Bryan Thrift was the day-1 leader at the recent Beaver Lake FLW Tour and was seemingly a threat to win his second straight event. However, the former Angler of the Year said his 16-pound sack on day 1 was basically a fluke.
"I never really was on anything," he said. "That first day was just a gift. It was one of those days where I couldn't do anything wrong – everywhere I stopped I caught a good one. I knew the odds of repeating that were not good."
He dropped to 8th place the following day with a 9-10 stringer, and then to 11th on day 3 with a 10-07 haul.
"I fished a clean tournament – I never lost any fish and I never missed any – but I just wasn't getting the bites I needed. I was really fortunate to catch what I did on the second and third days."
The majority of his bites came on a shaky-head.
"If I had it to do over again, I would've tried to fish a littler faster and cover more water. It seemed like there were more fish moving up on that third day."
The Big Bite Lookback, which focuses on the angler who's first out of the final cut at each tour-level event, is brought to you by the great folks at Big Bite Baits.