Mitchell Forde
BASS PRO TOUR Press Release
MANY, La. — As the second period of the Championship Round ticked away at B&W Trailer Hitches Stage One presented by Power-Pole, Dustin Connell felt his lead slowly slipping away. The Alabama native had gotten off to a hot start, catching nearly 40 pounds of Toledo Bend bass in the first period and claiming the top spot on SCORETRACKER®. But around 1 p.m., his bite fizzled, and the field slowly chipped away. At one point, Zack Birge got within one scorable bass of the lead.
So, Connell ran to a new spot, one he hadn’t visited since the Qualifying Round. On his first cast of Period 3, he hooked into a 4-pounder. In that moment, the match met the proverbial fuse, sparking an epic display of fireworks.
During the two-hour final period, Connell boated a whopping 20 scorable bass weighing 58 pounds, 6 ounces, bringing his total for the day to 112-4 on 36 fish. In the end, he blew away the field, finishing 44-2 clear of runner-up Spencer Shuffield, who couldn’t quite recapture his Knockout Round magic. Drew Gill finished third in his Bass Pro Tour debut with 19 bass weighing 66-8.
“I looked for something like this all week,” Connell said. “And I can’t believe that it happened.”
Connell’s total marked the biggest day for any angler during the event — despite the Championship Round being shortened by 30 minutes due to a 1-hour, 45-minute fog delay. The win marks his fifth Bass Pro Tour victory and his third straight in regular-season events contested with every-fish-counts scoring. He also won the final two tournaments of the 2022 season.
Connell will take home $100,000 for the win, plus an extra $1,000 for boating the Berkley Big Bass of the day — a 7-14. Cliff Crochet’s 11-1 lunker caught on the first day of the event earned him $3,000 as the Berkley Big Bass for the tournament.
Here’s how the Top 10 anglers finished the Championship Round:
Dustin Connell — 112-4 (36 bass)
Spencer Shuffield — 68-2 (22)
Drew Gill — 66-8 (19)
Jacob Wheeler — 60-15 (18)
Zack Birge — 60-3 (19)
Martin Villa — 60-3 (21)
Alton Jones Jr. — 50-10 (19)
Justin Cooper — 48-6 (15)
Jesse Wiggins — 42-11 (15)
Matt Becker — 28-11 (10)
Ever since the BPT schedule was unveiled for 2024, Connell has had his eye on Toledo Bend. Given the late-winter timing of the event, he figured it would suit his strengths — namely, finding schools of fish with forward-facing sonar. And after failing to make a Championship Round during the 2023 regular season, he was hungry to get back in the Top 10.
