It might be a little bit of a stretch to expect Drew Gill and Ott DeFoe to dominate this year's edition of the Black Bass World Championship in the manner that they did last year's event at Arabie Dam in South Africa.
On the other hand, that possibility shouldn't be discounted.
"One thing I know is I'll be fishing with the best 'scoper in the world," DeFoe said in reference to his boatmate's otherworldly ability to utilize forward-facing sonar. "This one's in a different hemisphere and it's a lot closer to home, and I think we'll have a lot of confidence going in."
The event will take place Oct. 1-3 at Lake Hamilton in Arkansas. Team USA will defend its 2025 gold medal against representatives from 22 other nations on a venue that's home to a significant population of hefty largemouths, but can be a tough puzzle to solve at this time of year.
The other two American pairings are Kevin VanDam/Dustin Connell and Scott Martin/Dakota Ebare. VanDam is also the team's coach and Scott Martin team captain.
DeFoe and Gill caught the the biggest bags on each of the final two days last year to spearhead the Team USA triumph and also claim the separate gold medal as the top-performing duo.
Gill carries not only the reputation for being perhaps the game's top practitioner of FFS, but also some serious momentum. He won the MLF Pro Circuit Championship at Florida's Kissimmee Chain over the weekend, catching a 31-3 final-day bag to prevail by more than 10 pounds.
He also won the MLF Bass Pro Tour season opener at Lake Guntersville and finished 7th in the final Angler of the Year standings. DeFoe, as steady as ever, was 13th in the BPT points with Top-12 finishes in four of the seven derbies.
DeFoe has only a few days' worth of experience at Hamilton and Gill will be on his maiden visit. The fishery has changed somewhat over the past couple of decades, with more 7-plus-pound kickers showing up to boost the standard bags primarily composed of 2- to 2 1/2-pounders.
"Way back when, the 2 1/2-pounders were the kickers," DeFoe said. "Now you see some 18- to 20-pound bags, but they'll have a 9-pounder. There doesn't seem to be a lot of the mid-range fish.
"Scoping might end up being the way to catch a (five-fish) limit or it might be the way to catch big fish – we'll have to figure that out when we get there. I honestly don't care whether we scope or don't scope. We're going to have a well-rounded program and we'll be capable of doing different things."
Gill sounds equally confident, if not moreso.
"We feel pretty strongly that the ball's in our court and if we botch it, it's on us," he said. "We should have a good week and I like our odds.'
"One big difference between us and a lot of the other countries is our fisheries get heavy pressure and with this being a hard time of the year, it's going to be a challenging event. We know how our fisheries react to seasonal changes and what the fish do, and that's a pretty big advantage."
He believes that FFS will play a major role for the teams that end up at or near the top of the standings. His pre-event preparation has involved very little study of the results of past tournaments, instead focusing on Navionics mapping and Google Earth images of the lake to categorize the various structure types.
"Hamilton is a residentially developed lake and there's a lot of hard cover to sift through. It doesn't have the heavy vegetation presence that some other places do. A lot of the fish will be suspending or relating to isolated objects off the bank.
"This is a hard time of the year to be competitive if you're just blindly going down the bank."
RANGER BOAT GIVEAWAY
Join the crowds at the Oaklawn Outdoors Show and enter to win a Free Ranger Model Z51. Sign up at the Ranger booth.
Giveaway drawing right after Arena Weigh-in.
Must be present to win.
Sunday, Sep 27, 2026
12:00 PM - 3:00 PM Meet & Greet the Nations at Bass Pro Shops
USA Bass Team will be present signing autographs and jerseys
Bass Pro Shops Little Rock
1 Bass Pro Dr, Little Rock, AR 72210
Thursday, Oct 1, 2026
Noon - 7:00 PM Oaklawn Outdoors Show
Noon - 7:00 PM Paw Patrol Boat
5:45 PM - 6:15 PMMeet Paw Patrol's Skye and Marshall
Hot Springs Convention Center
Friday, Oct 2, 2026
Noon - 7:00 PM Oaklawn Outdoors Show
Noon - 7:00 PM Paw Patrol Boat
5:45 PM - 6:15 PM Meet Paw Patrol's Skye and Marshall
Hot Springs Convention Center
Saturday, Oct 3, 2026
9:00 AM - 4:00 PM Oaklawn Outdoors Show
9:00 AM - 4:00 PM Paw Patrol Boat
3:00 PM - 4:00 PM Meet Paw Patrol's Skye and Marshall
Hot Springs Convention Center
4:00 PM - 5:00 PM The Frontmen Country Music Concert
OZK Arena
5:00 PM - 6:00 PM Arena Weigh-In & Medal Ceremony
OZK Arena
6:00 PM Ranger Boat Giveaway
OZK Arena
The Frontmen
LIVE & FREE TO PUBLIC
Saturday, Oct 3, 2026 4:00 PM
OZK Arena Hot Springs, AR
The Frontmen of Country,Richie McDonald (formerly of Lonestar), Larry Stewart (of Restless Heart) and Tim Rushlow (formerly of Little Texas).
Welcome to the world of legendary harmonies, electrifying performances, and timeless country classics. A powerhouse trio comprised of three iconic voices that have shaped the very fabric of country music.
Powerhouse hitsperformed by the Frontmen of Country include Restless Heart classics, "The Bluest Eyes in Texas," "That Rock Won't Roll," "I'll Still Be Loving You" and "Why Does It Have to Be (Wrong or Right). Lonestar smashes such as "Amazed," "Smile," and "I'm Already There," plus Little Texas hits including "God Blessed Texas," "Amy's Back in Austin," and "What Might Have Been." These songs and many others included in their shows are the soundtrack of a generation.