By MLF Communications Staff

GUNTERSVILLE, Ala. – For the second day in a row, the young talent on the Bass Pro Tour is shined brightly. After rookie Jacob Wall of New Hope, Ala., took the lead for Group A on Tuesday, fellow BPT first-year competitor Matt Becker of Ten Mile, Tenn. followed suit on Wednesday.

Becker caught 15 scorable bass, with his top five weighing 30 pounds, 9 ounces, to jump out to the early lead for Qualifying Group B in the event at Lake Guntersville. Becker will bring a comfortable 7-15 advantage into Day 2 of competition on Friday over second-place angler Anthony Gagliardi of Prosperity, S.C. who weighed in five bass totaling 22-10.

The 40 anglers in Group B will now have an off day on Thursday, while the 40 anglers competing in Group A will complete their two-day Qualifying Round. Group B will conclude their Qualifying Round on Friday.

“That was the biggest bag of fish that I have ever caught in my life,” Becker said in his post-game interview. “I can’t believe that happened. That was just incredible. The Lord is so good, and he blessed me so much today.

"He put me to the test this morning – he really tested my patience. I could not get them to bite. I was looking at them on the graph and I could see them there, but they weren’t biting. Then I broke a couple off … He was just testing me and putting me through it. And then He gave me a half hour towards the end of the day that was absolutely incredible.”

Becker said he labored for the majority of the day before his exciting afternoon.

“I struggled pretty much all day,” he said. “I caught a limit in the first period for like 13 pounds, and then just very slowly upgraded. And then at 2:45 I caught a 6-pounder, and that’s when the magic started happening.

“I caught a 6-pounder and it got me to like 18 pounds, and then I decided I’m going to pull the trolling motor and go somewhere else. I ran down to this other spot, and it was mayhem for about 5 minutes. That got me up to 30 pounds, and it was absolutely incredible.”

Of the five fish that Becker scored Wednesday, three came on a crankbait and two came on a white hair jig.

“I had a ton of rods on my deck and threw a bunch of different baits,” Becker said. “The key bait for me today, though, was the hair jig – a ledge staple and one of my favorite ways to catch them. It’s so much fun when they load up on the hair jig. I was throwing it on my Favorite Signature MDJ Hex rod – it’s a pretty big rod for big fish, 7-foot, 8-inch, heavy – with 15-pound Seaguar Invisx Fluorocarbon line and an 8.1:1 gear ratio reel.

“I’m very excited to have the lead, but I know that the work isn’t done,” Becker went on to say. “There is a lot of work left to do on Friday. Hopefully we can make the Knockout Round and go from there.”

Becker and Brett Hite of Phoenix, Ariz. shared Wednesday’s $1,000 Berkley Big Bass Award, as each weighed in a bass weighing 6-13 to split the daily prize. Berkley awards $1,000 to the angler who weighs the heaviest bass each day and a $3,000 bonus to the angler who weighs the heaviest bass of the tournament.

After each two-day qualifying round is complete, the Top 20 anglers from each group advance to Saturday’s Knockout Round. In the Knockout Round, weights are zeroed, and the remaining 40 anglers compete to finish in the Top 10 to advance to the Championship Round.

In the Championship Round, weight carries over from the Knockout Round and the angler with the heaviest two-day total wins the top prize of $100,000.

Anglers launch each day at 7:30 a.m. CT from Guntersville Civitan Park, located at 1130 Sunset Dr. Each day’s takeout is held at the launch locations 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 MLF NOW! livestream and ScoreTracker coverage at MajorLeagueFishing.com.

The MLF NOW! broadcast team of Chad McKee, Marty Stone and J.T. Kenney will break down the extended action live on each competition day from 7:45 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. CT. MLF NOW! is livestreamed on MajorLeagueFishing.com and the MyOutdoorTV (MOTV) app.



Qualifying Group B – Day 1

(Figure at far right indicates weight of angler's heaviest fish for the round)

1. Matt Becker -- 30-09 (5) -- 6-13

2. Anthony Gagliardi -- 22-10 (5) -- 5-09

3. Shin Fukae -- 22-06 (5) -- 6-06

4. John Hunter -- 21-14 (5) -- 5-14

5. Jordan Lee -- 21-04 (5) -- 5-08

6. David Dudley -- 20-15 (5) -- 5-00

7. Jacob Wheeler -- 20-15 (5) -- 4-15

8. Brett Hite -- 20-14 (5) -- 6-13

9. Bryan Thrift -- 19-14 (5) -- 5-01

10. Brent Ehrler -- 19-06 (5) -- 5-06

11. Dakota Ebare -- 19-01 (5) -- 5-08

12. Gerald Spohrer -- 18-09 (5) -- 6-05

13. Todd Faircloth -- 18-09 (5) -- 4-11

14. Scott Suggs -- 18-06 (5) -- 6-08

15. Alton Jones -- 17-10 (5) -- 4-07

16. Brent Chapman -- 17-04 (5) -- 4-13

17. Matt Lee -- 16-14 (5) -- 3-14

18. Marty Robinson -- 16-10 (5) -- 5-12

19. Bradley Roy -- 16-01 (5) -- 4-02

20. James Elam -- 15-15 (5) -- 4-06

21. David Walker -- 15-15 (5) -- 4-00

22. Cole Floyd -- 15-14 (5) -- 4-12

23. Keith Poche -- 15-11 (5) -- 3-14

24. Casey Ashley -- 15-08 (5) -- 3-05

25. Jonathon VanDam -- 15-02 (5) -- 5-02

26. Jeremy Lawyer -- 14-11 (5) -- 4-04

27. Mark Daniels Jr. -- 14-05 (5) -- 3-05

28. Boyd Duckett -- 13-10 (5) -- 4-14

29. Mark Rose -- 13-05 (5) -- 4-03

30. Mitch Crane -- 12-14 (5) -- 3-06

31. Dylan Hays -- 12-11 (5) -- 3-04

32. Brandon Coulter -- 12-08 (5) -- 2-11

33. Britt Myers -- 11-09 (5) -- 3-10

34. Gary Klein -- 11-09 (5) -- 2-14

35. Fred Roumbanis -- 11-02 (5) -- 2-07

36. John Murray -- 11-01 (5) -- 3-06

37. Jared Lintner -- 10-15 (3) -- 5-00

38. Jeff Kriet -- 10-10 (5) -- 2-13

39. Andy Montgomery -- 10-01 (4) -- 2-15

40. Tommy Biffle -- 5-11 (3) -- 1-15