Thrift lets FLW Wood Cup slip through his fingers

Brian Thrift of Shelby finished third in last week's FLW Forrest Wood Cup on Louisiana's Red River.

Shelby bass pro drops from first to third on final day, still wins $60,000

Bryan Thrift of Shelby placed third at the Aug. 15-18 Forrest Wood Cup at the Red River, Shreveport, La., with a four-day catch of 46-1 and received $60,000. After jockeying for the lead during the first three rounds with Randall Tharp of Port Saint Joe, Fla., Thrift could only bring five small fish to the scales weighing 6-11 for the final round, and he fell to third place.

Thrift and Tharp stunned the 46-man field with opening round catches of 18-7 and 18-8, respectively. Tharp increased his lead to four ounces the second day with a total of 29-11 while Thrift had 29-7. Thrift turned the tables on Tharp in the third round by taking a 4-ounce lead, but he lost the lead and the championship with his small catch on Day 4.

Tharp brought in 14-0 the final day for a winning haul of 53-2 that paid $500,000.

Last year’s champion, Jacob Wheeler of Indianapolis, Ind., made a charge the final day with 14-4 but fell short with 49-2. His second-place finish was worth $75,000.

Matt Arey of Shelby finished 18th with 28-11, winning $15,000; and David Fritts of Lexington placed 23rd with 19-2 winning $12,500.

Among the co-anglers, Bryan New of Belmont ranked fourth with 17-5 for  $8,000; and Justin Jones of Apex finished 35th with 9-13 that paid $2,000.

The Forrest Wood Cup will be broadcast Sept. 29 at 2:30 p.m. over NBC.

OTHER BASS TOURNAMENTS

Piedmont Bass Classic End of Year Trail, Kerr Lake, Aug. 10

1. Vern Fleming (Raleigh)-Glenn Long (Henderson), 17.45, $1,006; 2. Chris Bullock (Fountain)-Robert Perkins (Rougemont), 17.01, $562; 3. Howard-Justin Bohannon (Durham), 15.60, $444; 4. Dennis Reedy (Siler City)-Tommy Marrow (Oxford), 15.36, $325; 5. Mike Stephenson (Bahama)-Chad Jones (Durham), 14.87, $236; 6. Tony Woodard (Four Oaks)-Brandon Gray (Bullock), 14.75, $207; 7. Mark-Larry Inman (Greensboro), 13.63, $180. Big bass: Reedy-Morrow, 5.50 pounds, $462

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