The Last Stand Before Championship Sunday: The Knockout Round at Lake Murray

A Battle for Survival

Some days, you scrape by, holding on by your fingernails. Friday was one of those days for Matt Becker. The final period ticked away, and the bite vanished. Three hours, no fish. Nothing but silence and the weight of the Elimination Line creeping up behind him. He edged through by less than a pound, barely making it to Saturday’s Knockout Round. A near-miss, but a lifeline.

Saturday? Different story. Becker came out swinging, no longer the man who barely held on. Ten bass. Thirty pounds. Less than an hour into the day, he had turned the battlefield into his hunting ground. He held the lead, finishing with 44 pounds, 10 ounces.

Jacob Wheeler finishes in 2nd Place in the Knockout Round On Lake Murray | Photo by PMoore | Courtesy of MLF

But nothing comes easy in this sport. Jacob Wheeler was right there, just 11 ounces behind. Drew Gill and Alton Jones Jr. lurking within two pounds. Tomorrow, the score resets for a winner-takes-all brawl for $150,000, where history won’t remember the second-place finisher.

Becker’s Love Affair with Lake Murray

Pennsylvania-born, but a Tennessee River local, on paper Matt Becker shouldn’t have any business dominating a South Carolina herring lake. And yet, here he is.

Murray has been good to him. His first national win came here in 2021. A strong finish in 2023 helped him lock up an Angler of the Year title. And now, he’s back in the final ten with another shot at lifting a trophy.

“From the first time I put my boat in this lake, it just made sense,” Becker said. “I love clean water. Maybe it’s the herring bite, I don’t know. But Murray has always been good to me.”

The Strategy That Worked

Matt Becker Wins The Knockout Round with 44-10 and a 4-08 big bass | Photo by PMoore | Courtesy of MLF

The game plan was simple. Use the forward-facing sonar in Period 1. Find active fish. Strike early. Becker returned to the same pocket where he had scratched out a few bites the day before, hoping for a different result.

What he got was an all-out feeding frenzy. The fish were higher in the water and more aggressive. Instead of playing hard to get, they were ready to eat. A jighead minnow did the trick—12 scorable bass for 36 pounds in a single period. More than he had caught on either of the first two days.

After that? The sonar went off. He picked up a wacky-rigged Yamamoto Senko and hunted around boat docks, making it work even when the bite slowed.

“I knew the potential was there,” Becker said. “Yesterday, I just missed them. They weren’t eating it right. But today? It was fast and furious.”

Championship Sunday: A Loaded Fight Card

Jeff Sprague Joins The Top 9 Winners From The Knockout Round | Photo by TBrinks | Courtesy of MLF

The top nine pros from the Knockout Round that now advance to Championship Sunday on Lake Murray are:

1st: Matt Becker, Ten Mile, Tenn., 15 bass, 44-10

2nd: Jacob Wheeler, Harrison, Tenn., 13 bass, 43-15

3rd: Drew Gill, Mount Carmel, Ill., 14 bass, 42-12

4th: Alton Jones Jr., Waco, Texas, 13 bass, 42-8

5th: Marshall Robinson, Landrum, S.C., 11 bass, 40-5

6th: Bryan Thrift, Shelby, N.C., 14 bass, 38-13

7th: Brent Ehrler, Redlands, Calif., 12 bass, 38-8

8th: Jake Lawrence, Paris, Tenn., 12 bass, 35-9

9th: Mark Daniels Jr., Tuskegee, Ala., 11 bass, 34-6

*QR Winner: Jeff Sprague, Wills Point, Texas

This isn’t going to be easy.

Jeff Sprague, the man who steamrolled the Qualifying Round, is waiting. Wheeler and Gill coasted through the afternoon, saving their best for Sunday. The bite on moving baits has cooled, but who knows what another sunrise will bring?

Becker knows he needs to find something new. The first period should be acceptable. After that? He’s not sure.

Matt Becker on Lake Murray — Photo by PMoore | Courtesy of MLF

“I feel okay about the morning,” he said. “But the afternoon? No clue. I’ve got a few stretches of docks that might work, but I’m going to have to make some adjustments.”

It’s going to take 50 pounds, maybe 60, to win. And with clouds and cooler temperatures rolling in, nothing is guaranteed. The final ten are locked in, waiting for sunrise, waiting for that first cast, waiting to see who walks away with the trophy.

One more day. One more shot. No second chances.

Stage 3 action can be watched LIVE from Lake Murray via MLFNOW! during all four days of competition. Fans can also keep up with SCORETRACKER® for real-time fish catches.