From zero to hero
Thrift captures co-angler title on Santee Cooper despite not catching any fish in the finals
MANNING, S.C. – It doesn’t get much easier than this. After a tough day of fishing on Santee Cooper, day-three leader Bryan Thrift of Shelby, N.C., thought he’d blown his chances at winning the first EverStart tournament title of his career when he returned to the marina on the final day of competition completely empty handed. But as it turns out, he could’ve stayed in bed and still walked away with the title.
Thanks to an all-around brutal day for the rest of the co-angler field, Thrift managed a first-place finish with a total two-day catch of 8 pounds, 11 ounces – more than 5 pounds more than his nearest rival.
Even after the weigh-in was over, Thrift – making only his second appearance in an EverStart event – still had a hard time explaining his victory.
“This is great. I never thought my (day-three) weight would hold up,” he said. “I didn’t get one bite all day. I was also battling a cold. I’ve been sneezing all day. I’m just glad I didn’t get sick any earlier. At least now I can pay off my credit card.”
Thrift said he landed most of his fish this week targeting cypress trees with a flipping stick and Rat’l Trap.
“I was kind of lucky this week in that most of the bites I had were pretty big fish,” he said. “I probably averaged 4 pounds per fish all tournament. It’s definitely been a good week.”
While Thrift may have been a little lucky in today’s competition, the North Carolina native has been fishing as well as any co-angler in EverStart competition. Not only did Thrift grab a first-place finish in today’s competition – which earned him a check for $5,000 – but he also only missed the cut by 8 ounces in the previous Southeastern Division event on Lake Okeechobee in January.
However, don’t look for Thrift at the next EverStart event, as he plans to concentrate on the Wal-Mart BFL circuit for the remainder of the year in an effort to further hone his game.
“I want to fish the remainder of the tournaments in the BFL North Carolina Division so I can qualify for the (pro) side of the EverStart Series next year,” said Thrift. “I really want to go pro one day, and I think this is the best way to go about it.”
Another zero, another hero … almost
Like Thrift, Derek Schlotterback of Simpsonville, S.C., didn’t catch a fish in the finals. However, his day-three catch of 3 pounds, 7 ounces was still good enough for a second-place finish and $4,000 in prize money.
“To finish where I did, I’m speechless,” said Schlotterback. “I just came here to learn a few things. But obviously, I exceeded my expectations. To get to fish with J.T. Kenney today, that was awesome. I learned a lot. And J.T. was a lot of fun.”
Schlotterback said he fished crankbaits and finesse worms near boat ramps and docks to land the majority of his catch during the tournament.
“I really had a good time this week,” he said. “Hopefully, I’ll be close to the top 10 after this.”
Best of the rest
Cliff Cantey (third place) of Olanta, S.C., and Matthew Parker of Whitesburg, Ga., used identical catches of 3-pounds, 1-ounce catch to capture third and fourth place respectively.
Meanwhile, Arch Cornett of Huntsville, Ala., used a 2-pound, 5-ounce catch to take fifth place.
Rounding out the top 10 co-angler finalists at the EverStart Santee event:
6th: Keith Iddins of Knoxville, Tenn., 2-1
7th: Calvin Jones of Raeford, N.C., 2-0
8th: Nathan Fuller of Hillsboro, Ga., 1-5
9th: Mark Cummings of Pembroke, N.C., 0-0
10th: James M. Cheshire of Kernersville, N.C., 0-0
EverStart Southeastern Division action resumes April 27-30 at Lake Eufaula, located in Eufaula, Ala..