Finleyville man wins Major League Fishing event
COLUMBIA, S.C. – Matt Becker of Finleyville took a five-bass limit to the scale last Sunday weighing 17 pounds, 11 ounces, to hold off a charge from local favorite Anthony Gagliardi and win the four-day MLF Tackle Warehouse Pro Circuit by Bad Boy Mowers, Googan Baits Stop 3 Presented by Favorite Fishing.
Becker’s four-day total of 20 bass weighing 76-5 earned him the victory by a 2½-pound margin over Gagliardi and earned Becker the top prize of $137,500, including the lucrative $35,000 MLF Phoenix BIG5 Bonus.
“This has been years and years in the making,” said an emotional Becker. “I was really beginning to think that I couldn’t win. I’ve always been consistent, near the top of the standings. But I was really starting to doubt that I could win. Just to make a top 10 against this group of hammers is unbelievable. They always say when it’s your time, it’s your time. And man, did I live that this week.”
Becker, the 2018 Tackle Warehouse Pro Circuit Rookie of the Year, started Day 1 of the event with a plan to target docks and sight-fish spawning bass. But, before doing that, Becker slotted in a little time to try a risky timing/herring-spawn pattern, and he ended up never changing. He kept hitting, and re-hitting, as many points as possible knowing that eventually the schools of bass would move shallow to feed.
“The spot I caught them Day 2, I had fished three times before I caught them,” said Becker. “I knew the fish were there, but I rotated through multiple times and never had a bite. Then I came back and they were there and they were eating. I went from zero to 14 pounds in minutes.”
Becker said his key baits throughout the week were a couple of different soft-plastic jerkbaits, with the Googan Baits Dart (Green Gizzard Shad) being his best option.
“All week, the little things just always lined up,” Becker said. “I pulled into a cove and I got this overwhelming feeling I was going to go to the first point and catch a 3½-pounder, and then I’d go to the second point and catch another 3½-pounder. And that’s exactly what happened. That pretty much got me the win.”