Pennsylvania’s Becker wins Costa FLW Series Northern Division tournament on 1000 Islands
Category: press release
Jul 31st, 2017 by OutdoorsFIRST
Modified Jul 31st, 2017 at 12:00 AM
Boater Matt Becker of Finleyville, Pennsylvania, weighed a five-bass limit totaling 25 pounds, 2 ounces, Saturday to win the Costa FLW Series Northern Division tournament on 1000 Islands presented by Evinrude. Becker’s three-day total of 15 bass weighing 66 pounds, 4 ounces, was enough to earn the win and $44,200.
“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 three-day 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 drop-shot 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 one and two I only caught around 15 to 20 today, but they were a lot bigger,” said Becker. “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.”
The top 10 pros on 1000 Islands finished:
1st: Matt Becker, Finleyville, Pa., 15 bass, 66-4, $44,200
2nd: Joseph Fonzi, Gasport, N.Y., 15 bass, 65-11, $17,600
3rd: Chris Johnston, Peterborough, Ontario, Canada, 15 bass, 65-9, $13,000
4th: Kurt Mitchell, Milford, Del., 15 bass, 64-14, $11,000
5th: Timmy Thompkins, Myrtle Beach, S.C., 15 bass, 63-8, $10,300
6th: Power-Pole pro Cory Johnston, Cavan, Ontario, Canada, 62-4, $8,500
7th: Casey Smith, Macedon, N.Y., 15 bass, 61-14, $7,400
8th: Chris O’Brien, Rochester, N.Y., 15 bass, 61-0, $6,400
9th: Ed Casey, Whiteford, Md., 14 bass, 53-5, $5,400
10th: Cal Climpson, Sharon, Ontario, Canada, 15 bass, 49-2, $4,200
A complete list of results will be posted at FLWFishing.com.