baits and tactics
Thrift was the only angler in the field to break the 11-pound
mark every day, for a winning total of 34-12.
“That’s the beauty of multiple-day tournaments here
when it’s tough,” Thrifts adds. “You don’t necessarily need a
lucky big fish to win, but you have to be consistent. And I
have a better chance at maintaining that consistency across
three or four days with the sheer number of places I know.”
Thrift’s offshore arsenal at Norman (located on the right
half of the deck) included a 10- to 15-foot-diving crankbait, a
Damiki Anchovy Shad swimbait rigged on a 3/16-ounce
head, a 1/2-ounce jig and a shaky head. He had duplicate
rods rigged with jigs and Anchovy Shads for those sneaky
bait stealers.
His bank-related arsenal (on the left side) consisted of a
buzzbait, a Damiki Rambler walking topwater, a Damiki D-
Pop, a River2Sea Whopper Plopper and several 1/2-ounce
jigs, which are duplicates for the chunk stealers.
Thrift says there is no rhyme or reason to when he fishes
offshore spots and bank-related spots. He contends that large-
mouths, typically Norman’s better quality bass when com-
pared to spotted bass, usually come from the shallower banks
and docks where they form wolf packs to hunt bream. His
species mix for the tournament consisted of five largemouths
and 10 spotted bass.
“If I get a bite off of a particular piece of cover, I’ll run all
the stuff that’s like it in that area,” Thrift says. “Other than
that, I’m truly just making presentations to different objects as
fast as I can. At the end of the day my GPS looks like a bowl
of spaghetti.”
His GPS tracks might have been a jumbled mess, but his
daily scorecard was deadly consistent: 11-5, 11-12 and 11-11.
Shooters, Buzzers and Ploppers Dominate at Norman
a Zoom Horny Toad and a River2Sea Whopper Plopper
topwater.
Though none of these lures is a secret any longer,
obviously all are still catching a lot of fish in the Carolinas.
1. Shooter Lures jig – Made by Carolina fishing leg-
end Louie Hull of Casar, N.C., it’s a hand-tied jig that is
custom-made for skipping docks. The thread keeps the
skirt from sliding down, and the Arky-style head skips
easily. Most pros team it with a big plastic “chunk” to
help the lure slide across the water’s surface. They also
use it when fishing Norman’s offshore
brush piles after simply changing the
trailer to more of a swimming-type craw
or twin-tail.
2. buzzbait/Horny toad combo –
This topwater combo was also born from
the necessity to skip up under docks. By
Shooter Lures jig
taking a 1/4- to 1/2-ounce buzzbait,
pulling off the skirt and gluing a Zoom
Horny Toad on the hook, a buzzbait
becomes a much more “skippable” lure.
3. river2Sea Whopper Plopper –
Something about the gurgling of a
buzzbait/toad combo drives shallow fish
on Norman crazy, which might help
River2Sea
explain why the River2Sea Whopper
Whopper Plopper
Plopper c