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Thrift ’ s REDCREST victory on Lake
Norman was just the latest in the North
Carolina pro ’ s string of success on his home lake .
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PHOTO BY PHOENIX MOORE |
North Carolina pro claims winning hardware , $ 300,000 payday on home fishery
By Joel Shangle
CHARLOTTE , N . C . – In sports betting , the term “ chalk ” describes an obvious , prohibitive favorite . A can ’ t-miss pick . A guaranteed , “ take it to the bank !,” five-star lock .
Even though North Carolina pro Bryan Thrift nimbly sidestepped the label of “ favorite ” in the months leading up to Bass Pro Shops REDCREST 2023 Presented by Shore Lunch – a move that ’ s very typical of Thrift ’ s unassuming “ aw shucks ” attitude – virtually everyone within 1,000 miles of Mecklenburg and Catawba counties pegged the 2019 Forrest Wood Cup winner as the angler to beat on Lake Norman . The logic was simple : Norman is a fishery upon which Thrift has spent thousands of tournament hours and has claimed multiple trophies and checks . It ’ s the lake that Thrift credits for developing the wide-open , run-andgun fishing style that has earned him $ 3.6 million in tournament winnings .
After five grueling days of jousting with the 40-angler REDCREST field , a late-winter storm system , and Lake Norman ’ s wide-roaming spotted bass and largemouth , Thrift proved that he was indeed worthy of the favorite label .
“ Smoke ,” it turns out , was as chalk as it gets at REDCREST 2023 .
Thrift ’ s Norman résumé
Thrift first fished Lake Norman in seventh grade , on a day trip with his baseball coach . He started to legitimately explore the lake shortly after high school , when he joined a local bass club , and then began to build his encyclopedia of Norman knowledge in 2003-2004 when he got his first bass boat .
Thrift cashed his first MLF ( then- FLW ) tournament check on Lake Norman in late April of 2007 , a $ 25,000 boost to his bank account courtesy of a 10th-place finish in the third FLW Tour event of the 2007 season . Thrift followed up with a $ 127,500 Norman payday in
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late March of 2010 as he hoisted the champion ’ s trophy at the second event of the 2010 FLW Tour season – a prespawn event where Thrift estimated he fished over 100 docks a day – for his first-ever tour-level win .
Thrift added another $ 71,000 to his Lake Norman ledger at the 2016 FLW Tour Invitational after a milk-run assault on the lake ’ s offshore brush and rock piles with a 4-inch swimbait . Add his $ 300,000 REDCREST payday to his Lake Norman tally ( and a handful of Top 10s in miscellaneous MLF / FLW events ) and Thrift ’ s $ 530,000-plus MLF total on the 32,000-acre impoundment of the Catawba River accounts for nearly 15 % of his $ 3.6 million career earnings .
In the days leading up to the March 8-12 tournament , the 39 other anglers in the REDCREST field were plain-spoken about the problem they faced keeping pace with “ Smoke ” for five days on Norman .
“ We ’ re all probably going to be trying to keep up with Bryan Thrift , he probably has all those bass out there named ,” Alton Jones Jr . said .
“ Thrift is going to win REDCREST , that ’ s all you have to say ,” Michael Neal said , semi-jokingly .
Even Thrift ’ s former tournament partner – and other REDCREST favorite – Andy Montgomery was matter-of-fact about the prospect of duking it out on Norman with the Damiki pro : “ Me and Bryan have won a lot of tournaments on that lake together . We ’ ve spent a lot of time in the boat together , but he knows that offshore game way , way , way , way , way better than I do . He ’ s going to be hard to handle , man .”
Thrift breezed through pre-tournament media and two days of practice with a devil-may-care attitude that belied how deeply invested he was in winning the tournament . He professed his affection for the fishery and said all the things a hometown favorite should say leading up to a game on his home field .
“ I ’ m very happy to qualify for the championship event on a lake I know so well ,” Thrift said . “( Lake Norman ) has been a very good lake to me . It pretty much got my career started , because
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