Bass Fishing Dec 2016 | Page 108

oN tour LAKE NORMAN – SEPT. 15-17 PRESENTED BY ruNNING tHe NumberS Hosted by Visit Lake Norman, Visit Charlotte and Mecklenburg County Parks & Recreation Bryan Thrift’s run-and-gun system pays off again f by Rob Newell or Bryan Thrift, tournament bass fishing is a numbers game, having far less to do with areas, patterns and conditions and far more to do with making more pre- sentations to more targets than anyone else. As a youngster, Thrift learned this style of fishing at Lake Norman in North Carolina. Norman’s innumerable docks and brush piles provide more bass cover than can be fished in a lifetime. And Thrift would know, because he has spent a lifetime trying to fish it all. So when Thrift gets to play his numbers game on his home turf on Lake Norman, it does not bode well for his competition. He earned his first Walmart FLW Tour win on Lake Norman in 2010. In September, it was déjà vu all over again as he claimed victory in the FLW Tour Invitational on the very lake that has shaped his successful career. An astute memory and years of local experience helped Bryan Thrift win the Invitational on his home lake. 106 fLWfISHING.com I december 2016