GUNTERSVILLE, Ala. – Matt Becker’s line on SCORETRACKER® over a 17-minute period on Day 2 of Toro Stage Four Presented by Bass Cat tells you all you need to know about a ledge bite firing on Lake Guntersville: 6-6, 6-13, 5-14, 5-15, 5-9.
Those are the weights of the fish that Becker posted between 2:44 p.m. and 3:01 p.m., a ledge flurry that saw the Tennessee pro upgrade his entire five-fish bag and finish the day with 30 pounds, 9 ounces, only the second 30-pound five-fish bag of the Bass Pro Tour season (Mark Davis’ 32-pound limit on the Kissimmee Chain being the heaviest to date). Becker had hovered in the Top 20 throughout the day – much closer to the Toro Cut Line than the lead – before cranking up a 6-10 largemouth at 2:44 to start his run.
After a quick move to another spot, Becker continued his run with a 6-13 and 5-14 on back-to-back casts eight minutes later, a 5-15 three minutes after that, and finally a 5-9 six minutes later at 3:01 p.m., completing a binge that Becker admits was the most action-packed minutes of his tournament-fishing career.
“It was absolute mayhem for a few minutes there,” Becker admitted. “I struggled pretty much all day – caught a limit in the first period and just slowly upgraded until I caught that first 6.”
Becker caught his fish on standard Tennessee River ledge-fishing fare; a crankbait and a hair jig, both of which he bombed on long casts in an effort to stay off of pressured fish on the lower end of Guntersville.
Chasing Becker
- Until Becker’s third-period explosion, Stage Three winner Anthony Gagliardi seemed in control of the top spot in Group B with 22-10. Gagliardi spent most of the day up shallow, fishing a wacky-rigged stick bait and working his way through a slew of 2-pounders to upgrade with 4s and 5s.
- Shin Fukae enjoyed a mini-surge of his own late in the third period, connecting with a 6-6 and a 4-2 just six minutes apart to move into the top five with 22-6.
- John Hunter held the top spot early in the third period, leaning heavily on a jerkbait to account for his 21-14 before spending the majority of the period scouting around.
- Jordan Lee upgraded with a 5-8 late in the third period to climb into fifth place.
News and notes
Guntersville’s big-fish bar has yet to reach 7 pounds this week. Becker’s 6-13 was matched by Brett Hite for Berkley Big Bass of the event so far. Adrian Avena holds the Group A big bass, a 6-3.
Angler of the Year implications abound this week on Guntersville. Day 2’s most notable move was made by Hunter, who entered the week in ninth place on Bally Bet AOY points and improved his spot (for now) with his fourth-place finish on Wednesday. Dakota Ebare also helped his AOY cause with an 11th-place finish on Wednesday (he was in fifth place heading into Stage Four). The two veterans who held down the 1-2 spots in the AOY standings heading into this event (Ott DeFoe and Andy Morgan) finished their first day of qualifying competition in 38th and 36th places, respectively, and have some work to do Thursday to hold serve in the AOY race.
WHAT’S NEXT
Qualifying Round action at Lake Guntersville continues Thursday when Group A returns to the lake in pursuit of 20 spots in the Knockout Round. The MLFNOW! live stream will carry all the on-the-water action, starting at 7:45 a.m. CT and ending 30 minutes after lines out at 4 p.m. CT. Day 3 action can be seen on the MLF website and app, and on MOTV. Official live scoring updates are available throughout the day on SCORETRACKER®.