By MLF Communications Staff


It was a fight to the finish on Sunday – with a mere 1-pound, 12-ounce separation between the Top 5 pros as the competition day concluded – yet Bryan Thrift of Shelby, North Carolina, persevered to grab the early lead for Group B in the MLF Bass Pro Tour event on Watts Bar Lake in Spring City, Tennessee.

Thrift will take a slim lead into Group B’s second day of competition on Tuesday, with a 6-ounce advantage over second-place Ish Monroe of Oakdale, California, who caught eight bass totaling 23-07. Chris Lane of Guntersville, Alabama chased the mayfly hatch to end the day in third place, catching 10 bass weighing 23-06, while Jeff Sprague of Wills Point, Texas, ended the day in fourth place with 11 bass totaling 22-02. Tennessee's David Walker rounded out the Top with 10 bass weighing 22-01.

Water was pulled from the fishery late in the day, creating a stronger current that enhanced the afternoon bite and produced a third-period flurry for several anglers. Dustin Connell of Clanton, Alabama made the biggest afternoon waves on ScoreTracker, starting the final period in 38th place before catching 10 bass weighing 19-13 in Period 3 to finish the day in sixth place.

The 40 anglers in Group B will now have an off day, while the 40 anglers competing in Group A will fish their second day of competition Monday, battling it out for the top 20 spots. Group B will resume competition on Tuesday.

Thrift said he found his original starting point during the 30-minute ride-through, not far from the takeoff ramp, and spent the day throwing a variety of baits to small, isolated targets – rock piles, brush piles and grass – where fish were set up and ready to bite.

“Today was a good day,” Thrift said. “Kind of tough fishing, but this is my favorite thing to do – fishing isolated targets like I’ve done all day today.

“My only worry is that I don’t have enough locations,” he continued. “I’ve only got about 15 to 20 spots and I probably need 50 to 60 to continue to compete with this field, so hopefully today bought us a little wiggle room and we can go find some more spots when we get back out there.”

Thrift was the leader going into the final period and held off several hard-charging anglers to maintain that lead going into the second day of competition for Group B anglers on Tuesday.

“I caught the majority of my fish on a shaky-head and a Texas rig with some BaitFuel Fish Attractant Gel. I also caught two scorable bass on a crankbait today,” Thrift said. “I threw those baits on my signature series Fitzgerald Tournament Shaky Head Rod, with P-Line XTCB Braid and a 10-pound P-Line Spin-X fluorocarbon Leader with a 1/8-ounce shaky-head.

“I ended up catching 12 scorable bass today with that setup,” Thrift continued. “That will be the plan going into Day 2 and hopefully we make it on to the next round.”

Monroe caught a 4-05 largemouth in the first period that earned him the second $1,000 Berkley Big Bass Award of the event. Berkley awards $1,000 to the angler who weighs the heaviest bass each day and a $3,000 bonus to the angler who weighs the heaviest bass of the tournament.

Anglers launch each day at 7:30 a.m. ET from the Spring City Boat Ramp, located at 417 Toestring Valley Road. Takeouts are held at the ramp, beginning at 4 p.m. Fans are welcome to attend all launch and takeout events and also encouraged to follow the event online throughout the day on the MLF NOW! livestream and ScoreTracker coverage at MajorLeagueFishing.com.

The tournament features anglers competing with a 1 1/2-pound minimum weight requirement for a bass to be deemed scorable. Minimum weights are determined individually for each competition waters that the Bass Pro Tour visits, based on the productivity, bass population and anticipated average size of fish in each fishery.

The 40 Anglers in Group A compete in their two-day Qualifying Round on Saturday and Monday, with the 40 anglers in Group B on the water on Sunday and Tuesday. After each two-day Qualifying Round is complete, the anglers who finish in 2nd through 20th place from both groups advance to Wednesday’s Knockout Round, while the winner of each group advances directly to Thursday’s Championship Round. In the Knockout Round, weights are zeroed and the remaining 38 anglers compete to finish in the Top 8 to advance to the Championship Round. Weights will again be zeroed for the Championship Round, and the highest one-day total wins the top prize of $100,000.

The MLF NOW! broadcast team of Chad McKee, Marty Stone and J.T. Kenney breaks down the extended action on all six days of competition from 7:45 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. ET. MLF NOW! is livestreamed on MajorLeagueFishing.com and the MyOutdoorTV (MOTV) app.



Group B Qualifying Round – Day 1

(Figure at far right indicates weight of angler's heaviest fish for the day)

1. Bryan Thrift -- 23-13 (12) -- 2-14

2. Ish Monroe -- 23-07 (8) -- 4-05

3. Chris Lane -- 23-06 (10) -- 3-15

4. Jeff Sprague -- 22-02 (11) -- 3-02

5. David Walker -- 22-01 (10) -- 3-14

6. Dustin Connell -- 21-10 (11) -- 2-08

7. Justin Lucas -- 20-03 (11) -- 2-08

8. Jacob Wheeler -- 19-10 (9) -- 3-11

9. Josh Bertrand -- 17-03 (7) -- 3-15

10. Todd Faircloth -- 15-12 (6) -- 3-09

11. Adrian Avena -- 15-09 (8) -- 2-11

12. Ott DeFoe -- 14-00 (8) -- 2-10

13. Stephen Browning -- 13-01 (7) -- 2-07

14. Clabion Johns -- 12-10 (7) -- 2-14

15. Dave Lefebre -- 12-05 (7) -- 2-04

16. Scott Suggs -- 11-06 (6) -- 3-02

17. Cliff Pace -- 11-05 (6) -- 2-08

18. Alton Jones Jr. -- 11-00 (5) -- 3-01

19. Zack Birge -- 10-02 (4) -- 2-15

20. Jeremy Lawyer -- 10-00 (5) -- 2-11

21. Russ Lane -- 9-15 (5) -- 2-10

22. Casey Ashley -- 9-14 (5) -- 2-15

23. Brett Hite -- 9-03 (6) -- 1-11

24. Jesse Wiggins -- 8-14 (4) -- 2-09

25. Dylan Hays -- 8-11 (4) -- 2-11

26. Gerald Spohrer -- 8-08 (5) -- 2-05

27. Fletcher Shryock -- 8-06 (4) -- 2-14

28. Matt Lee -- 8-00 (4) -- 2-14

29. Roy Hawk -- 7-12 (4) -- 2-04

30. Jonathon VanDam -- 7-06 (4) -- 2-06

31. Terry Scroggins -- 7-00 (3) -- 2-14

32. Brent Chapman -- 6-14 (4) -- 2-05

33. Jason Lambert -- 6-12 (4) -- 2-00

34. Kelly Jordon -- 5-04 (3) -- 2-00

35. Jeff Kriet -- 4-06 (2) -- 2-10

36. Luke Clausen -- 4-06 (2) -- 2-04

37. Tommy Biffle -- 4-02 (2) -- 2-06

38. Bradley Roy -- 3-11 (2) -- 2-02

39. Skeet Reese -- 3-07 (1) -- 3-07

40. Cole Floyd -- 3-06 (2) -- 1-13