By MLF Communications Staff

Dustin Connell caught 22 scorable bass weighing 82 pounds, 2 ounces to best the 38 anglers competing Wednesday in the Knockout Round at the MLF Bass Pro Tour event on Cayuga Lake in Union Springs, N.Y. The final 10 anglers are now set, and competition will resume Thursday with the Championship Round. Weights are zeroed, and the angler who catches the heaviest one-day total will earn the top payout of $100,000.

The Top 8 pros from the Knockout Round who moved on to the Championship Round are:

1st: Dustin Connell, Clanton, Ala., 22 bass, 82-02
2nd: Jacob Wheeler, Harrison, Tenn., 23 bass, 73-03
3rd: Terry Scroggins, San Mateo, Fla., 24 bass, 72-05
4th: Cody Meyer, Star, Idaho, 22 bass, 68-11
5th: Alton Jones, Lorena, Texas, 23 bass, 68-05
6th: Andy Montgomery, Blacksburg, S.C., 23 bass, 68-01
7th: Zack Birge, Blanchard, Okla., 18 bass, 67-04
8th: Dakota Ebare, Brookeland, Texas, 17 bass, 62-02

They’ll be joined by Qualifying Round winners:

Group A: Justin Lucas, Guntersville, Ala.
Group B: Michael Neal, Dayton, Tenn.

“I can’t complain about anything; that was an awesome day,” said Connell, who won a Bass Pro Tour event earlier this year at Alabama’s Lewis Smith Lake. “There wasn’t much wind, it was a beautiful day in New York and the smallmouth were biting, so it feels good. This will be my fourth Championship Round this year and it feels good to be in it and I feel like we’ve got a great chance.

“I set the hook today on a few that I didn’t want to, but I’m glad that I did, just knowing where they were at,” Connell continued. “It gives me confidence in those areas. There are a ton of fish in this lake and I backed off a bunch of areas. There were several places I went to that had 10 to 12 fish on them, and I’d catch one, then leave. But these guys are catching them too, and it all zeroes out tomorrow, so we shall see.”

Like his Qualifying Round, Connell targeted smallmouth with a couple of different dropshot baits and credited his Lowrance electronics as being crucial to his success.

“I was using a (7-foot-2 medium-action) Hex, by Favorite Rods,” Connell said. “It is an awesome dropshot rod, with enough backbone to get those big smallmouth up. I was using 12-pound Seaguar Gold Label, with a straight-shank Googan Baits drop-shot hook and a 3/4-ounce weight with a (Googan) Drag N Drop. I was switching between goby baits and shad baits. Just using my electronics, panning around, finding these smallmouth and catching them.

“I’m looking forward to tomorrow,” Connell went on to say. “I’ve got a good shot. I’m in it. You can’t win it unless you in it. And we’re in it.”

The final 10 anglers will launch Thursday at 7:30 a.m. ET from Frontenac Park, located at 15 Creamery Road in Union Springs.

Also on Thursday, MLF will host a Celebration Event from 4:30 p.m. to 6 p.m. for fans of all ages, inviting fans to come out and celebrate with the anglers from the Bass Pro Tour as they crown the champion of the tournament. Before the celebration, an MLF watch party starts at 1:30 p.m., and the first 50 middle school or high school anglers in attendance will receive a free Abu Garcia rod and reel combo valued at $100. The Championship Round anglers will be on hand at the trophy celebration to meet and greet fans, sign autographs and take selfies.

The event features anglers competing with a 2-pound minimum weight requirement for a bass to be deemed scorable. Minimum weights are determined individually for each competition waters that the Bass Pro Tour visits, based on the productivity, bass population and anticipated average size of fish in each fishery.

The MLF NOW! broadcast team of Chad McKee, Marty Stone and J.T. Kenney break down the extended action each day from 7:45 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. ET. MLF NOW! is livestreamed on MajorLeagueFishing.com and the MyOutdoorTV (MOTV) app.



Knockout Round

(Figure at far right indicates weight of angler's heaviest fish for the round)

1. Dustin Connell -- 82-02 (22) -- 4-09 -- 4-05

2. Jacob Wheeler -- 73-03 (23) -- 4-13 -- 3-13

3. Terry Scroggins -- 72-05 (24) -- 4-07 -- 2-06

4. Cody Meyer -- 68-11 (22) -- 4-04 -- 2-14

5. Alton Jones -- 68-05 (23) -- 4-05 -- 3-02

6. Andy Montgomery -- 68-01 (23) -- 4-04 -- 3-02

7. Zack Birge -- 67-04 (18) -- 6-15 -- 3-12

8. Dakota Ebare -- 62-02 (17) -- 5-06 -- 5-06

The following anglers did not make the cut and will not advance to the Championship Round

9. Britt Myers -- 57-10 (19) -- 4-07 -- 3-00

10. Cliff Pace -- 57-03 (18) -- 5-11 -- 2-01

11. Dylan Hays -- 56-13 (18) -- 4-10 -- 4-10

12. Luke Clausen -- 54-03 (17) -- 5-08 -- 3-06

13. Todd Faircloth -- 54-00 (18) -- 4-01 -- 2-07

14. Jeremy Lawyer -- 53-00 (16) -- 4-09 -- 2-13

15. Fletcher Shryock -- 52-08 (16) -- 5-12 -- 2-08

16. Josh Bertrand -- 51-08 (14) -- 5-02 -- 2-15

17. Jared Lintner -- 49-14 (17) -- 4-01 -- 3-14

18. Matt Lee -- 47-12 (15) -- 4-04 -- 4-04

19. Anthony Gagliardi -- 46-12 (11) -- 5-12 -- 2-13

20. Ott DeFoe -- 44-09 (15) -- 4-08 -- 2-08

21. Jonathon VanDam -- 44-04 (13) -- 5-03 -- 3-04

22. Andy Morgan -- 43-13 (12) -- 6-13 -- 3-01

23. Brent Ehrler -- 42-06 (12) -- 5-03 -- 3-03

24. Fred Roumbanis -- 41-07 (13) -- 4-11 -- 3-01

25. James Watson -- 37-10 (12) -- 4-00 -- 4-00

26. Roy Hawk -- 37-03 (13) -- 3-09 -- 3-03

27. Jordan Lee -- 37-01 (11) -- 5-03 -- 5-03

28. Mark Davis -- 36-01 (10) -- 5-00 -- 2-14

29. Alton Jones Jr. -- 35-10 (11) -- 4-01 -- 2-04

30. Randall Tharp -- 31-10 (10) -- 5-02 -- 4-08

31. James Elam -- 31-09 (10) -- 4-09 -- 2-07

32. Timmy Horton -- 28-12 (9) -- 5-02 -- 3-02

33. Bobby Lane -- 28-07 (8) -- 4-09 -- 2-11

34. Paul Elias -- 28-03 (10) -- 4-06 -- 2-02

35. Adrian Avena -- 28-01 (8) -- 5-04 -- 2-10

36. Mark Daniels Jr. -- 23-02 (6) -- 5-06 -- 2-12

37. Casey Ashley -- 18-11 (5) -- 5-03 -- 5-03

38. David Walker -- 13-07 (5) -- 3-00 -- 2-10