ON TOUR
COSTA FLW SERIES
DEtaIls
July 27-29, 2017
presented by Evinrude
hosted by clayton chamber of commerce
costa flW series Division: Northern
1000 ISLANDS
CLAYTON, N.Y.
By Jody White
photos by charlEs WalDorf
Winning angler
matt becker, finleyville, Pa.
Winning Weight: 66-04 (15 fish)
stat Line: becker’s 25-2 final-day bag was one of four limits of more than 25 pounds weighed in over the course of the
tournament. this was the costa flW series rookie’s first win.
Winning baits
Becker only needed one bait to get the job done on the
big smallmouths he plucked from Lake Ontario: a green
pumpkin/white laminate Yamamoto Shad Shape Worm
fished on a drop-shot with a 1/2-ounce weight.
target areas
98
Given the option to stay in the St. Lawrence River or run
out into Lake Ontario, Becker chose the lake for almost all of
practice and the entirety of the tournament. He focused on
the edges of offshore flats and shoals in the area around
Galloo Island.
“I scouted pretty much everything in the lake,” says Becker
of his decision to live in the southeast part of the lake. “The
main reason I settled in that area was because I had the most
spots in a close area that I could rotate through if one of
them wasn’t on. I had one spot here and one spot there up
north, but if it’s rough you can’t run to them all.”
Becker fished sharp breaks where shoals plummeted from
20 or 30 feet deep into the basin as well as more gradually
sloping flats, where he moved in and out from 20 to 30 feet
deep. For the sharper stuff, he tried to drift right along the
edge, but on his flatter areas he started shallow in the morn-
ing and worked deeper in the afternoon as the sun rose.
The common theme for all his spots was the presence of good
rock and willing smallmouths that he marked on his Lowrance.
keys to victory
Becker’s commitment to Lake Ontario was probably the
most important aspect of his win, and it enabled him to have
a shot at a truly huge bag on the final day when he caught 25
pounds, 2 ounces to close the gap and took over the lead.
fLWfIshIng.cOm I OctOber 2017