Thrift sticks to strengths, leads group into Saturday’s Knockout Round on St. Lawrence River
MASSENA, N.Y. — Even the remnants of Hurricane Debby drenching the St. Lawrence River couldn’t extinguish the red-hot fishing Friday at Minn Kota Stage Seven Presented by Humminbird.
The 39 anglers finishing out Group B’s Qualifying Round on Friday consistently caught fish throughout the day, led by North Carolina angler Bryan Thrift, who totaled 31 bass for 91 pounds, 6 ounces for a total of 160-3 over two days. Thrift ended the day just 4 ounces ahead of a hard-charging Josh Bertrand, who wound up with 159-15.
Despite the late charge by Bertrand, Thrift was in control all day and became one of three anglers to eclipse 90 pounds on a day that Jacob Wheeler locked up 2024 Fishing Clash Angler of the Year honors. Wheeler’s 10th-place finish in the group gave him his third AOY trophy in the past four seasons, and he has to be considered one of the favorites to add a win on the St. Lawrence to put an exclamation point on his latest triumph.
In addition to the battle for the top of the group and the Angler of the Year title, there was plenty of movement on SCORETRACKER® throughout the day. Still, only two anglers below 10th place at the start of the day will advance to the Knockout Round – and both made big jumps as Jared Lintner (14th to fourth) and Mark Daniels Jr. (17th to eighth) replaced Skeet Reese and Fletcher Shryock.
Thrift sticks to strengths
Thrift was firmly ahead of the group for much of the day until Bertrand made a run and briefly passed him in the final 10 minutes. Thrift immediately added a 3-3 to take the lead for good. The North Carolina pro caught fish early and remained in control of the lead most of the day by fishing his strengths, using baitcast gear and a jig that he designed.
While other baits caught a few late fish for Thrift, a 1/2—and 3/4-ounce green pumpkin yellow Fitzgerald Fishing Bryan Thrift tungsten micro jig was his primary weapon, helping him land nearly 60 pounds in the first period alone.
“The day started really good, catching 50-something pounds,” Thrift said. “That allowed me to start looking for new areas, and I spent most of the day just fishing around. I looked for new stuff and went shallow to places I hadn’t fished all week.”
While he caught a handful of fish on new areas in the late afternoon, Thrift is all in on a particular stretch of the massive river.
“That’s where I’ve caught most of my fish on both days,” he said of his location. “I have no idea if that’ll be good enough and don’t know what the changing weather will do to them. I don’t expect them to bite as well as they did today.”
Ever the one to downplay his success, Thrift believes it will take big weights to make the Championship Round and thinks he’ll need everything to line up for him to advance.
“I have to think it will take 60, 70 pounds to move on,” he said. “I have that one main area, but don’t have a lot of other stuff that’s real good.”
Bertrand looks for more areas and finds them
It’s been an uncharacteristically down year for Bertrand, who found himself in 73rd place in the AOY race coming into Stage Seven. He’s looking to end the year on a high note on a familiar venue, having won a 2018 Bassmaster Elite Series event here. Bertrand is right at home on the St. Lawrence, landing a day’s best 30 bass for a 99-1.
“I’m obviously happy with how everything has gone so far,” he said. “The first day was hit and miss, and today, it seemed like everywhere I went had fish that were biting. I got to look around for some more areas late in the day and learned some new things.”
With an excellent track record on the river, Bertrand was encouraged by some new spots he’d found. He’s also very comfortable whenever he’s here because he can fish to his strengths.
“This place is a drop-shotter’s dream,” he said. “I love to fish that way, and that’s all I do when I’m here. I’ve put my time in here over the years and know a bunch of key little spots; but also added some new ones. About half of them are old places I had, and the rest are all new to me this week.”
Bertrand added that his top bait is a Berkley PowerBait MaxScent Flat Worm in green pumpkin.
Like Thrift, Bertrand is expecting more big weights and is setting his goal weight at 70 pounds.
“That’s the minimum I think it will take, but it could be more,” he said. “The ‘X-factor’ here is the wind. We weren’t supposed to have any, but now it’s showing more wind. It will definitely affect the weights if it blows 20 miles per hour or more.”
What’s next for Stage Seven
The best from both groups will hit the water in Saturday’s Knockout Round to compete for a spot in the Top 10 and a berth in the Championship Round. Friday’s driving rain is expected to pass, and the remaining anglers are set to fish under sunny skies and a pleasant high temperature of 76 degrees.
Watch all the action through Sunday on the MLFNOW! live stream at MajorLeagueFishing.com and the MyOutdoorTV (MOTV) app. The broadcast will start at 7:45 a.m. ET and run through 4:30 p.m. each day.
Fishing Clash Angler of the Year
With a 10th-place finish in his group, Jacob Wheeler has sealed his third Fishing Clash Angler of the Year title. He’ll cash the $100,000 check for his win and have to find room for yet another trophy in his impressive collection.
The race to REDCREST, Heavy Hitters berths, and the finalization of the 2025 Bass Pro Tour field will all be settled officially at the end of this event on Sunday.
Fishing Clash, an interactive 3D fishing simulation game played by over 80 million people worldwide, is the official AOY sponsor of the Bass Pro Tour, Tackle Warehouse Invitationals, Toyota Series and Phoenix Bass Fishing League. You can download Fishing Clash for free in the App Store and on Google Play or log on to www.fishingclash.game for more information.