BFM_AM2024 | Page 34

“ I ’ ve always tried to be real instinctual with my fishing and let the fish tell me what to do .”
PHOTO BY PHOENIX MOORE

“ I ’ ve always tried to be real instinctual with my fishing and let the fish tell me what to do .”

Despite growing up fishing Lay Lake , it was Connell ’ s fresh approach and instinct that led him to the winning schools of bass .
But the fact that he earned the championship trophy and $ 300,000 first-place prize on one of the fisheries where he ’ d fallen in love with the sport — with his wife , Victoria , James and other family and friends congregating at Beeswax Creek Park to wish him luck every morning and greet him each afternoon — made for Connell ’ s new favorite Coosa River memory .
“ I was a train wreck this morning at the boat ramp ,” he said with a chuckle . “ I looked over and I saw my brother and my mom and all my family there . I was like , gosh , this is tough on me . I was walking through the boat ramp , and I was shook up . Because this lake means a lot to me .
“ It wasn ’ t my favorite , but now it is .”
Searching far and wide for the winning fish
During the nights leading up to REDCREST , Connell couldn ’ t sleep . It wasn ’ t so much that the Clanton , Alabama , native worried about living up to his billing as the pre-tournament favorite — although between his knowledge of the fishery and his recent track record , with five Bass Pro Tour wins in the past three years , he made for an overwhelming favorite .
But Connell recognized what a rare opportunity it would be to fish a championship-level event so close to home . Rarely in the year leading up to the tournament did a day pass without him thinking about his strategy . When he did so , all the different ways and places he ’ d caught Coosa River bass crowded his brain — an oft-cited reason for anglers struggling during competition on a home body of water .
Connell decided he ’ d be best served approaching the tournament with fresh eyes , not trying to replicate past success . With the lake ’ s current and water clarity fluctuating daily and fish on the move for their prespawn-to-spawn transition , he made it a point to run all over the reservoir and try a variety of techniques , not only during the pre-tournament practice period but the two-day Qualifying Round .
“ When I ’ m running down the river , I ’ ve caught ‘ em on so many different places , and I ’ m like , ‘ golly , I need to stop , I need to stop ,’” Connell said . “ But I told myself before I fished this tournament , I said , ‘ I ’ m going to fish this lake like I would
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PHOTO BY PHOENIX MOORE any other one , not run off of history .’ I wanted to fish it brand new . And I did all week . I did really , really good practicing and just trying to find new areas .”
Connell caught most of his fish on Day 1 in what proved to be the most popular area on the 12,000-acre impoundment , a main-lake eddy where schools of spotted bass chased baitfish . But even as he loaded 38 pounds onto SCORETRACKER ® and climbed well inside the 20th-place cut line , he knew he needed to find something new .
“ I don ’ t think this is going to win the tournament ,” he said following the first day . “ I think it ’ s going to fizzle out . But this is a good way to advance , and we ’ re doing just that .”
Needing just another scorable fish or two to advance to the Knockout Round , Connell spent Day 2 with a smorgasbord of rods scattered across his front deck , sampling a bit of everything — using a jighead minnow and forward-facing sonar to target suspended fish , swimming a jig through bank grass , rolling a spinnerbait alongside laydowns , picking apart
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