Tackle Warehouse Pro Circuit , finishing 18th overall . Secondly , the final event of the season , Stage Seven , would bring the BPT field to Saginaw Bay , which figured to align with his Great Lakes smallmouth wheelhouse .
What if … just what if Becker could win the BPT AOY as a rookie ?
He knew he had to do everything in his power to turn the possibility into a reality .
“ It immediately changed my plans for the rest of the season ,” he said . “ Championship Day on St . Clair was the last day of pre-practice for Saginaw . If I did not make the Championship Round , I planned to drive up to Saginaw on that last day before cut-off and get a few more hours of scouting in .”
He also planned to go to Alpena , Michigan , a few days prior to the start of Stage Seven and fish Lake Huron , outside the Stage Seven playing field , to get some extra time on the water with Huron smallmouth .
Becker finished 17th at St . Clair and made the haul to Saginaw the next day . In retrospect , the journey proved fruitful .
“ I had pre-practiced Saginaw back in May and spent most of my time on the northwest side of the bay ,” he said . “ I didn ’ t really find anything that great . So when I came back for the final day of pre-practice , I spent all my time in the Oak Point area on the east side , which paid off .”
By the end of that day , not only had Becker added to his arsenal of spots for Saginaw Bay , he knew exactly where he stood in the AOY race . Alton Jones Jr . ascended to the top spot , followed by Jacob Wheeler , DeFoe and Becker . Just 10 points separated the four anglers with one event left .
a clutch adjustment
It should come as no surprise that Becker , who grew up frequenting the waters of Lake Erie , figured targeting smallmouth represented his best chance at erasing his deficit at Saginaw Bay . He weighted his practice heavily towards brown fish , with just a couple of hours dedicated to largemouth .
Returning to Oak Point , he found a group of smallmouth during practice and started the tournament there . Strong northeast winds gusted up to
PHOTO BY TYLER BRINKS
20 mph during his first day on the water , making the fishing difficult . He scratched out a five-fish limit of 12 pounds , 13 ounces , which put him 26th in Group B .
He returned to the water with an entirely new strategy . Becker spent his second day of the event fishing exclusively for largemouth . While often perceived as a smallmouth guru , his moxie as a largemouth angler may be the thread that earned him the AOY trophy .
Becker figured he needed 15 pounds to make the Knockout Round , and green fish represented the most prudent way to get there . But in order to commit to largemouth , Becker had to take extreme measures .
“ The night before my second qualifying day , I removed all the smallmouth rods out of my boat ,” he said . “ I did not want to even have that temptation with me . I took just flipping sticks and swim jig rods – it was largemouth or bust .”
At first , Becker ’ s choice looked to be a good one . In the first hour he caught about 14 pounds and zipped up the
A Top-10 finish at Stage Four on Lake Guntersville put Becker in real contention for the AOY trophy .
leaderboard . Most of his largemouth came on a swim jig in shallow reeds or by punching thicker , deeper reed heads .
“ It seemed like the right call ,” he said . “ But when I hit a dry spell for upgrades in Period Two , I began thinking about smallmouth , which is exactly why I took all my smallmouth tackle out of the boat . I had committed to largemouth . There was no turning back .”
During Period Two , Becker couldn ’ t produce any upgrades , and he steadily drifted down SCORETRACKER ®. By 3 p . m ., he ’ d fallen to the dreaded 20th place — right on the Toro Cut Line .
“ I could feel the tension building ,” Becker recalled . “ I had to make that Knockout Round to keep my AOY hopes alive . Things were looking grim . I was moving around , trying new places ; my smallest fish was a 2-12 .”
With less than an hour to fish , his need for an upgrade was answered with a 3-pound , 3-ounce bass that bumped him up to 14th place . He would finish the day in 19th , 10 ounces clear of the cut .
OCTOBER-NOVEMBER 2023 | MAJORLEAGUEFISHING . COM 39