By John Johnson
BassFan Senior Editor
Winning your Qualifying Round is usually a desired outcome at an MLF Bass Pro Tour event, as it ensures a Top-10 finish after just 2 days on the water and secures a berth in the Championship Round. However, skipping the Knockout Round isn't always the best thing that can happen.
Dustin Connell's victory in the recent event at Lewis Smith Lake in Alabama is a case in point.
Had Connell won his Qualifying Round (he was a member of Group B), he never would've discovered the loaded-up ledge that he exploited in the finals, when he caught 33 scorable fish for 71-02 to defeat runner-up Jordan Lee by 15 pounds.
"The Knockout Round, I kind of used that day to my advantage," said Connell. "It's normally good to be on something on the Qualifying days, but things change quickly in 3 or 4 days and we had water that was falling, warming up and moving through the system. It was a blessing that I didn't win that round."
It was the second BPT victory for the 31-year-old from Clanton, Ala., and both have occurred in his home state. He topped last year's REDCREST Championship at Lake Eufaula.
"I've had plenty of opportunities to get one of those regular-season trophies – this was the seventh time I've made the Championship Round – but things had fizzled out on me on the final day. It feels good to get one because they're hard to come by."
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Connell's winning area was a ledge in close proximity to the dam. The water was in the 30- to 35-foot depth range and he estimated the sweet spot to be about the size of an average car.
It was a staging area where spotted bass were feeding up in preparation for the spawn. Current generated by Alabama Power pulling water through the dam was bringing baitfish toward the spots and they'd rise up and pick them off whenever they pleased.
The water there was a still-chilly 52 or 53 degrees, whereas it had risen 10 degrees higher in the backs of some of the pockets.
Fish could be caught while they were sitting on the bottom, but the process was much easier if they were up higher in the water column.
Connell caught approximately 60 fish in the Championship Round, about half of which were scorable.
"It was pretty methodical," he said. "I had to give them some space – I couldn't get on top of them. If I pulled the school away from the rock ridge, they'd bust up and I had to give them a little while to get set back up again."
As far as he could tell, no other competitor exploited that ridge during the event. His Lowrance ActiveTarget sonar showed that it was harboring at least 100 fish – maybe 150. He caught at least 60 in the Championship Round an approximately half of them met or exceeded the 1 1/2-pound minimum weight requirement.
He employed a dropshot rig with several shad-imitating offerings, including a Googan Baits Drag N Drop. He used Favorite Fishing Hex rods (7'2" medium-heavy and 6'10" medium), a main line of 15-pound Seaguar Smackdown braid with a 12-pound Seaguar Gold Label leader (7 to 8 feet), 3/8- and 1/2-ounce Googan dropshot weights and a size 1 hook.
He used the dropshot to catch fish off of points during the early portion of the Knockout Round before finding his hot spot. He concluded that round in 4th place with a 17-fish, 34-04 haul.
He finished 14th in the Group B Qualifying Round with 17 fish for 36-12. He amassed the vast majority of those numbers on the first day (13, 29-06).
He primarily fished docks during the Qualifying Round, with a Googan Baits Lunker Log attached to a size 1 Googan Wacky Rig Hook as his main offering.
Notable
> Connell said his MillerTech Lithium Batteries were a critial component in his success. "I sat in the same spot for 3 hours at one point and the batteries stayed strong the whole time. That was a big deal."
