Reigning Angler of the Year catches 30 smallmouth weighing 106-7 to take 26-pound lead in Group A – Group B to begin competition Wednesday
MASSENA, N.Y. (Aug. 6, 2024) – High expectations greeted the Bass Pro Tour field as it launched onto the St. Lawrence River for Minn Kota Stage Seven Presented by Humminbird. During the first day of qualifying for Group A, the famed smallmouth factory didn’t disappoint.
Fish hit SCORETRACKER® in both impressive size and numbers, with 16 anglers eclipsing the 50-pound mark. Leading the charge was reigning Fishing Clash Angler of the Year Matt Becker of Ten Mile, Tennessee, who landed 30 scorable smallmouth for 106 pounds, 7 ounces — easily enough to claim the top spot on the leaderboard, 26-2 ahead of pro Nick Hatfield of Greeneville, Tennessee, in second place.
“This place is incredible,” Becker said of the St. Lawrence River. “Just the amount of smallmouth in there is absolutely insane.”
Link to Photo Gallery of Group A’s Day 1 Qualifying Round Highlights
With the Bass Pro Tour’s every-fish-counts scoring format bringing a unique wrinkle to this popular tournament venue, one of the primary questions competitors had to answer was how much to prioritize quantity of bass versus quality.
Becker went ahead and led the way in both categories. Not only were his 30 scorable bass the most caught by any angler Tuesday, he also earned an extra $1,000 by catching quality – namely a 5-pound, 8-ounce smallmouth that earned him the Berkley Big Bass on the day. That was one of nine smallmouth he boated that weighed at least 4 pounds.
With bites not hard to come by for most of the field, Becker said searching for bigger fish was central to his strategy.
“That’s kind of what I focused on, I wanted to catch that better quality,” he said. “You’re going to always get the bites, but if you’re around that better quality, you can rack up the weight in a hurry. So, that’s what I kind of focused on was areas where I know I can get a little bit better quality, and it worked out perfect today.”
Becker triggered the fish in those areas by “doing things a little bit different” than most of his competitors. While he didn’t want to reveal many details, he said he stumbled on this presentation during a past Toyota Series event on the St. Lawrence and expanded on it during practice. He thinks standing out from the heavy tournament traffic on the river helped generate some of those bigger bites.
“It’s a really, super unique deal, and I really don’t think anybody else is fishing the way I am as far as presenting their bait,” Becker said. “So, I’m excited about it, for sure.”
Becker started the day strong, racking up 23-5 on eight fish in the first hour after lines in. After hovering near the top of the standings for the rest of the morning, he separated himself from the pack with a furious flurry between 12:50 and 1:50 p.m. During that hour (which included a 15-minute period break), Becker boated nine fish totaling 36-11.
“It was the right place at the right time, and it was fresh — nobody had fished there yet today,” he said. “I could pretty much call my shot for about that hour there. And there was a lot more there with them that, once I caught a couple, they kind of got spooked. So, I’m definitely excited about revisiting some of those areas.”
With more than 50 pounds between his total and that of 11th-place angler Oklahoma pro Zack Birge, Becker plans to use Group A’s second day of qualifying to explore new water. He thinks having that opportunity will be important as he tries to keep tabs on the river’s dynamic brown bass.
“In my experience on this river, the fish are constantly changing, so staying on top of them is really key,” he said. “I felt like I was pretty dialed in today, but two days from now or by the weekend for the Knockout Round, things could be totally different.”
With his spots in REDCREST 2025 and Heavy Hitters now assured, Becker has adopted a win-or-bust mindset for the regular-season finale. He knows how to close the season with a flourish, having won both Stage Seven on Saginaw Bay and clinched the Angler of the Year award in the final event of 2023. He’s also won a Toyota Series event that launched out of the St. Lawrence in 2017.
That experience combined with his strong start has him cautiously optimistic about his chances of contending for a second straight walk-off win.
“I’m as confident as ever with this place and what I’m doing,” Becker said. “I feel like I have it really dialed in right now, and I could literally just call my shot today. But, like I mentioned, the smallmouth like to change. These Northern fisheries, they have such a short summer that one week of time is a huge amount of time in their summer pattern, so things change really fast. But I feel good about today, and I feel like I have enough experience here that I should be able to make the right adjustments going into the weekend.”
The top 20 pros in Group A after Day 1 on the St. Lawrence River are:
1st: Matt Becker, Ten Mile, Tenn., 30 bass, 106-7
2nd: Nick Hatfield, Greeneville, Tenn., 26 bass, 80-6
3rd: Brent Ehrler, Redlands, Calif., 25 bass, 77-4
4th: Mark Davis, Mount Ida, Ark., 22 bass, 70-13
5th: Marshall Robinson, Landrum, S.C., 20 bass, 66-12
6th: Marty Robinson, Lyman, S.C., 19 bass, 65-5
7th: Jonathon VanDam, Kalamazoo, Mich., 21 bass, 60-6
8th: Jason Vance, Battle Ground, Ind., 21 bass, 60-1
9th: James Elam, Tulsa, Okla., 19 bass, 58-12
10th: Alton Jones, Jr., Waco, Texas, 20 bass, 58-0
11th: Zack Birge, Blanchard, Okla., 18 bass, 56-2
12th: Jesse Wiggins, Addison, Ala., 20. bass, 56-0
13th: Bobby Lane, Lakeland, Fla., 18 bass, 54-2
14th: Greg Vinson, Wetumpka, Ala., 16 bass, 53-9
15th: John Hunter, Shelbyville, Ky., 17 bass, 53-6
16th: Dustin Connell, Clanton, Ala., 17 bass, 50-13
17th: Cliff Crochet, Pierre Part, La, 20 bass, 49-3
18th: Justin Lucas, Guntersville, Ala., 17 bass, 48-4
19th: Bradley Roy, Lancaster, Ky., 15 bass, 47-10
20th: Kelly Jordon, Flint, Texas, 16 bass, 45-6
A complete list of results can be found at MajorLeagueFishing.com.
Becker earned the Day 1 $1,000 Berkley Big Bass Award Tuesday with a 5-pound, 8-ounce smallmouth 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.
By the end of this week, the season-long battle for the Fishing Clash Angler of the Year title and the $100,000 that comes with it will have a winner. Two of the remaining contenders took to the water in Group A in pro Alton Jones, Jr. of Waco Texas, and Clanton, Alabama’s Dustin Connell . While both are in the mix to qualify for the Knockout Round, and thus keep their hopes alive of claiming the trophy, they each have some work to do — and will need some help from points leader Jacob Wheeler of Harrison, Tennessee.
After the first day of qualifying, Jones sits 10th in Group A with 58-0. Connell isn’t far behind him with 50-13, which has him 16th. With Jones entering Stage Seven 19 points back of Wheeler in the season-long standings and Connell another 16 behind him, both anglers almost certainly need to make the Knockout Round to have a shot at catching Wheeler. They’ll also need Wheeler to finish outside of the Top 20 for the first time in his past 11 regular-season BPT events. Wheeler will take to the water with Group B on Wednesday.
The 39 Anglers in Group A compete in their two-day Qualifying Round on Tuesday and Thursday – the 39 anglers in Group B on Wednesday and Friday. After each two-day Qualifying Round is complete, the anglers that finish first through 10th from both groups 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. In the final-day Championship Round, weights are zeroed, and the highest one-day total wins the top prize of $100,000.
Anglers will depart at 6:45 a.m. ET each day from the Massena Intake Boat Launch, located at 1415 State Highway 131 in Massena. 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 General Tire Takeout will be held at Massena Intake Boat Launch, beginning at 4 p.m. Fans are welcome to attend all launch and takeout events and also encouraged to follow the event online throughout the day on the MLFNOW!® live stream and SCORETRACKER® coverage at MajorLeagueFishing.com .
The MLFNOW!® broadcast team of Chad McKee and J.T. Kenney will break down the extended action live on the final four days of competition from 7:45 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. ET. MLFNOW!® will be live streamed on MajorLeagueFishing.com, the MyOutdoorTV (MOTV) app and Rumble.
On Saturday and Sunday, Aug. 10-11, from 1 p.m. to 6 p.m. MLF welcomes fans of all ages to visit the Massena Intake Boat Launch for the MLF Watch Party. Fans can watch the pros live on the MLFNOW! big screen, enjoy free food, enter to win hourly giveaways and cheer on their favorite pros. Live music will begin each day at 4 p.m. The first 50 kids 14 and under will receive a free rod and reel from Pure Fishing each day. The final 10 Championship Round Bass Pro Tour anglers will be on hand at the trophy celebration on Championship Sunday to meet and greet fans, sign autographs and take selfies.
The Minn Kota Stage Seven at the St. Lawrence River Presented by Humminbird will feature 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.
The 2024 Bass Pro Tour features a field of 78 of the top professional anglers in the world, competing across seven regular-season tournaments around the country, for millions of dollars and valuable points to qualify for the annual General Tire Heavy Hitters all-star event and REDCREST 2025, the Bass Pro Tour championship, set for April 3-6, 2025, on Lake Guntersville in Huntsville, Alabama.
Fishing Clash, an interactive 3D fishing simulation game that’s played by more than 80 million people worldwide, is the official AOY sponsor of the Bass Pro Tour, Tackle Warehouse Invitationals, Toyota Series and Phoenix Bass Fishing League. You can download Fishing Clash for free in the App Store and on Google Play or log on to www.fishingclash.game for more information.
Television coverage of the Minn Kota Stage Seven at the St. Lawrence River Presented by Humminbird will premiere as a two-hour episode starting at 7 a.m. ET, on Saturday, Nov. 16 on Discovery. New MLF episodes premiere each Saturday morning on Discovery, with re-airings on Outdoor Channel.
Proud sponsors of the 2024 MLF Bass Pro Tour include: Abu Garcia, B&W Trailer Hitches, Bass Pro Shops, Berkley, BUBBA, Epic Baits, Fishing Clash, Garmin, General Tire, Humminbird, Lowrance, Mercury, MillerTech, Minn Kota, Mossy Oak Fishing, NITRO, Onyx, Plano, Power-Pole, PowerStop Brakes, Rapala, REDCON1, StarBrite, Suzuki, Toyota, WIX Filters and U.S. Air Force.
For complete details and updated information on Major League Fishing and the Bass Pro Tour, visit MajorLeagueFishing.com. For regular updates, photos, tournament news and more, follow MLF’s social media outlets at Facebook, X , Instagram and YouTube.
