CULLMAN, Ala. – For the second time in two years, Alabama is “home sweet home” for MLF pro angler and 2021 REDCREST Champion Dustin Connell of Clanton, Alabama, who caught a total of 33 bass weighing 71 pounds, 2 ounces during Monday’s Championship Round to take home the big, red trophy and $100,000 at the Favorite Fishing Stage Three on Lewis Smith Lake Presented by Mercury in Cullman, Alabama. This was Connell’s second major national win in his home state, the first being REDCREST 2021 on Lake Eufaula, in Eufaula, Alabama.
Monday marked the seventh time Connell has qualified for the Championship Round on the MLF Bass Pro Tour. The MLF NOW! broadcast team coined the Alabama pro “Connell the Conqueror” – a moniker that just may stick after battling it out with a star-studded field of fierce competitors and a headliner list of some of the best in the business.
Connell said he felt blessed to be able to find his honey-hole on Lewis Smith Lake and that everything lined up the way it did on the final day.
“I rolled in here during the afternoon of the Knockout Round. When I saw the fish and the opportunity in here my adrenaline started rushing and I thought, ‘Oh my goodness – this is the winning spot’,” Connell said. “I knew if I could make it into the Championship Round, it could happen. I woke up this morning and told my wife and my camera guy Brett, ‘It could happen today.’
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