Team Coign battles through wind with swimjigs on Lake Brownwood to catch 28 bass weighing 51-7 and earn Patriot Cup title
EARLY, Texas (Oct. 29, 2024) – It was a blustery day on the water for the four teams competing on Lake Brownwood, Tuesday, in the Championship Round of the Folds of Honor Patriot Cup presented by recteq. The Team Coign duo of Jeff Sprague of Wills Point, Texas, and Bryan Thrift of Shelby, North Carolina, 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 and the Patriot Cup championship.
The event, hosted by Visit Early, was the third event of the season for the General Tire Team Series presented by Bass Pro Shops.
It was a close match for most of the afternoon between Team Coign and Team Builders FirstSource, represented by pros Ott DeFoe and Alton Jones Jr. Late in the third period Team Builders FirstSource had cut the deficit down to just 4 pounds, 11 ounces, 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.
Link to HD Video Clip of Patriot Cup Championship Round Highlights
Link to Photo Gallery of Patriot Cup Championship Round Highlights
“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 – 11 on a swimjig, two on a vibrating jig and two on a Texas-rigged creature bait.
“The bait that carried us 99% 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 event. “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.”
The top four teams at the Folds of Honor Patriot Cup Presented by recteq finished:
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
Complete results from throughout the week can be found at MajorLeagueFishing.com.
Overall, there were 70 bass weighing 131 pounds, 3 ounces caught by the four teams competing in the Championship Round on Lake Brownwood. Connell caught the Berkley Big Bass of the day on a frog – a chunky largemouth weighing 4 pounds, 12 ounces.
The Folds of Honor Patriot Cup Presented by recteq was hosted by Visit Early and took place over six days in west-central Texas. The competition water for each day was top-secret and only revealed to the anglers when they arrived at the boat ramp each morning.
The Patriot Cup featured 12 two-man teams, divided into three groups as they entered the one-day Elimination Round matches. Each of the three Elimination Round matches featured four new teams, with the top two teams from each match of the Elimination Round advancing to the Knockout Round on Days 4 & 5. In the Knockout Rounds, three teams competed each day, with the top two teams from each Knockout Round match moving on to the Championship Round on Day 6. In Tuesday’s Day 6 Championship Round, the final four teams competed in a one-day shootout to determine which team was the winner of the 2024 Folds of Honor Patriot Cup Presented by recteq.
The 2024 General Tire Team Series is comprised of four events – Challenge Cup, Heritage Cup, Patriot Cup and Summit Cup – featuring two-man teams of MLF Bass Pro Tour pros competing from the same boat. Each event features a roster of 24 anglers, teamed up and working together to claim part of a season purse of more than $720,000. Teams were formed through a selection process, where 48 team captains – based on Fishing Clash Angler of the Year (AOY) standings throughout the 2024 Bass Pro Tour season – selected a teammate. Teams will compete throughout the fall of 2024.
The fourth and final General Tire Team Series event of the season – the Summit Cup – will take place Nov. 17-22. The location for the event will be announced to anglers thirty days prior to the start of the event.
Television coverage of the Folds of Honor Patriot Cup Presented by recteq will premiere on Outdoor Channel as six two-hour episodes in March 2025. New MLF General Tire Team Series episodes will premiere each Saturday morning on Outdoor Channel and posted to MOTV.
Proud sponsors of the MLF General Tire Team Series include: 7 Brew Coffee, Abu Garcia, B&W Trailer Hitches, Barbasol, Bass Boat Technologies, Bass Pro Shops, Berkley, BUBBA, Builders FirstSource, C-MAP, Coign, Epic Baits, Ferguson, Fishing Clash, General Tire, Knighten Industries, Kubota, Lowrance, Lucas Oil, Mercury, Mossy Oak, Nitro Boats, Onyx, Plano, Power-Pole, Ranger Boats, Rapala Baits, REDCON1, Smokey Mountain Herbal Snuff, Star brite, Toyota, USAA, WIX Filters and YETI.
For complete details and updated information on Major League Fishing and the General Tire Team Series Presented by Bass Pro Shops, visit MajorLeagueFishing.com. For regular updates, photos, tournament news and more, follow MLF’s social media outlets at Facebook, X, Instagram and YouTube.
