And Third FLW win this year
By Terry Battisti
Northwestern Staff Writer
June 1, 2010
They say when it’s your time to win, it’s your time. But that cliché usually holds true for one event a season – if that. If you look at what GYCB Pro,
Brent’s year started off at northern
But Ehrler wasn’t done as evidenced by his latest feat – a win at the fourth FLW Tour event held this past week on
Ehrler’s three wins, although amazing in their own right, don’t show the rest of the story of his 2010 performance. He currently sits in first place for AOY in the FLW Series with 1st- and 4th-place finishes and he sits in second place in the FLW Tour AOY standings, 21 points behind Brian Thrift.
His most recent win becomes his 6th in his FLW career and this year alone his winnings total nearly $350K.
I had the chance to talk with Brent this weekend as he was heading west to fish the third FLW Western Series event at the California Delta. We talked about his win, his streak and what he hopes to accomplish by the end of both the Western Series and Tour seasons.
Here’s what he had to say.
Ouachita: A Major Changeup
Ehrler’s practice didn’t yield much but he felt if he could get on the early morning topwater bite he’d be able to grind it out.
“My practice wasn’t too good,” he said. “I had a few good bites on topwater each morning and I knew if I didn’t catch them right off the bat I’d struggle. My secondary pattern was fishing a nail-weighted Senko off main lake and secondary points. So my plan was to put as many good fish in the boat first thing on top and then grind it out on the outside with the Senko. I also had some flip fish that I could rely on but I knew they weren’t the quality I’d need.
“The first day of the tournament I caught four in the morning, two on topwater (6- and 3-pounders) and then headed out to fish the main lake and secondary points. It took the rest of the day for me to catch one keeper.
“The second day started out being worse than the first,” he said. “I never got a fish on the topwater and around 9:00 in the morning I moved out to my Senko water. Finally at 10:00 I caught my first fish on the Senko. Then around 1:00 PM I pulled inside a small bay and caught a 2 1/2-pounder on the inside of a small point. Not long after that I caught a 3-pounder inside the same small bay. I kept going deeper into the bay and saw a number of fish swimming. I figured they were too spooked and didn’t throw at them. I left them alone for later.
“As I kept moving inside, I saw another fish, threw the Senko at it and caught it. I ended up filling out my limit but the most important thing was I found these fish in the back in shallow water a long way from where I’d thought they’d be with the water falling like it was.”
That clue would become the factor in his win.
“On the second day, I didn’t think those fish would eat the topwater bait because it was so late in the day,” he said. “I was convinced, up to that point, the topwater bite died when the sun got high. But I had new water and a new pattern to run on day three.
“When the third day rolled around, I went to my new area with the thought I’d catch the fish I saw on top first thing,” he said. “If they didn’t eat the topwater, I’d catch them on the Senko.
“I ended up with 12 to 13 pounds by 8:30 AM, all on topwater, and the fish just continued to eat the surface bait. By the end of the day I had a 6, 4 1/2, and 3 1/2 and a couple of 2-pounders. I had more fish that day than any other day including practice. I knew I had to commit the fourth day to throwing the topwater.
“The last day wasn’t nearly as productive as the third day,” he said. “My first fish came early but there was quite a bit of time between that fish and my second one. Then I lost two really nice fish and had a bunch of swirls on my topwater. It wasn’t until 11:00 AM that I finally caught my third and fourth fish of the day and I didn’t round out my limit until 12:05.
“The water had dropped a lot overnight and the fish just weren’t biting like they were the day before. I had my limit and continued fishing the backs when I realized the wolf pack I’d seen earlier (when I lost all those fish) was farther out than before.
“That clue told me I should move back outside. At 2:00 PM I went back out to some main lake stuff and in 30 minutes I caught two of my better fish for the day. I wish I would’ve figured that out earlier but as it worked out, it didn’t matter.”
A lot of anglers complained about losing fish during this tournament. Ehrler lost a couple that could have made a difference.
“I think I only lost two that would have helped me and that was on the last day,” he said. “I had a lot of fish boil on me that were nice but they never got hooked. It was just typical topwater fishing.”
Ouachita Baits
Ehrler’s topwater baits consisted of a Lucky Craft Gunfish 115 in ayu and ghost minnow patterns along with a Brian’s Bees B3 Prop bait.
“I primarily threw the Gunfish the entire tournament,” he said. “I’d throw the ghost minnow when the sun was high or the water was clear and I’d use the ayu when there was more shade, low-light conditions or when the water was a little dirtier.
“As for the B3, I knew from past experiences that bait was great on this lake. I’d never thrown the bait prior to the third day but there were a lot of bluegill spawning in the shallows and I knew that bait would work.
“The backs of these bays were so calm I thought I’d scare the fish if I sneezed. So I worked the bait really methodically by twitching it and letting it sit for a bit. I figured the fish were there because of the bluegill and if they heard it, they’d come for it.
The Near Future
Ehrler’s goals for the rest of the year are to maintain his lead in the Western Series and also win the Tour AOY. But he knows that won’t be an easy task.
“Brian’s going to be tough to catch,” he said. “His worst finish this year is a 21st place along with three top 5’s that include a win. If he finishes in the top 20 at Guntersville, he’ll win it.
“Having said that, though, when I finished second in 2008, I was in 9th place going into the last event.
“My main goal right now is to win Guntersville and have him stumble a bit,” he said. “I like Guntersville. It’s a fun lake. I have no idea what it’ll be like in June. It could be tricky. It’ll all depend on the water level, whether they’re pulling water and whether or not the grass is up on the surface. There are just too many variables to predict what’s going to happen.”
He feels roughly the same about the Delta event in two weeks.
“I keep hearing the Delta is off right now,” he said. “I always like fishing there but it could be tough. They say the water temperature is lower than normal. I honestly don’t know what’s going on other than they’ve had a lot of cold weather. All I want out of that tournament is a good showing to keep my points up.
Reflections
So what’s going on with Ehrler? He’s fishing like a mad man, was ranked #1 in BassFans’ World Ranking for a while this year (he’s currently ranked 2nd) and is looking at possibly obtaining two AOY trophies this season.
“I don’t really know what’s going on,” he said. “Timing maybe? It’s so hard to win one event a year let alone two. I haven’t changed anything but I’m getting more used to the water back east. I’m also getting better at determining what I need to do faster. Each one of the tournaments I’ve won this year I didn’t know going into the event what I was going to do exactly – Ouachita was a good example. That’s where I’m doing better, being able to change on the fly. It’s always been hard for me to do but now I feel better doing it and it’s paying off.”
Earlier this year he won back-to-back events going from west to east. Asked what it would mean to him to win back-to-back again in the reverse order he said, “That’d be awesome. After what’s going on this year, anything’s possible. What I really need to do is go buy a lottery ticket.”
Thanks
“I really want to thank my sponsors,” Ehrler said. “Without the help from Gary Yamamoto and Lucky Craft, this win wouldn’t have been possible. It doesn’t matter where you go, you can catch fish anywhere on a Senko.
“But another cool thing is being sponsored by the National Guard,” he added. “It was really cool fishing this event on Memorial Day and fishing for the Guard. This is the weekend we’re to remember all those people who have sacrificed their lives for us and for those who continue to fight for our freedoms. Fishing for the Guard this weekend really drove home to me what our armed forces do for us on a daily basis and I would like to thank each and every one of them for all they do for our country.
