Matt Becker of Finleyville, Pa. caught a 25-02 bag on Saturday to win the FLW Series Northern Division tournament on 1000 Islands with a 3-day total of 66-04
“Words can’t describe how I’m feeling right now,” said Becker, who earned his first career-victory in FLW competition. “I was just hoping to cash a check, so this is unbelievable.”
Becker said he spent the tournament picking apart two primary stretches of water on Lake Ontario, near Galloo Island. He said he relied on one lure– a Yamamoto Shad Shape Worm on a dropshot rig.
“Of the fish I weighed in this week, each of my areas produced about half of them,” said Becker. “Both locations were 25 to 30 feet deep and had rocky bottoms. Each had a drop that reached 50 to 60 feet of water, but the first spot was steep while the second sloped off more gradually.”
Becker said that each area had a 50- by 50-yard sweet spot that produced more notable catches. Every bass he weighed in was a smallmouth.
“After catching about 50 keepers on days 1 and 2 I only caught around 15 to 20 today, but they were a lot bigger. The key for me was being able to see the fish on my Lowrance electronics during practice. Not every area that had rocks on the bottom had fish out there.”
Here are the final totals for the top 10:
1. Matt Becker: 66-04
2. Joseph Fonzi: 65-11
3. Chris Johnston: 65-09
4. Kurt Mitchell: 64-14
5. Timmy Thompkins: 63-08
6. Cory Johnston: 62-04
7. Casey Smith: 61-14
8. Chris O'Brien: 61-00
9. Ed Casey: 53-05
10. Cal Climpson: 49-02
