Scott Canterbury comes up short as
tournament director Ron Lappin calls
out his weight. Bryan Thrift likes
what he sees.
fishing memories
Thrift is a natural favorite to win on his home lake. In fact,
it’s like his mind is pre-programmed for it.
“I have a really good memory,” Thrift says. “I can tell you
every place I have ever caught a bass on Norman over the last
20 years. I can take you to the exact dock where I caught my
first bass on this lake, and all the others since.”
For that reason, Thrift knows literally hundreds upon hun-
dreds of fishy spots on Norman, and running his numbers
game in a three-day tournament during a tough time in
September is like throwing him in a bass fishing briar patch –
tough on the surface, but an easy opportunity for a guy who
knows every nook and cranny.
“Really, anyone can catch them on Norman in a one-day
tournament,” Thrift says. “But the more fishing pressure that
gets applied to the lake over a few days, and the tougher it
gets, the better my chances are of making some of the sneaky
single-fish spots I know pay off.”
In order to make those spots pay off, Thrift has to hit a lot
of them in a day, and that’s where he is an absolute master in
number-running efficiency.
For instance, Thrift puts all of his “bank-related” rods on
one side of the deck and all of his offshore rods on the other
side. He keeps them separate so he can unstrap only one side
toP fIve
1. brYaN tHrIft
SHeLbY, N.c.
Total Weight: 34-12 (15 fish)
Winnings: $71,000*
2. Scott beattIe
LINcoLNtoN, N.c.
Total Weight: 34-06 (15 fish)
Winnings: $18,340
*Includes $10,000 Ranger Cup and $200 Costa Award
december 2016 I fLWfISHING.com
and easily find what he needs, depending on what he is fish-
ing at each stop.
Thrift also adds in duplicate rods and baits to each side so
that if a fish short-strikes him and fouls the bait or steals his
trailer, he can pick up a new rod and quickly fire right back
without having to take the time to fix his original bait.
When running “bank-related” objects such as docks, riprap or
laydowns, Thrift uses just his strong memory – no GPS. Offshore
spots are marked with waypoints, but Thrift knows what’s down
there – usually brush or rock – based solely on memory, and the
former AOY knows exactly how far he needs to be from the juice
to hit each spot perfectly on the first cast. Once he tickles the tar-
get with a few more casts, Thrift runs to the next waypoint. He
repeats this process about 50 times per day.
Conditions
Weather: mostly cloudy; breezy on day one
air temperature: highs in the mid- to upper 80s
Water temperature: mid-80s; upper 90s near power
plant discharges
moon Phase: full
Predominant Lake features: docks, bridges, brush
piles, power plant discharges (“hot holes”)
3. WeSLeY Strader
SPrING cItY, teNN.
Total Weight: 33-09 (15 fish)
Winnings: $15,200
4. todd HoLLoWeLL
fISHerS, INd.
Total Weight: 33-09 (15 fish)
Winnings: $12,160
5. mIcHaeL NeaL
daYtoN, teNN.
Total Weight: 32-14 (15 fish)
Winnings: $9,120
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