, who caught 18 bass for a total of 44 pounds, 14 ounces, and won a $45,000 prize; Dustin Connell, who caught 20 bass for a total of 41 pounds, 14 ounces, and won $38,000; Jacob Wheeler, who caught 12 bass for a total of 36 pounds, one ounce, and won $32,000; and Justin Lucas, who caught 12 bass for a total of 31 pounds, four ounces, and won $30,000.
Gill is a rookie on Major League Fishing’s Pro Bass Tour, qualifying for competition last year. He felt lucky to be competing in a Pro Bass Fishing competition, he said.
“All I’ve wanted for the last few years was just to make it to this field and compete against these guys,” he said. “To make it to this field and get to compete against them and get a win in my rookie season, the feeling is unquantifiable.”
Gill said he knows he’s competing in a county where every second household has a bass boat and understands that half the men in Edenton dream of getting paid to fish. But he said fishing on waters like the Chowan River keeps the job from growing stale.
“It stays fun when you’re on a good fishery like the Chowan River,” he said. “Over time, it becomes work… It’s like working in a certain place we go, but this is like a fishing vacation. It’s one of those times I enjoyed myself.”
Gill described the Chowan River fishery as a solid eight out of ten, producing plenty of big fish and possessing a solid population. He rated the town as “twenty out of ten,” saying the “community is unbelievable. They have come out for us in force.”
He said the quality of the fishing in Chowan is due to several factors.
“There was a good baitfish population in that area,” Gill explained. “The water fell a little bit today, and any time you’re fishing out in front of a major tributary, and the water falls, you’re going to gain a population. And man, it was textbook; the fish were a little more grouped up per piece of cover, and the more you had on a single piece of cover, the more likely you were to get bit.”
Of course, just about every angler in Chowan County would like to get a fishing tip from a $100,000 pro bass fisherman, so here it is:
“You’re dealing with a big cypress swamp here. Narrow your search,” he said. “Where there’s a piece of cover that’s far away from the other pieces of cover, that becomes a place with a far higher percentage of strikes. So, when you’re running around, if you see a tree standing all by itself, pull over and start fishing. You might not regret it.”
Major League Fishing is the world’s largest tournament-fishing organization, producing more than 250 events annually at some of the most prestigious fisheries around the globe while broadcasting via CBS, The Discovery Channel, Outdoor Channel, CBS Sports Network, World Fishing Network, and on-demand on MyOutdoorTV (MOTV).
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