ROGERS - First place is the only place for Bryan Thrift of Shelby, N.C.

Two weeks after winning the FLW tournament at Sam Rayburn Reservoir in Texas, Thrift finished the first round of the FLW Wal-Mart Open at Beaver Lake in first place Thursday after catching five bass that weighed 16 pounds, 2 ounces.

Thrift weighed in smallmouth and largemouth bass, including one largemouth that weighed about 4 pounds, 8 ounces. He said it was just a day of fun fishing after he ignored everything he learned from practice.

“It was just one of those magical days,” Thrift said. “I don’t think a single fish I weighed in today came off a place I fished in practice. I just ran around and fished what I thought looked good that had wind beating on it.”

Spencer Shuffield of Hot Springs is second with five bass weighing 15 pounds, 5 ounces. He is followed by Steve Kennedy (5/14-15) of Auburn, Ala.; Eric Olliverson (5/14-12) of Lampe, Mo.; Casey Ashley (5/14-10) of Donalds, S.C.; Adrian Avena (5/14-10) of Vineland, N.J.; Gary Yamamoto (5/14-9) of Palestine, Texas; Jason Christie (5/14-7) of Park Hill, Okla., and Jonathan Newton (5/14-7) of Robersville, Ala.

While Thrift has been rolling this season, Shuffield said he’s been in a slump but that he believes this tournament will help him break out of it. He started strong by catching about 13 pounds in the first hour.

“I love coming here. This place is unbelievable,” Shuffield said. “I’ve got a good pattern going on, and I feel very good about it.”

Shuffield, a native of Bismarck, said he fishes Lake Hamilton and Lake Ouachita every day and that Beaver Lake fishes a lot like Ouachita.

“The difference is that here you have a chance to catch a four-pound smallmouth, a four-pound spot or a four-pound largemouth on any cast you make,” he said.

Many anglers complained Thursday about all the small bass in Beaver Lake, but Shuffield doesn’t buy it.

“This lake is slam chock full of three-pounders,” he said. “These fish don’t set up as well to be caught like they do on Table Rock, but two-and-a-half pounders today were a dime a dozen.

“I love this lake, and these fish are coming to me hard.”

Kennedy said there are a lot of small fish in the places he usually fishes on Beaver Lake, so he fished some new places Thursday. He found the quality he needed to lead the 14-pound traffic jam that defines places 3-13.

“I normally get sucked in up the river and catch 50 fish, but only three keepers,” Kennedy said. “I got a 4-10 on the first bite this morning. I’m trying to change it up this year.”

Kennedy also fished the Bassmaster Elite Series tournament on Table Rock Lake last weekend. He said that helped him adjust to the dynamic conditions he knew he would encounter on Beaver.

“This is two Ozark lakes in a row for me,” Kennedy said. “It’s similar, but this doesn’t have the size of fish. They’re not comparable that way, but I’m getting a better feel for how they move up and in with different conditions.”

Because the water conditions are changing rapidly, Kennedy said he doesn’t expect to follow a consistent pattern for the whole week.

“I’m not confident in anything with these fish,” Kennedy said. “They don’t relate to the bottom the way our fish do down south. They suspend under these bluffs, and that’s where the Alabama rig is so effective.

“They weren’t where they were in practice, and I didn’t get a bite in the places I caught them in practice.”

Sports, Pages 25 on 04/11/2014