FLW Tour star Bryan Thrift of Shelby, North Carolina, weighed a monster five-bass limit totaling 30 pounds, 7 ounces Saturday to win the Costa FLW Series Southeastern Division event on Santee Cooper presented by Frabill with a three-day total of 14 bass weighing 79 pounds, 15 ounces. For his win, Thrift earned $48,200 and a new Ranger Z518 bass boat with a 200-horsepower Evinrude outboard engine.
“It’s really nice to get a win after the terrible start that I’d had to begin this season,” said Thrift, who earned his eighth career win in FLW competition and pushed his career earnings to more than $1.75 million. “The two poor finishes at Okeechobee were a pretty big monkey on my back. I had no idea how I’d do in this event after my practice, but it was a fun tournament and I brought in the biggest bag that I’ve ever weighed today.”
Thrift estimated that he caught 10 fish on day one, just four on day two, and around 20 today, the third and final day of competition. He junk-fished throughout the week, catching fish on a green-pumpkin Damiki Mamba jig with a Damiki Knock Out or a Zoom Super Chunk, a Damiki DC200 crankbait, an unnamed frog and a Rat-L-Trap.
“I’m pretty sure that I caught fish in all three phases of the spawn,” Thrift said. “The key for me this week was my signature series 6’9” Fitzgerald Skipping Special rod. It has enough tip to get the bass out of the wood but is still small enough to be able to skip a jig into areas that a longer rod can’t.”
Thrift lived up to his nickname of “Smoke on the Water”, as he fished both Marion and Moultrie lakes in all three days of competition and estimated that he used 30 to 35 gallons of gasoline each day.
“I guarantee that I ran faster and farther than anyone this week,” Thrift said on stage. “My Ranger and (Evinrude) G2 ran flawlessly. I didn’t re-visit any of the same spots and ran all new water every day.”
The top 10 pros on Santee Cooper were:
1st: Bryan Thrift, Shelby, N.C., 14 bass, 79-15, $48,200 and a Ranger Z518 w/ 200-horsepower outboard
2nd: Pat Fisher, Colbert, Ga., 15 bass, 76-2, $19,500
3rd: Glenn Browne, Ocala, Fla., 15 bass, 71-3, $14,000
4th: Bradley Dortch, Bay Minette, Ala., 15 bass, 70-14, $12,000
5th: Preston Clark, Eagle Lake, Fla., 15 bass, 69-2, $11,000
6th: Tim Malone, Gatlinburg, Tenn., 14 bass, 61-0, $9,000
7th: Jay Kendrick, Grant, Ala., 14 bass, 57-9, $7,800
8th: Todd Smith, Summerville, S.C., 15 bass, 56-9, $6,800
9th: Rob Digh, Denver, N.C., 12 bass, 52-13, $5,800
10th: Zach Crider, Tunnel Hill, Ga., 11 bass, 49-15, $4,400
Levi Christianson of Nisswa, Minnesota, caught the biggest bass of the tournament in the pro division Thursday – a largemouth weighing 9 pounds, 15 ounces to earn him the day’s Big Bass award of $300.
Todd Walters of Summerville, South Carolina, won the co-angler division, $6,100 and a Ranger Z117 with a 90-horsepower Evinrude or Mercury outboard motor, with a three-day total of 15 bass weighing 55 pounds, 11 ounces.
The top 10 co-anglers on Santee Cooper were:
1st: Todd Walters, Summerville, S.C., 15 bass, 55-11, $6,100 and a Ranger Z117 w/ 90-horsepower outboard motor
2nd: Sean Lewis, Baskerville, Va., 10 bass, 39-8, $6,000
3rd: Gerald Bozeman, Sylvester, Ga., nine bass, 35-13, $4,850
4th: Patrick Cook, Johnsonville, S.C., 10 bass, 33-10, $3,900
5th: Kyle Parks, Albany, Ga., seven bass, 32-8, $3,400
6th: Jeff Rikard, Leesville, S.C., eight bass, 28-15, $2,900
7th: John Duarte, Middle River, Md., nine bass, 28-14, $2,400
8th: Randol Stone, Marianna, Fla., nine bass, 27-12, $1,950
9th: Nick Cupps, Chattanooga, Tenn., nine bass, 27-4, $1,580
10th: Lonnie Drusch, Sumter, S.C., eight bass, 27-3, $1,330
Jeremy Cianfarano of Greenville, South Carolina, caught the biggest bass of the tournament in the co-angler division Thursday weighing 8 pounds, 9 ounces to earn him the day’s Big Bass award of $200.
The Costa FLW Series consists of five divisions – Central, Northern, Southeastern, Southwestern and Western. Each division consists of three tournaments with competitors vying for valuable points that could earn them the opportunity to fish in the Costa FLW Series Championship. The 2016 Costa FLW Series Championship is being held Nov. 3-5 on Table Rock Lake in Branson, Missouri.
The Costa FLW Series on Santee Cooper was hosted by the Clarendon County Chamber of Commerce. It was the second Southeastern Division tournament of 2016. The next Costa FLW Series tournament will be the Central Division opener, held March 31-April 2, on Lake Dardanelle in Russellville, Arkansas.
About FLW
FLW is the world’s largest tournament-fishing organization, providing anglers of all skill levels the opportunity to compete for millions in prize money in 2016 across five tournament circuits. Headquartered in Benton, Kentucky, with offices in Minneapolis, FLW conducts more than 235 bass-fishing tournaments annually across the United States and sanctions tournaments in Canada, China, Mexico and South Korea. FLW tournament fishing can be seen on the Emmy-nominated “FLW” television show, broadcast to more than 564 million households worldwide, while FLW Bass Fishing magazine delivers cutting-edge tips from top pros.
By: Joe Opager, Director of Public Relations
