There's no better way to open defense of an Angler-of-the-Year title from the previous year than to win the first points event of the new season. That's just what Bryan Thrift did at Beaver Lake in Arkansas.
The 31-year-old notched his second victory in slightly less than a calendar year with a 13-15 sack on the final day of the Walmart Open that gave him a 4-day total of 54-08. He beat out three grizzled veterans and a guy from his hometown (Shelby, N.C.) to claim the title.
Missouri's Stacey King bagged a day-best 16-12 to grab the runner-up slot with 52-06. It was far and away the 62-year-old's best finish since missing most of the 2007 season due to a heart operation.
Arkansan Ron Shuffield, the day-3 leader, managed just three fish today for 7-14 and finished 3rd with 49-04. Randy Blaukat of Missouri, who sat out the 2010 campaign, sacked 14-13 today and finished 4th with 48-08 – his best tour-level showing since 2004.
Matt Arey, the other Shelbyite, brought in 12-10 today and ended up 5th with 48-08.
Here's a look at how the bottom half of the Top 10 finished up:
6. Stetson Blaylock: 43-10
7. Dave Lefebre: 42-12
8. Wesley Strader: 42-11
9. David Dudley: 37-04
10. Justin Lucas: 35-09
Some of the weights today were higher than many expected, and conditions no doubt played a role in that. The bluebird skies that were forecast in the wake of Saturday's cold front didn't show up until mid-morning. The early part of the day remained overcast and windy, and most of the kicker fish came during that period.
The Tour takes a 2-week break before resuming at South Carolina's Lake Hartwell March 24-27.
Late Fish Lifts Thrift
Thrift won the tournament with 5 minutes remaining, when he caught a 4-pound largemouth at his final stop that culled out a 12-inch spotted bass. That made about a 3-pound difference in his final tally.
"I made another two or three casts after that and I got another bite, but I missed him," he said.
He said this win might be even more significant to him than last year's triumph at Norman.
"I'd have to say it is, even though this one wasn't at home with a bunch of friends and family around. But my wife and my newborn son were here (he became a father for the first time in October), and it's the first tournament he's ever been to."
He caught a 4-pounder in the first 20 minutes today, but had only three keepers at 2:00. He revisited a place he'd been to earlier in the day and caught another 4-pounder and a 12 1/2-inch spot to complete his limit.
The big fish in the closing minutes accounted for his only cull of the day. "I was getting pretty worried there for a while."
His fish came via a combination of a Megabass Vision 110 jerkbait (easily the predominant bait in this tournament) and a Damiki DC 200 crankbait. Details of his winning pattern, as well as those of the other top finishers, will be posted soon.
2nd: King was in His Element
King was fishing within his comfort zone and would have been victorious if he could've added a better-than-average keeper to his day-3 bag, which was one fish short of a limit.
"I wanted to win this thing, but when I only caught four yesterday, I had a feeling that was going to haunt me. But I'm not unhappy – anytime you get in the Top 5 against this caliber of field, you've done something.
"(The event) just fit my style. The water was low and clear and it was a late winter/early spring deal. I like that time of year."
Stacey King might've won had he been able to fill a limit on day 3.
Today's bag consisted of three largemouths and two smallmouths. One of the green fish was a 6-pounder.
"To start a season off with a tournament like this, it feels real good."
3rd: Shuffield not Down
Shuffield began the day as the leader and badly wanted to nail down his first FLW victory, but got just three keeper bites today.
"I'm tickled to death to finish where I did," he said. "I've got no negative thoughts about it and no remorse. Today we had the absolute worst possible conditions for what I was doing and where I was fishing.
"I did a lot better than I expected to here because I really wasn't on much (during practice). I'm very pleased and it's a good way to start the year."
Other than the three keepers he weighed in, his only other bites today came from four short fish.
4th: Nice Return for Blaukat
Blaukat posted his best showing since the June 2004 event at Champlain.
"It feels really good to be back after missing last year," he said. "It's great to have a strong finish in the first one. Even though I hadn't made the Top 10 in a long time, I'd pretty much qualified for the (championship events) every year and there were times when I was just one fish away.
"I'd been knocking on the door. A lot of people don't realize how tough a 160-angler field of this caliber is – just to get a check is a great accomplishment. I can't complain."
He had one fish today that was close to 6 pounds.
"It took me forever to get that one in and at first I thought I'd foul-hooked a carp. It started twisting around and then went screaming out into the open water.
"I fought it for a couple minutes and then I saw its black line, and I knew it was a big bass. That was kind of the turning point of my day."
5th: Familiar Territory for Arey
Arey's placement was his second 5th at Beaver – he also had one in 2008. They mark the best showings of his still-young Tour career.
"Beaver has been pretty good to me," he said. "The biggest thing is I've yet to make a (Forrest Wood) Cup on the pro side, and that's really my goal this year. This is a good start."
He caught a near-5-pounder right off the bat, but said the rest of his day was a grind. He had to bring a 12 1/2-inch spot to the scale.
"I think what hurt me was we just murdered that area all week. Between me and my co-anglers, we probably caught 150 fish out of that place."
Notable
> Day 4 stats – 10 anglers, 7 limits, 1 four, 1 three, 1 two.
> Thrift mentioned on stage that he has a brother who's finishing up a PhD at Penn State. Weighmaster Chris Jones was quick to remark that Thrift possesses the equivalent of that degree in fishing.
> Unlike most of the leaders, Blaylock did not rely on a jerkbait – he had one tied on, but it produced just one weigh-in fish. His primary weapons were a Berkley Power Grub and a Berkley Hollow Belly swimbait.
> Dudley was thrilled to pull out a Top-10 finish after a miserable practice. He caught 12 weigh-in fish on a shakey-head and six on a jerkbait. "It was just a matter of having confidence in the areas that I knew had fish," he said. "When you know there's quite a few fish in an area, your bait has to be visible to some of them at some point. I figured out what they wanted and how they wanted it, and I just settled in and put my head down each day and did it."
Day 4 (Final) Standings
1. Bryan Thrift -- Shelby, NC -- 3, 8-11 -- 5, 11-06 -- 5, 20-08 -- 5, 13-15 -- 18, 54-08 -- $100,000 + 25,000
2. Stacey King -- Reeds Spring, Mo -- 5, 12-04 -- 5, 11-01 -- 4, 12-05 -- 5, 16-12 -- 19, 52-06 -- $35,000
3. Ron Shuffield -- Bismarck, Ar -- 3, 6-08 -- 5, 16-04 -- 5, 18-10 -- 3, 7-14 -- 16, 49-04 -- $30,000
4. Randy Blaukat -- Joplin, Mo -- 5, 9-05 -- 5, 11-13 -- 5, 12-09 -- 5, 14-13 -- 20, 48-08 -- $25,000
5. Matt Arey -- Shelby, NC -- 5, 8-13 -- 5, 13-05 -- 5, 13-08 -- 5, 12-10 -- 20, 48-04 -- $20,000
6. Stetson Blaylock -- Benton, Ar -- 1, 2-13 -- 5, 18-00 -- 4, 11-00 -- 5, 11-13 -- 15, 43-10 -- $17,000
7. Dave Lefebre -- Union City, Pa -- 5, 16-04 -- 5, 10-02 -- 4, 7-06 -- 5, 9-00 -- 19, 42-12 -- $16,000
8. Wesley Strader -- Spring City, Tn -- 5, 8-02 -- 5, 13-08 -- 5, 10-02 -- 5, 10-15 -- 20, 42-11 -- $15,000
9. David Dudley -- Lynchburg, Va -- 4, 10-06 -- 5, 9-09 -- 5, 11-05 -- 4, 6-00 -- 18, 37-04 -- $14,000
10. Justin Lucas -- Guntersville, Al -- 5, 15-13 -- 4, 5-10 -- 5, 11-15 -- 2, 2-03 -- 16, 35-09 -- $13,000
