BIRMINGHAM, Ala. -- Dustin Connell of Clanton, Ala., caught his first bass on Lay Lake as a child, laying the foundation to catch 28 on Sunday to win his second Redcrest Bass Fishing Championship.
Connell won $300,000 for the victory, followed by Alton Jones, Jr., who weighed 19 fish that registered 52-2. Ron Nelson finished third with 12 fish that weighed 39-9, followed by Takahiro Omori (13/36-11), Jesse Wiggins (12/32-8), Jacob Wheeler (11/29-13), Gerald Spohrer (11/29-9), Cole Floyd (10/25-15), Nick Hatfield (9/24-2) and Michael Neal (7/18-1).
Connell, who won Saturday's knockout round by 1 ounce over Spohrer to advance to the championship round, started slowly on Sunday. When he found his gear, he left the rest of field gasping. His 28 bass weighed 83 pounds, giving him a nine-fish, 31-pound margin of victory over Jones, who finished second in the Redcrest for the second straight year.
"That's really not a hard pill to swallow when you get beat by 30 pounds," Jones said. "If I'd lost by five, there would probably be fish in my mind that would haunt me. It's a great finish. Hopefully my time will come to win one."
When Connell made his move in the second period, he continued to pad his lead at a pace that convinced the other nine finalists that they were fishing for second place. Major League Fishing's Scoretracker feature kept him abreast of his lead, but he said he didn't rest easy until the last 30 minutes of the tournament.
"Y'all didn't see this, but when I hit 28 minutes, I was shook up," Connell said. "I couldn't make good casts. I was all emotional, but I knew they're not going to catch a 30-pound deficit. I kept telling myself, 'You don't have a lead at all.' I put it in my head they're right on my tail because I knew how fast this game can change. Somebody might pull up with a crankbait and catch 10 in a row. So, I kept working until the last five minutes."
Although he said he prefers fishing other lakes, Connell said he's very much at home fishing any of the Coosa River reservoirs, which are known for their big spotted bass.
"This lake wasn't really my favorite, but now it is," Connell said.
Although a local angler is often favored to win big tournaments on their home waters, they seldom do. Connell said that familiarity with a water can actually be detrimental to an angler in a big tournament because it's too easy to fish from memory instead of fishing the moment.
"I came into this tournament really trying to fish brand new," Connell said. "I didn't want to run on past history, and it was very hard for me because I would look over and say, 'I need to stop there and do this. No, they ain't doin' that right now.'
"I had some areas up the lake that were really, really good. I was debating driving 35 miles up there. I had a shoal where I had some big 'spots' on. I told myself, 'Don't go try to find them. Just catch them here.' And that's what I did."
Connell is one of only a few anglers to win more than one world championship. Kevin VanDam and Rick Clunn each won four Bassmaster Classics. George Cochran of Hot Springs, Bobby Murray of Hot Springs, Hank Parker, Hank Cherry and Jordan Lee won two.
Connell is the only two-time world champion in Major League Fishing or in any of its forerunners dating to the 1980s, including Fishing League Worldwide (FLW) and Operation Bass.
"I tried to let it soak in today while I was on the water, but I'm always focused on the task at hand," Connell said. "My first one [2021] was a little iffy because it was covid. It was a little more throwed together because we had the ice storm. This was the big show. This was the one I really wanted. The first one was great, and I loved it, but it wasn't the full experience. It's really sweet to have this one right now."