Drew Gill Wins MLF Pro Circuit Championship at Kissimmee, Burroughs Takes NPFL Finale at Dardanelle
Championship weekend delivered two of the most talked-about finishes of the 2026 season, and both came down to a Sunday charge.
On the Kissimmee Chain in Florida, Drew Gill turned a sixth-place Day 1 into a runaway victory at the Tackle Warehouse Pro Circuit Championship, sacking 31 pounds, 13 ounces on the final day for a 75-3 winning total and a $100,000 payday. Up north, Jason Burroughs ground out a $100,000 win at the NPFL season finale on Lake Dardanelle — an event that had to be relocated at the eleventh hour after operational issues forced NPFL out of Lake George, New York.
There was hardware handed out off the water too. Banks Shaw made his second straight 7 Brew Pro Circuit Angler of the Year title official with a solid fourth-place cap in Kissimmee, and KJ Queen clinched the 2026 Work Sharp NPFL Angler of the Year at Dardanelle to hold off Zack Birge in one of the tightest points races in the league's history.
Here's how the week played out — and what it means heading into Bassmaster EQ Norfork this weekend.
Photo by Tyler Brinks / Major League Fishing, used by permission
Drew Gill's Comeback at Kissimmee
The Tackle Warehouse Pro Circuit Championship (Sept 18–20) put the country's best Pro Circuit talent on the Kissimmee Chain of Lakes for a three-day, no-cull final. Gill opened in sixth. On Saturday, he moved up to second with 22-12. On Championship Sunday, he unloaded a 31-13 haul that not only won the tournament but was the biggest bag of the event.
Top 5 — Tackle Warehouse Pro Circuit Championship, Kissimmee Chain
| Place | Angler | Weight | Payout |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Drew Gill (Olney, IL) | 75-3 | $100,000 |
| 2 | Levi Kohl (Edinburg, IL) | 64-15 | $25,000 |
| 3 | Bobby Bakewell (Orlando, FL) | 61-12 | $20,000 |
| 4 | Banks Shaw (Harrison, TN) | 61-1 | $16,000 |
| 5 | Levi Thibodaux (Thibodaux, LA) | 60-8 | $15,000 |
The pattern hinged on discipline. Gill fished a crowded community area on Lake Toho early in the week, but after Day 1 he stepped away — worried the spot would burn out under pressure and unwilling to bank the championship on a shared bite. He committed to secondary peppergrass columns with clean bottom, picked apart individual fish with forward-facing sonar, and let his electronics do the sorting.
The Kissimmee Chain of Lakes at first light — the kind of peppergrass and eelgrass edges Gill worked on Championship Sunday.
His workhorse was a 7-inch Big Bite Baits Nekorama in matte margarita on a drop-shot, backed up with a larger urchin-style plastic rigged on two single hooks when the bigger fish showed themselves on screen.
"The community hole was sketching me out — eventually, it was going to give out. I wasn't going to beat Levi enough there." — Drew Gill
This is Gill's sixth career MLF win and his third major victory of 2026 — putting him firmly in the "hottest angler in the game right now" conversation heading into REDCREST 2027, which he's now automatically qualified for as Pro Circuit Champion.
Banks Shaw's Back-to-Back AOY
The Angler of the Year race was decided before the boats ever launched in Florida. Banks Shaw locked up his second straight 7 Brew Pro Circuit AOY title back on Lake Champlain in late July at Stop 6 — well before Kissimmee — and his fourth-place finish at the Championship was really more of a coronation than a comeback.
Photo by Tyler Brinks / Major League Fishing, used by permission
Shaw joins an exclusive club of anglers who've won back-to-back Pro Circuit AOY titles. The 2026 title also came with a lock on his Bass Pro Tour promotion for 2027 (already secured earlier in the year via performance) and reinforces what MLF insiders have been saying for two years: Shaw is one of the most consistent, well-rounded sticks in the sport, equally at home on offshore ledges and in shallow grass.
NPFL Season Finale Moves to Dardanelle — Burroughs Wins, Queen Clinches
The NPFL's season-ending Stop 6 was originally scheduled for Lake George, New York — a first-time visit that generated real anticipation for the smallmouth/largemouth mixed bag. Late in the planning cycle, unresolved logistical and operational issues with the host site forced NPFL President Brad Fuller to relocate the event to Lake Dardanelle, Arkansas, on the same Sept 17–19 dates.
The move didn't dull the fireworks. South Carolina's Jason Burroughs ran a bladed-jig pattern early, then committed fully to a SPRO Kicking Frog worked fast through a narrow channel cutting a lily pad field. On the final day he sacked 19-2 — the biggest bag of the tournament — to leap from fourth to first.
A narrow channel through a lily pad field — the exact water type that produced Burroughs' winning bag on Championship Sunday at Dardanelle.
Top 5 — NPFL Stop 6, Lake Dardanelle
| Place | Angler | Weight |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Jason Burroughs (SC) | 52-6 |
| 2 | Ray Hanselman (Del Rio, TX) | 49-5 |
| 3 | Scott Suggs | 48-13 |
| 4 | Brock Mosley | 48-5 |
| 5 | Hunter Sales | 47-7 |
Burroughs picked up the standard $100,000 stop winner's check and secured a berth in the $500,000 Ultimate Angler Championship.
The AOY story belonged to KJ Queen, who came into Dardanelle with a narrow lead over Zack Birge in the Work Sharp AOY standings. Queen finished 16th with 40-10 — enough consistency to slam the door and hoist the 2026 NPFL Angler of the Year trophy.
What's Next: Bassmaster EQ Norfork
The Elite Series is done for 2026 (Evan Kung's record 109-9 St. Lawrence finale and Trey McKinney's youngest-ever AOY are already in the books). This weekend, all eyes shift to the Bassmaster Opens EQ presented by Toyota on Norfork Lake in Arkansas (Sept 23–25).
Norfork is the second-to-last EQ event of the season, and Classic berths are on the line for the top finishers in the standings — meaning we'll likely see a mix of established Elites protecting their spots and hungry Opens grinders trying to punch a ticket to the biggest stage in the sport.
Expect a mixed-species bag: Norfork holds largemouth, smallmouth, and Kentucky/spotted bass, with clear water and steep bluff structure that reward finesse anglers and forward-facing sonar operators alike.
FAQ
Q: Who won the 2026 MLF Pro Circuit Championship at Kissimmee? A: Drew Gill of Olney, Illinois, won with 75 pounds, 3 ounces over three days, earning $100,000 and automatic qualification for REDCREST 2027.
Q: Who won the 2026 Pro Circuit Angler of the Year? A: Banks Shaw of Harrison, Tennessee, clinched his second straight 7 Brew Pro Circuit AOY title. He wrapped up the points title at Stop 6 on Lake Champlain in July and finished 4th at the Kissimmee Championship.
Q: Why did the NPFL move its season finale from Lake George to Lake Dardanelle? A: NPFL President Brad Fuller announced the relocation due to unresolved logistical and operational issues with the Lake George host site. The event ran on its original Sept 17–19 dates at Lake Dardanelle, Arkansas.
Q: Who won the 2026 NPFL Angler of the Year? A: KJ Queen clinched the 2026 Work Sharp NPFL Angler of the Year title at Dardanelle, finishing 16th at the finale with 40 pounds, 10 ounces — enough to hold off Zack Birge in a tight points race.
Q: What tournament is next on the pro schedule? A: The Bassmaster Opens EQ presented by Toyota heads to Norfork Lake, Arkansas, Sept 23–25 — the second-to-last EQ event of the season with Bassmaster Classic berths on the line.
Sources
- Gill does it again, wins Pro Circuit Championship on Kissimmee Chain — Major League Fishing
- Illinois' Drew Gill Wins Tackle Warehouse Pro Circuit Championship — The Bass Cast
- Shaw slams the door on second straight 7 Brew Angler of the Year — Major League Fishing
- Burroughs Grinds Out the Win at Dardanelle — The Bass Cast
- NPFL Stop 6 Moving to Lake Dardanelle — The Fishing Wire