By MLF Communications Staff

MASSENA, N.Y. – When he returned to the water Thursday for Group A’s second day of qualifying, Matt Becker never visited a single one of the spots that produced his 100-plus pounds of smallmouth bass on Day 1, instead running all new water on the St. Lawrence River.

The result was more of the same. Becker stacked another 17 scorable bass for 57 pounds, 4 ounces onto ScoreTracker — despite making a clear effort not to catch too many fish from any one spot. That brought his two-day total to 163-11 and kept him atop the leaderboard, 18-14 ahead of Nick Hatfield.

“I definitely feel like I narrowed down the section (of the river) that I want to be in,” Becker said. “I probably added 12, 15 spots to my rotation now, and then eliminated some water as well. So, it was a very productive day.”

It’s no surprise to see Becker’s name atop the standings at an event on northern smallmouth waters. Almost exactly one year ago, he closed his rookie season on the Bass Pro Tour with a win and came from behind to claim the Angler of the Year title on Saginaw Bay. He’s won before on the St. Lawrence, too.

But Becker admitted he’s surprised himself a bit through two days on the water with how he’s catching his bass.

Becker has caught all his smallmouth on casting gear and 15-pound fluorocarbon, primarily wielding a couple of different types of jerkbaits. That’s a stark departure from the norm on clear-water smallmouth fisheries, where spinning gear and light leaders typically dominate.

“I did not see that coming when this tournament was announced,” Becker said.

While Becker didn’t anticipate running the pattern that produced his Qualifying Round win, he did note that he was hoping to utilize heavier line. Doing so allows him to spend less time fighting fish and make more casts throughout the day, which is important in the BPT’s every-fish-counts format.

“I really wanted to catch them on heavier line, whether it was spinning gear with 10- or 12-pound line or baitcasting gear with heavier equipment that I could really fight them a lot harder than with 6- or 8-pound line – you waste a lot of time fighting fish,” Becker explained. “So, I definitely looked for that in practice and kind of came with the game plan of trying to find them on a technique that I could use that heavier line. But I really didn’t expect it to be as good as it is.”

Becker wasn’t shy about saying that, if his bite holds up, he thinks he’s on the fish to win. The problem is that change feels inevitable.

For one thing, smallmouth are known for moving from one day to the next. Plus, with rain from Hurricane Debby arriving Thursday afternoon and forecast to continue through Friday, Becker knows different conditions are likely to greet him when he returns to the water on Saturday.

“There’s no telling what could happen,” Becker said. “Surely it’s going to change things. I hope I have enough experience on the river, and in those sections, I have a lot of other things if that pattern goes away. I feel like I know where the fish would go in those areas. But you just never know.”

That’s part of why Becker believes it was important to add to his repertoire of spots on Thursday. He described himself as “cautiously optimistic” entering the weekend.

“I know that I’m on the deal to win it as of today, but I don’t know if that will change going into the weekend,” he said. “I’ve got no shortage of areas to fish, that’s for sure. But again, you just never know with smallmouth. They could very easily totally change everything by Saturday.”

Here's a look at the number for the 10 anglers from Group A who'll move on to the Knockout Round:

1st: Matt Becker, Ten Mile, Tenn., 47 bass, 163-11
2nd: Nick Hatfield, Greeneville, Tenn., 49 bass, 144-13
3rd: Brent Ehrler, Redlands, Calif., 42 bass, 132-10
4th: Jason Vance, Battle Ground, Ind., 41 bass, 123-14
5th: Jesse Wiggins, Addison, Ala., 42 bass, 122-3
6th: Marshall Robinson, Landrum, S.C., 36 bass, 121-3
7th: Bradley Roy, Lancaster, Ky., 36 bass, 120-14
8th: Jonathon VanDam, Kalamazoo, Mich., 40 bass, 117-1
9th: Marty Robinson, Lyman, S.C., 35 bass, 115-1
10th: John Hunter, Shelbyville, Ky., 36 bass, 113-1

Thursday’s $1,000 Berkley Big Bass Award went to Cliff Crochet, who weighed in a 6-7 largemouth– the biggest bass of the week so far – that he caught in Period 2. Berkley awards $1,000 to the angler who weighs the heaviest bass each day, and another $3,000 bonus to the angler who weighs the heaviest bass of the tournament.

In all likelihood, the season-long race to claim the Angler of the Year crown will come to a close Friday. With both Alton Jones Jr. and Dustin Connell failing to make the Knockout Round in Group A, all Jacob Wheeler has to do in order to claim his third title in the past four years is finish among the top 22 anglers in Group B. He sits 3rd after one day. Should Wheeler prevail Friday, he would not only receive the $100,000 prize but join an elite group of anglers who have won three AOY titles on national tours.



The 39 Anglers in Group A competed in their two-day Qualifying Round on Tuesday and Thursday, with the 39 anglers in Group B on the water on Wednesday and Friday. After each two-day Qualifying Round is complete, the anglers who finish first through 10th from each group advance to Saturday’s Knockout Round.

In the Knockout Round, weights are zeroed and the remaining 20 anglers compete to finish in the Top 10 to advance to Sunday’s Championship Round, when weights are again zeroed and the highest one-day total wins the top prize of $100,000.

Anglers depart at 6:45 a.m. ET each day from the Massena Intake Boat Launch, located at 1415 State Highway 131. Anglers are allowed to trailer to any ramp of their choosing within the fishing boundaries, and competition will begin on the water at 7:30 a.m. Each day’s takeout is held at the launch beginning at 4 p.m.

The MLFNOW! broadcast team of Chad McKee and J.T. Kenney break down the extended action live starting Thursday morning from 7:45 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. ET. MLFNOW! is livestreamed on MajorLeagueFishing.com, the MyOutdoorTV (MOTV) app and Rumble.

The event features anglers competing with a 2-pound minimum weight requirement for a bass to be deemed scorable. The MLF Fisheries Management Division determines minimum weights for each body of water that the Bass Pro Tour visits, based on the productivity, bass population and anticipated average size of fish in each fishery.

Group A Qualifying Round – Day 2

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

1. Matt Becker -- 106-07 (30) -- 57-04 (17) -- 163-11 (47) -- 5-15

2. Nick Hatfield -- 80-06 (26) -- 64-07 (23) -- 144-13 (49) -- 4-07

3. Brent Ehrler -- 77-04 (25) -- 55-06 (17) -- 132-10 (42) -- 5-03

4. Jason Vance -- 60-01 (21) -- 63-13 (20) -- 123-14 (41) -- 4-08

5. Jesse Wiggins -- 56-00 (20) -- 66-03 (22) -- 122-03 (42) -- 4-05

6. Marshall Robinson -- 66-12 (20) -- 54-07 (16) -- 121-03 (36) -- 5-00

7. Bradley Roy -- 47-10 (15) -- 73-04 (21) -- 120-14 (36) -- 5-14

8. Jonathon VanDam -- 60-06 (21) -- 56-11 (19) -- 117-01 (40) -- 4-03

9. Marty Robinson -- 65-05 (19) -- 49-12 (16) -- 115-01 (35) -- 4-11

10. John Hunter -- 53-06 (17) -- 59-11 (19) -- 113-01 (36) -- 5-00

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

11. James Elam -- 58-12 (19) -- 48-10 (14) -- 107-06 (33) -- 4-06

12. Mark Davis -- 70-13 (22) -- 34-02 (12) -- 104-15 (34) -- 4-04

13. Justin Lucas -- 48-04 (17) -- 53-07 (15) -- 101-11 (32) -- 5-10

14. Bobby Lane -- 54-02 (18) -- 47-02 (17) -- 101-04 (35) -- 3-15

15. Cliff Crochet -- 49-03 (20) -- 50-06 (16) -- 99-09 (36) -- 6-07

16. Zack Birge -- 56-02 (18) -- 40-14 (13) -- 97-00 (31) -- 4-04

17. Ott DeFoe -- 42-03 (17) -- 50-14 (17) -- 93-01 (34) -- 4-02

18. Alton Jones Jr. -- 58-00 (20) -- 33-14 (13) -- 91-14 (33) -- 3-10

19. Mark Rose -- 42-06 (15) -- 45-02 (16) -- 87-08 (31) -- 4-03

20. Brent Chapman -- 39-03 (13) -- 43-01 (14) -- 82-04 (27) -- 3-14

21. Dustin Connell -- 50-13 (17) -- 29-14 (10) -- 80-11 (27) -- 4-09

22. Matthew Stefan -- 27-05 (11) -- 52-15 (18) -- 80-04 (29) -- 5-03

23. Kelly Jordon -- 45-06 (16) -- 28-12 (10) -- 74-02 (26) -- 3-15

24. Luke Clausen -- 36-00 (11) -- 34-10 (11) -- 70-10 (22) -- 4-13

25. David Dudley -- 34-06 (11) -- 34-13 (13) -- 69-03 (24) -- 4-08

26. Greg Vinson -- 53-09 (16) -- 12-15 (5) -- 66-08 (21) -- 3-09

27. Jacob Wall -- 37-02 (11) -- 26-14 (10) -- 64-00 (21) -- 3-12

28. Keith Poche -- 28-12 (8) -- 34-08 (11) -- 63-04 (19) -- 4-03

29. Anthony Gagliardi -- 39-05 (10) -- 22-12 (6) -- 62-01 (16) -- 4-11

30. Edwin Evers -- 34-06 (13) -- 25-13 (8) -- 60-03 (21) -- 4-08

31. Boyd Duckett -- 33-09 (11) -- 25-09 (8) -- 59-02 (19) -- 4-05

32. Grae Buck -- 20-11 (6) -- 37-07 (13) -- 58-02 (19) -- 4-10

33. Stephen Browning -- 14-04 (5) -- 43-14 (16) -- 58-02 (21) -- 4-01

34. Dean Rojas -- 35-04 (12) -- 17-09 (6) -- 52-13 (18) -- 3-14

35. Britt Myers -- 12-09 (5) -- 39-11 (13) -- 52-04 (18) -- 5-07

36. Gary Klein -- 27-15 (8) -- 22-10 (8) -- 50-09 (16) -- 3-08

37. Dave Lefebre -- 6-02 (2) -- 43-13 (16) -- 49-15 (18) -- 5-05

38. Scott Suggs -- 15-07 (6) -- 20-02 (7) -- 35-09 (13) -- 4-06

39. Fred Roumbanis -- 17-11 (6) -- 4-13 (2) -- 22-08 (8) -- 2-11