By MLF Communications Staff

Bryan Thrift stayed atop the standings after the second day of the Qualifying Round at the 2021 REDCREST Championship at Lake Eufaula in Alabama. Despite catching only two scoreable fish on day 2, he easily won the round with a two-day total of 15 bass for 50-04.

Lake Eufaula was a bit tougher for anglers on day 2, However, quite a few anglers (including Thrift) spent most of the day practicing and searching for new areas to fish during the upcoming Knockout Round.

“I didn’t catch a lot of fish today – only two scorable bass – but it was a fun day because I eliminated a lot of water,” Thrift said. “That’s pretty much all we got accomplished today, but that’s just a part of it. Sometimes that’s almost as good as finding the winning hole, because now I’ve got a great idea of what not to do when I get back out there and that’s definitely a plus."

He ended up more than 10 1/2 pounds ahead of 2nd-place Andy Montgomery, his former team tournament partner when both were honing the craft in the Carolinas.

“It feels great to be leading in my very first REDCREST, but I’ve still got some work left to do,” Thrift said. “You can’t win if you don’t make it to the Championship Round. I’m looking forward to getting back out there and seeing what we can do.”

The 40-angler field has now been reduced to 20 and weights are zeroed as competition moves into the Knockout Round. A field of 10 anglers (Group A) will compete on Wednesday and the remaining 10 anglers (Group B) will compete Thursday. The top 5 anglers from each day advance to the fifth and final day of competition, when weights will again be zeroed and the competitor who compiles the most weight that day will earn $300,000.

The reigning REDCREST champion, Edwin Evers, caught eight bass for 22-04 on day 2 – the largest weight of the day – to vault from 25th place to inside the top-20 cut and end the day in 8th place.

“I caught the largest weight of the day, and I know that doesn’t mean a lot because some of the guys that laid off their fish, but it gives me a lot of confidence going into the Knockout Round,” Evers said. “The majority of my fish today came on a Berkley PowerBait Power Hog. I’m learning more and putting more pieces of the puzzle together each day and I can’t wait to get back out there and compete in the Knockout Round.”

Michael Neal secured the final position inside the cut when he caught a 3 1/4-pounder with less than a minute remaining in the day.

"I flipped my line over and around a limb – it might've been the best cast I ever made," Neal said. "I didn't get a lot of bites today and I didn't capitalize on some I had earlier, but it ended up working out.

"This lake is really close to busting loose. It's going to be about finding one place to pull into that's got a big wave (of fish ready to spawn) coming and getting ahead of them."



Qualifying Round Day 2 Standings

(Figure at far right indicates angler's heaviest fish of the Qualifying Round.)

1. Bryan Thrift -- 45-00 (13) -- 5-04 (2) -- 50-04 (15) -- 7-01

2. Andy Montgomery -- 18-09 (6) -- 20-14 (6) -- 39-07 (12) -- 5-11

3. Zack Birge -- 20-09 (5) -- 15-10 (5) -- 36-03 (10) -- 4-13

4. Ott DeFoe -- 31-02 (9) -- 2-06 (1) -- 33-08 (10) -- 5-14

5. Takahiro Omori -- 19-15 (6) -- 13-03 (4) -- 33-02 (10) -- 4-10

6. Stephen Browning -- 26-04 (9) -- 4-13 (2) -- 31-01 (11) -- 5-09

7. Andy Morgan -- 23-03 (7) -- 7-14 (2) -- 31-01 (9) -- 5-12

8. Edwin Evers -- 7-12 (3) -- 22-04 (8) -- 30-00 (11) -- 3-09

9. Alton Jones Jr. -- 17-05 (6) -- 12-02 (4) -- 29-07 (10) -- 4-13

10. Kevin VanDam -- 20-10 (6) -- 8-02 (3) -- 28-12 (9) -- 5-00

11. David Dudley -- 13-07 (3) -- 15-00 (5) -- 28-07 (8) -- 5-04

12. Anthony Gagliardi -- 12-05 (5) -- 14-15 (5) -- 27-04 (10) -- 5-09

13. Randall Tharp -- 12-14 (4) -- 14-02 (4) -- 27-00 (8) -- 5-05

14. Mark Davis -- 20-08 (5) -- 6-00 (2) -- 26-08 (7) -- 6-06

15. Jacob Wheeler -- 9-10 (2) -- 16-10 (6) -- 26-04 (8) -- 5-06

16. Brent Chapman -- 26-03 (9) -- 0-00 (0) -- 26-03 (9) -- 4-15

17. Jordan Lee -- 8-11 (3) -- 14-10 (3) -- 23-05 (6) -- 5-10

18. Fred Roumbanis -- 15-02 (6) -- 8-01 (3) -- 23-03 (9) -- 3-13

19. Dustin Connell -- 15-05 (5) -- 7-10 (2) -- 22-15 (7) -- 5-10

20. Michael Neal -- 9-05 (4) -- 11-05 (4) -- 20-10 (8) -- 3-06

The following anglers did not make the cut and will not advance to the Knockout Round

21. Fletcher Shryock -- 5-11 (2) -- 13-11 (4) -- 19-06 (6) -- 5-14

22. Wesley Strader -- 9-14 (4) -- 9-03 (3) -- 19-01 (7) -- 3-15

23. Mark Rose -- 14-11 (5) -- 2-04 (1) -- 16-15 (6) -- 5-09

24. James Elam -- 2-13 (1) -- 12-11 (4) -- 15-08 (5) -- 4-02

25. Luke Clausen -- 2-06 (1) -- 11-04 (4) -- 13-10 (5) -- 4-06

26. Brent Ehrler -- 2-07 (1) -- 11-01 (4) -- 13-08 (5) -- 3-04

27. Britt Myers -- 8-15 (2) -- 3-07 (1) -- 12-06 (3) -- 5-06

28. Scott Suggs -- 11-13 (3) -- 0-00 (0) -- 11-13 (3) -- 5-00

29. Jeff Sprague -- 4-15 (2) -- 6-09 (2) -- 11-08 (4) -- 4-05

30. Mark Daniels Jr. -- 4-14 (2) -- 5-15 (2) -- 10-13 (4) -- 3-11

31. Bradley Roy -- 7-12 (2) -- 2-01 (1) -- 9-13 (3) -- 4-08

32. Chris Lane -- 9-09 (4) -- 0-00 (0) -- 9-09 (4) -- 3-00

33. Josh Bertrand -- 7-03 (3) -- 2-03 (1) -- 9-06 (4) -- 2-09

34. Justin Lucas -- 5-11 (2) -- 3-09 (1) -- 9-04 (3) -- 3-09

35. Jared Lintner -- 6-07 (2) -- 2-12 (1) -- 9-03 (3) -- 3-06

36. Adrian Avena -- 2-15 (1) -- 5-03 (2) -- 8-02 (3) -- 2-15

37. Todd Faircloth -- 0-00 (0) -- 7-01 (2) -- 7-01 (2) -- 3-10

38. Jacob Powroznik -- 5-06 (2) -- 0-00 (0) -- 5-06 (2) -- 3-06

39. Bobby Lane -- 2-07 (1) -- 0-00 (0) -- 2-07 (1) -- 2-07

40. Alton Jones -- 0-00 (0) -- 2-05 (1) -- 2-05 (1) -- 2-05