By MLF Communications Staff
EARLY, Texas – It was a blustery day on the water for the four teams competing on Lake Brownwood Tuesday in the Championship Round of the Patriot Cup. The Team Coign duo of Jeff Sprague of Wills Point, Texas, and Bryan Thrift of Shelby, N.C. battled through the tough conditions to win the event, catching 28 bass weighing 51 pounds, 7 ounces. For their victory, Sprague and Thrift earned $40,000.
It was a close match for most of the afternoon between Team Coign and Team Builders FirstSource, represented by Ott DeFoe and Alton Jones Jr. Late in the third period, DeFoe and Jones had cut the deficit down to just 4-11, then Sprague and Thrift went on a mini-flurry, catching three scorable bass in the final 20 minutes to pull away and secure the victory.
“It was a good day, man,” Thrift said in his postgame interview. “We made good decisions all the way throughout the day. When we were here on Sunday for the Knockout Round, we got into a little bit of a midday lull. But today we got into the back of some pockets and fought through that midday lull.
“We caught some key fish in those pockets on a ChatterBait and a Texas rig,” Thrift continued. “And in the back of our minds, we knew that we could come back to this spot that we ended the day on and catch two or three to close this thing out if we needed to. We did, and it worked out, perfectly.”
Thrift caught eight keepers on the day – four on a swimjig and four on a swimming worm. Sprague caught 20 keepers – 16 on a swimjig, two on a vibrating jig and two on a Texas-rigged creature bait.
“The bait that carried us 99 percent of the way was just a hand-tied swimjig,” Sprague said. “We threw it with the brand-new Lake Fork Lure Co. Pro Craw, in bluegill and honey-craw color. The bait looks just like a bluegill, and that is what did all of the work for us this week.”
Thrift and Sprague came into the event with a bit of a chip on their shoulder. The duo teamed up earlier this season at the Heritage Cup in Wisconsin and had a disappointing tournament, not advancing out of the Elimination Round. This week in Texas, Sprague felt like their experience fishing together gave them an advantage.
“We learned so much from each other at the last event,” Sprague said before the tournament. “Even though we’d fished together a lot as friends, we’d never competed together on the same boat. I felt like we’d work together better, and fish faster and more efficiently at this one.”
Sprague’s prediction rang true, as the duo overcame equipment frustrations earlier in the week and worked well together, complementing each other’s styles and fishing fast, as both anglers are known to do.
“Today was a pretty stinking perfect day,” Sprague went on to say. “I’m so excited that we got it done together. If you look at the roster of guys that we fished against today … we competed against the best anglers on the planet this week. It is so difficult to win one of these things. I’m so happy that I got it done this week with my buddy Thrift, and I’m going to remember this one for a long time.”
Here are the final numbers for the day:
1st: Team Coign, 28 bass, 51-7
Jeff Sprague, Wills Point, Texas, 20 bass, 37-7
Bryan Thrift, Shelby, N.C., eight bass, 14-0
2nd: Team Builders FirstSource, 21 bass, 43-6
Ott DeFoe, Blaine, Tenn., 10 bass, 20-5
Alton Jones Jr., Waco, Texas, 11 bass, 23-1
3rd: Team Lucas Oil, 14 bass, 26-0
Dustin Connell, Clanton, Ala., 10 bass, 19-12
Jacob Wheeler, Harrison, Ark., four bass, 6-4
4th: Team 7 Brew Coffee, seven bass, 10-6
Brent Ehrler, Redlands, Calif., six bass, 9-2
Justin Lucas, Guntersville, Ala., one bass, 1-4
Connell caught the Berkley Big Bass of the day on a frog – a chunky largemouth weighing 4-12.
The fourth and final Team Series event of the season – the Summit Cup – will take place Nov. 17-22.
