Connell’s Clutch Catches Carry Him to Championship Round

KISSIMMEE, Fla. – While drama was unfolding near the Elimination Line during Period 3 of the Knockout Round, MLF pro Dustin Connell climbed his way to the top of the SCORETRACKER. Now, he’s getting ready to compete in the first-ever Major League Fishing Bass Pro Tour B&W Trailer Hitches Stage One Championship Round.

Connell finished the day with 14 bass for 49 pounds, 10 ounces, which is 6-12 ahead of Jeff Sprague, who finished second. But Connell wasn’t dominant from the start of the day. The Alabama native was in 36th place with only an hour left in the round and only had hauled in 11-9. He needed a miracle to make it to the Championship Round, and he got one.

“I started on Kissimmee today and wasn’t having any bites,” Connell recalled. “I only caught two there this morning so I left. Finally, at 2:30 I came back to that place I started, and they were there, dude.”

Connell made the decision to move to deeper water offshore, and he used the same bait and the same rod for the rest of his round: a 10-inch Googan Baits Mondo Worm on a Favorite 7:3 Heavy Rush rod. His crunch-time decision making made all the difference.

His run started with a 3-12 with only 59 minutes left in the round. Then, 16 minutes later, a 2-14. Connell then landed 6 bass in 11 minutes weighing a combined total of more than 22 pounds.

“I started fishing a shell bed, and you need sun for an area like that to work,” Connell explained. “Well, they got there and once they did it was on.”

MLF pro Dustin Connell stunned viewers by catching more than 38 pounds in the last hour of the Knockout Round. He caught this 9 pound, 4 ounce bass.

Finally, the monster bite made his day. With 17 minutes left in the round, Connell set the hook on a 9-4, securing his spot in the Championship Round.

“That’s the biggest bass I’ve ever caught in Florida,” Connell said. “When he came up I thought he was a 12-pounder because his mouth was so massive. It was unreal. I was kind of upset we had to leave.”

Connell hopes to carry his hot streak into the Championship Round and walk away with a $100,000 paycheck. However, to do so, he will have to beat out nine other anglers on Lake Garcia, a body of water he has never fished.

“I told myself during practice that I wasn’t going to go down there,” Connell explained. “I said if I make it to the Championship Round I’ll just fish by the seat of my pants. That’s what I’m best at anyway.”

The Top 10 anglers’ weights will reset as they begin Sunday’s Championship Round. Only one angler will walk away with the Stage One trophy and a $100,000 paycheck. Watch MLF NOW! starting at 10 a.m. EST on MajorLeagueFishing.com and the MLF app.

 

Day 5

Rank Angler Total Weight # Fish Avg Weight Largest Fish
1st Dustin Connell 49 – 10 14 3 – 09 9 – 04
2nd Jeff Sprague 42 – 14 24 1 – 13 4 – 08
3rd Takahiro Omori 40 – 09 16 2 – 09 7 – 00
4th Randy Howell 38 – 04 20 1 – 15 4 – 08
5th Alton Jones Jr 33 – 08 19 1 – 12 3 – 11
6th Jordan Lee 33 – 02 20 1 – 11 4 – 03
7th Anthony Gagliardi 32 – 01 18 1 – 12 5 – 00
8th Edwin Evers 31 – 09 20 1 – 09 2 – 15
9th Jared Lintner 31 – 00 17 1 – 13 2 – 10
10th Michael Neal 29 – 13 17 1 – 12 3 – 13
11th Mike Iaconelli 29 – 09 20 1 – 08 2 – 05
12th Bobby Lane 27 – 03 20 1 – 06 2 – 03
13th Andy Montgomery 24 – 08 12 2 – 01 5 – 01
14th Dave Lefebre 24 – 05 15 1 – 10 2 – 14
15th Mark Daniels 24 – 02 13 1 – 14 2 – 09
16th Ott DeFoe 22 – 14 16 1 – 07 2 – 03
17th Greg Hackney 22 – 11 14 1 – 10 3 – 01
18th John Murray 21 – 15 12 1 – 13 3 – 12
19th Terry Scroggins 21 – 07 10 2 – 02 6 – 05
20th Ish Monroe 20 – 13 8 2 – 10 5 – 14
21st Brent Ehrler 20 – 12 10 2 – 01 4 – 01
22nd Gerald Spohrer 19 – 15 11 1 – 13 3 – 07
23rd Marty Robinson 19 – 14 15 1 – 05 2 – 00
24th Adrian Avena 19 – 01 8 2 – 06 3 – 01
25th Brett Hite 18 – 06 6 3 – 01 9 – 12
26th Chris Lane 16 – 14 11 1 – 08 2 – 14
27th Jacob Wheeler 16 – 11 11 1 – 08 2 – 00
28th Jason Christie 16 – 00 6 2 – 11 3 – 15
29th Randall Tharp 15 – 04 8 1 – 15 3 – 00
30th Jacob Powroznik 15 – 00 8 1 – 14 4 – 10
31st Fletcher Shryock 14 – 15 7 2 – 02 3 – 01
32nd Jonathon VanDam 13 – 07 5 2 – 11 4 – 10
33rd Mark Davis 12 – 11 7 1 – 13 3 – 14
34th Brandon Palaniuk 12 – 07 8 1 – 09 2 – 06
35th Alton Jones 10 – 06 7 1 – 08 1 – 13
36th Gerald Swindle 10 – 05 5 2 – 01 4 – 08
37th Aaron Martens 9 – 02 4 2 – 04 4 – 11
38th Brandon Coulter 6 – 07 4 1 – 10 2 – 06
39th Zack Birge 5 – 03 4 1 – 05 1 – 09
40th Kelly Jordon 4 – 06 3 1 – 07 1 – 10