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Besides those two, Martin is the only member of the team who competed last year (Connell was originally selected, but he stayed home due to the impending birth of his child). Martin teamed with Logan Parks to capture 8th place in the duos standings.
"I haven't done anything like this (as a competitor) for a long time," said VanDam, "but Scott's been doing it all along and his experience will be valuable.
"Scott and Dakota both have the same electronics sponsor (Garmin), so there's a comfort aspect with that and pairing them kind of made sense."
VanDam, the winningest professional bass angler of all-time, and Connell, a guy who's known for closing out victories when he gets himself in contention, are both high-adrenalin competitors who make on-the-water decisions with conviction.
"I really couldn't make a bad choice," VanDam said. "Collectively, we're all on the same page and everybody feels good about the direction we're headed."
He said all team members have been immersed in doing homework on Hamilton, a 7,400-acre impoundment of the Ouachita River.
"It's very manageable; it's not like going to Toledo Bend or some other giant body of water," he said. "The smaller size makes that part a little easier.
"Still, it's a challenging fishery in and of itself. It doesn't hold a lot of secrets and you're not going to run off somewhere all by yourself and catch a huge bag."
The other 22 nations slated to compete are (in alphabetical order): Australia, Canada, Colombia, Croatia, the Dominican Republic, El Salvador, England, France, Guatemala, Italy, Latvia, Mexico, Namibia, the Philippines, Portugal, Puerto Rico, Romania, Serbia, South Africa, Spain, First Nations – Turtle Island and Venezuela.
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