BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – After good fishing on the first two days, the pros put the pedal to the metal in the Knockout Round of Bass Pro Shops REDCREST Powered by OPTIMA Lithium on Lay Lake. On the day, three pros crossed the 50-pound mark, and Nick Hatfield squeaked into the cut with 38 pounds, 14 ounces, which was ounces away from what Nick LeBrun caught in two days to make the Knockout Round earlier in the event.
On Day 3, the story was Alabama’s own Dustin Connell, who had a moderate morning and turned it on in the afternoon to win the round on his home lake. With a 52-15 total, and for sure more in the tank, he’s primed to deliver on his promise as the tournament favorite. Notably, all three of the leaders on Day 2 focused on current, with Gerald Spohrer running spotted bass that were relating to points in the river, Connell running eddies and Ron Nelson fishing the Logan Martin dam.
Today, it’ll be fascinating to see how things shake out – down the lake, there’s a crew of pros beaming up spotted bass in open water. The pros working the current made waves on Day 3, Jesse Wiggins is dialed on spawning spots and Takahiro Omori is catching them winding a vibrating jig in pockets.
The REDCREST Outdoor Expo concludes today at the BJCC, with doors opening at 11 a.m. this morning. At the expo, there are hundreds of giveaways and the free event features over 225,000 square feet of tackle, boats, gear and fun. Also, today you can win a Toyota Tacoma just for being there.
The MLFNOW! live stream will run from 7:20 a.m. to 4 p.m. CT today for full coverage of the championship event.
7:17 Is Connell planning to use the whole lake?
Right out of the gate, the Championship Round is off to a fascinating start. Instead of turning north and going upriver from takeoff, Dustin Connell headed down the lake. In theory, he’s making genius use of his time, relying on the forward-facing sonar bite early, and keeping his riverine play in the bank for later, maybe when it will be best. In practice, it’s a departure from his Knockout Round strategy and will have him making his first casts of the event a pretty good distance from where he left them biting yesterday afternoon. Now, he’s posted up for lines-in right next to Michael Neal.
At least early, it looks like we’re going to see a high-level jighead minnow shootout.
6:55 Ready to roll for the final round
The final day is minutes away, and it looks like another excellent day for fishing. With light winds, and some rain, there’s no deluge in the offing and the temperatures should stay in the 50s and 60s all day. Chillier than the balmy conditions we’ve seen, but not likely to hurt the fishing for spotted bass, though it could cause the largemouth to button up a little.
Currently, the Lay Lake dam is running five generators and the Logan Martin dam is running two – similar conditions to the last few days. The Logan Martin dam is tentatively scheduled to cut back to one generator at 1 p.m. today, which would be a big change on the week and the lowest flow we’ve seen.
At takeoff, things are a little tense with anticipation – $300,000 and a REDCREST trophy will do that. Going out after the win, you could hardly pick a more stacked Top 10, so we should be in for a fun one.
6:45 It would be a “dream come true” for Wiggins
In the Knockout Round, Jesse Wiggins started at an inflow up from Beeswax Landing and then fished for spawning spotted bass with a shaky head down the lake.
According to Wiggins, Dustin Connell is going to be a tough out.
“Connell is the only one I think that has the power to just blow it out,” he said. “He knows the right places where schools of them are in those eddies and stuff. But, if he don’t just blow it out, I think 50 to 60 will win. If he was to hit ‘em like he hit ‘em [yesterday afternoon] in the morning, and he does it all day on several different places, we can’t hang with that. If he don’t, then we’ve all got a chance, I think.”
Regardless, Wiggins is going to stick with his program, and hopefully find a few new fish.
“I didn’t go back to any of the fish I shook off on Day 2, but I did go back to some I caught the first day, just because I had to have some,” he said. “But, I don’t have a ton, I don’t have enough to win just on fish I’ve shook off. Plus, it’s not guaranteed to be a 2-pounder when you shake it off.
“I definitely have to find a couple more stretches that have them, where you pull up and catch five or six. I have one stretch that I caught ten off yesterday, well, eight, and I shook two off. You pull up on two or three of them in a day, and you’ve got a ton of weight.”
Raised on Smith Lake spotted bass, Wiggins is an assassin with a shaky head around the spawn – this is what he’s made for. He knows chances like this don’t come around all the time.
“I don’t even really know how to put it into words,” he said. “This tournament is the closest I’ll probably get in a long time to winning one because I’m doing exactly what I want to do. It gives me a little more confidence. But, to win it, I don’t even know what it would mean, you can’t put it into words, honestly, it’d be a dream come true, Lordy mercy.”
6:30 Hatfield breaks down the final day
A rookie on the Bass Pro Tour, Nick Hatfield qualified for REDCREST thanks to his win in the Tackle Warehouse Invitationals event on the Potomac last summer. There, he fished shallow, with a popper, wacky rig and a swim jig. Now, he’s hanging with the best in the biz and LiveScoping up plump spotted bass left and right.
Fired up to get after them, Hatfield is still somewhat in shock at how good the fishing was in the Knockout Round.
“All week, everything was just about making today,” he said. “We’ve made it, it’s exciting for sure. I’m pumped to go out there. I figured it would take 25 to 30, maybe a hair over 30 to get in. I never would have thought I’d have to catch 38 pounds and some change and I would be the last guy in.”
With that in mind, he thinks it will take some serious weight to win.
“Yesterday morning, I didn’t fish that clean, “he said. “I lost four or five nice ones, before I caught my first one. You add that, and one that I lost late in the day, I should have had another 18 to 20 pounds. So, that would have been really good, almost 60. If I can go out and catch 25 pounds per period, I’ll have a good shot, but I’ll need to stumble on to something.”
Hatfield suspects that Dustin Connell has a lot in the tank, but he thinks handing him the trophy at takeoff would be a little premature.
“Out of all the guys, I think Michael [Neal] has a really good shot at winning this deal,” Hatfield speculated. “He’s doing the same thing, not very far from me, but that group of fish that he’s on, there’s more bait and more of them. Michael [Neal] has quit fishing every day, he fished 20 or 30 minutes in period two yesterday and quit fishing. I think he’s got a shot, I think there are a couple guys that have a legitimate shot going into today. Obviously, Jesse Wiggins, you can’t count him out, but, Ron Nelson’s also got a shot – he’s up there fishing that tailrace. If they do what he needs them to do with the water, who knows what he can catch.”
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