4-Inch Worm Produced Big Results For Thrift

By John Johnson
BassFan Senior Editor

Ask a tour-level Angler of the Year what was the key to his season and you'll most often hear answers crediting the right instinctual decisions in regard to fishing locations, a one-day-at-a-time mindset and a few fortuitous bites from bigger-than-average fish. Rarely will a points champion credit his success to a single bait, no matter how often he threw it throughout the campaign.

Bryan Thrift is an exception. He said his 2017 FLW Tour AOY (the second of his career), was attributable to the 4-inch Damiki Stinger. He threw the super-soft tapered worm with a ribbed body and needle-point tail under a myriad of conditions using a variety of techniques, and it continually produced.

"Having the confidence to downsize and still catch big fish on smaller baits in pressure situations was one of the biggest things for me," he said. "I caught a lot of big ones on that little Stinger this year.

"I'm convinced it's what won the AOY for me."

Fast Out of the Gate

BassFans will recall that Thrift was on an epic roll through the first five events of the Tour season. He logged two runner-up finishes and a 3rd-place showing, and his other two placements were a 6th and a 12th.

He cooled off over the final two derbies on northern river systems (he's long disdained moving-water venues), but he still caught enough to hold off three-time AOY Andy Morgan by a hefty 44 points for the AOY title.

He didn't throw the Stinger at the first two events – Guntersville and Travis – but used it to catch more than half of his fish at the Harris Chain. It sat out the Cumberland derby, but then accounted for at least 80 percent of his catches at Beaver, every fish he boxed at the Mississippi River and about 70 percent of his haul at the Potomac River.

It's not like the Stinger was a new arrival to the scene – it's been part of Damiki's lineup for several years now. It's just that the conditions that Thrift was presented made it the right choice more often than not.

"It's a bait I've always had confidence in, but the right windows hadn't opened for it to be more dominant than a reaction bait or something like that," he said. "I definitely learned a lot about it, throwing it as much as I did. This year, they bit it everywhere.

"It might not be that way in the future and if it isn't, I won't live and die with it. I won't let it beat me, but it's something that I'll always have tied on (and ready for use). I'll know the right conditions when I see them."

Three Distinct Setups

Thrift claims that because of the Stinger's versatility, a "wrong" way to fish the bait doesn't exist. He employed it in several ways this year – Texas-rigged, wacky-style, Carolina-rigged and on a Ned Rig.

The wacky-style offerings and Ned Rigs are utilized in clear-water situations. The Texas rig is good for pitching to pads and woody cover.

For the heavier applications, he uses a 7-foot Fitzgerald Stunner rod and 15-pound P-Line Tactical fluorocarbon line. For the finesse-type jobs, he opts for a 6'10" Fitzgerald Vursa spinning rod with 15-pound P-Line braid and an 8-pound fluorocarbon leader.

"I like to use a long leader – usually 12 to 14 feet," he said. "That allows me to get hung up or break off eight or 10 times before I have to tie on another one."

As for bait colors, he sticks primarily to three – watermelon candy, green-pumpkin magic and green-pumpkin purple.

"I kind of let the water clarity determine which one I use. If it's clear, I'll use watermelon candy most often. If there's a slight stain I'll go to green-pumpkin magic and if there's quite a bit of stain I'll use green-pumpkin purple."

Notable

> Thrift has an opportunity next year to join Clark Wendlandt, David Dudley and Morgan as three-time Tour AOY winners. "I'd love to do that, but I don't really worry about it," he said. "If it happens, it happens. As long as I can keep cashing checks and paying the bills, I'm good to go."