ROGERS, Ark. (April 10, 2014) – After winning the FLW Tour event at Sam Rayburn Reservoir just two weeks ago, Bryan Thrift picked up right where he left off and brought a five-bass limit to the scale weighing 16 pounds, 2 ounces to grab the lead after day one of the Walmart FLW Tournament at Beaver Lake. The Shelby, N.C., native now holds a slim 13-ounce lead over pro Spencer Shuffield of Bismarck, Ark., heading into day two of the four-day event, hosted by Visit Rogers, that features 173 of the world’s best bass-fishing anglers competing for a top cash award of up to $125,000.
“After the win at Rayburn, it gave me the confidence to really slow down and fish the places where I feel that fish should be,” said Thrift, who previously won an FLW Tour event held at Beaver Lake in 2011. “I think confidence definitely plays a key role in tournament finishes. I didn’t have a very good practice here, so today I just went fishing with an open mind. It takes some of the stress off of me and I can get out there and have some fun.”
Thrift brought a mixed bag of bass to the scale consisting of one largemouth bass, one spotted bass and three smallmouth bass. He said his key bait was a 1/8-ounce shaky-head rigged with a 6½-inch Damiki Finesse Miki.
“My morning started out pretty decent,” Thrift said. “I had a 7-pound limit by 9 a.m. Then I started running around and caught a few big ones. It was pretty spread out throughout the day. I probably fished 40 or 50 places today and caught around 12 or 13 keepers. I’m running up and down the lake burning 25 to 30 gallons of fuel a day.
“I’m not on any kind of pattern or area,” Thrift went on to say. “I like to have a place where I know that I can pull up and catch a couple. Unfortunately, I don’t have that here. Tomorrow I’ve just got to go fishing and let the cards fall where they fall.”
The top 10 pros after day one on Beaver Lake are:
1st: Bryan Thrift, Shelby, N.C., five bass, 16-2
2nd: Spencer Shuffield, Bismarck, Ark., five bass, 15-5
3rd: Steve Kennedy, Auburn, Ala., five bass, 14-15
4th: Eric Olliverson, Lampe, Mo., five bass, 14-12
5th: Casey Ashley, Donalds, S.C., five bass, 14-10
5th: Adrian Avena, Vineland, N.J., five bass, 14-10
7th: Gary Yamamoto, Palestine, Texas, five bass, 14-9
8th: Jason Christie, Park Hill, Okla., five bass, 14-7
8th: Jonathan Newton, Rogersville, Ala., five bass, 14-7
10th: John Voyles, Petersburg, Ind., five bass, 14-4
Scott Wiley of Bay Minette, Ala., won the Big Bass Award on the pro side Thursday with a fish weighing 6 pounds, 15 ounces to win $500. Overall there were 743 bass weighing 1,467 pounds, 15 ounces caught by 171 pros Thursday. The catch included 115 five-bass limits.
Pros are competing for a top award of up to $125,000 this week plus valuable points in the hope of qualifying for the 2014 Forrest Wood Cup. The top 35 anglers in the point standings from the six events on the 2014 FLW Tour will qualify. The 2014 Forrest Wood Cup will be in Columbia, S.C., Aug. 14-17 on Lake Murray and is hosted by Capital City Lake Murray Country. Anglers could win as much as $500,000.
Shane Melton of Kokomo, Ind., leads the co-angler division with four bass weighing 12 pounds, 5 ounces followed by Braxton Setzer of Auburn, Ala., in second place with five bass weighing 12-2. The top 10 co-anglers are:
1st: Shane Melton, Kokomo, Ind., four bass, 12-5
2nd: Braxton Setzer, Auburn, Ala., five bass, 12-2
3rd: Tee Watkins, East Point, Ky., five bass, 11-2
4th: Dave Hasty, Toledo, Ohio, five bass, 10-15
5th: Jeff Gengler, Fort Collins, Colo., five bass, 9-11
6th: Theron Asbery, Grove, Okla., three bass, 9-4
7th: Marc Marsh, Prosperity, S.C., two bass, 9-2
8th: Patrick Stines, Granger, Ind., five bass, 8-11
9th: J.R. Wright, Truckee, Calif., five bass, 8-8
10th: Frank Divis Sr., Fayetteville, Ark., four bass, 8-7
10th: Todd Lee, Jasper, Ala., five bass, 8-7
Asbery caught Thursday’s Big Bass in the co-angler division weighing 6-5 to win $250. Overall there were 313 bass weighing 548 pounds, 3 ounces caught by co-anglers Thursday. The catch included 17 five-bass limits.
Co-anglers are fishing for a top award of $25,000 this week plus valuable points that could help them qualify for the 2014 Forrest Wood Cup presented by Walmart. The top 35 co-anglers in the point standings from the six events on the 2014 Walmart FLW Tour will qualify.