What Gill is watching for at Stop 6
With the Tackle Warehouse Invitationals season wrapping up at Stop 6 Presented by B&W Trailer Hitches at the Detroit River, Mercury pro Drew Gill has elected to sit on the sidelines. Passing up on the opportunity to burn a lot of gas in pursuit of bass and cash, Gill’s absence should free up an additional slot for one of the top five anglers in the standings to make the Bass Pro Tour. One of the more selfless decisions we’ve seen, it means the young pro will be watching with great interest as his friends and peers duke it out to end the year.
So, if you’re turning in for MLFNOW! every day of the event, here’s what Gill will be watching for.
The dynamic between the lakes
Taking out of the Detroit River near Lake Erie, anglers will have a chance to go almost wherever they want in this one. In theory, Erie and Lake St. Clair should be the major players, but there’s no easy option.
“I think this tournament will be won 40 miles from takeoff,” said Gill. “I don’t know which direction.
“The conditions that play into one don’t play into the other,” he added. “When you have wind, Erie is not the place to be. It makes you really inefficient, it makes it hard to adjust if things don’t go your way. Even if you have just one wind day, with how much you have to catch three days in a row there, one is going to be enough to screw up anybody going to Erie.
“If you don’t have wind, Clair is not a fun place to be, as well as the river itself on the weekend. When it’s sunny and slick, those party boaters come out to play, and it turns into a bathtub in a hurry. Good weather in the summer means Clair turns into a mess.”
Considering the distances involved and the high chance of rough water, having your equipment in ideal shape will be key, and some non-fishing factors could swing the results a lot.
“The real interesting variable this week is run time, making it to your fish, catching them and making it back three days in a row,” said Gill. “My focal point this week, honestly, will not be who’s going to catch them and who’s not. It’s who catches them and makes it back on time three days in a row. They’re all probably going to catch them, but who knows if everybody can make it back in time – dead fish penalties and late penalties will be crucial to avoid.”
Points races that will go down to the wire
This year, it’s very likely that the Fishing Clash Angler of the Year will also be the Polaris Rookie of the Year, and the odds are good that it’s either Jake Lawrence or Alec Morrison, who are separated by six points. Beyond the top spot, the top five in the points will make the Bass Pro Tour, and there’s no telling how that will shake out.
“It’s going to be interesting; I’m very much looking forward to seeing how AOY goes down,” said Gill. “Jake has the head start, but Alec is really in his element up there. Last year, it was more settled, even with Ron [Nelson] not on the water the last day, just sweating it out. This year, this isn’t over until one of the two catches a big bag on the final day of the tournament. I think that for this one, AOY won’t be decided until the very end of weigh-in on the last day.”
As far as the rest of the points go, Gill expects all the contenders to keep the hammer down every day.
“In terms of people fishing for points, I don’t think anyone can lay up other than Jake and Alec, and Jake and Alec are fishing for AOY, so they can’t lay up,” he said. “There’s not going to be a whole lot of coasting in going on; you need to fish for a 22 1/2-pound bag every day.”
Outside of AOY, Gill thinks the competition for the fifth spot in the standings is set to be the most interesting.
“Points-wise, Marshall Hughes has to make a decent slip to not stay,” said Gill. “But Colby Miller, Jaden Parrish and Jacob Walker is pretty wide open. I think the focus is on that fifth spot, between Colby, Jacob and Jaden. To be honest, if there’s one thing all three of those individuals specialize in, it’s open water, commit to offshore, shake a minnow. It’s going to be a wide-open minnow-shaking fest for that last spot.
“The story is Jake and Alec for AOY, and who finishes fifth between Colby, Jacob and Jaden, because one of them won’t make it,” he said. “It’s razor thin, and I don’t see any of them having a poor tournament — realistically, I could see Jaden Parrish going out and making a Top 20 to end the season and not make it. The pace they’ve kept has been astonishing, and I’m going to go out on a pretty sturdy limb and say that every single one of them will finish in the Top 35.”
Top 10 in AOY
1. Jake Lawrence – 961 points
2. Alec Morrison – 955
3. Drew Gill – 947
4. Marshall Hughes – 938
5. Colby Miller – 926
6. Jacob Walker – 922
7. Jaden Parrish – 915
8. Nick Hatfield – 902
9. Brody Campbell – 889
10. Cole Breeden – 888
Follow along
You can watch the action from Stop 6 Presented by B&W Trailer Hitches at the Detroit River unfold live on MLFNOW! from 7 a.m. to 2:15 p.m. ET.on MajorLeagueFishing.com and the MyOutdoorTV (MOTV) app, and stay locked to the website for on-the-water galleries, daily stories and more.