11.Mar.2012 by Gary Mortenson
ANDERSON, S.C. – All week long, Brent Ehrler of Redlands, Calif., said that he didn’t want to be in first place until after the final day of competition on Lake Hartwell. Well, he lived up to his word. Using a whopping 20-pound, 5-ounce catch as a springboard during Sunday’s finals, Ehrler effectively ran away with the title – boasting a total catch of 74 pounds, 13 ounces to walk away with the fourth FLW Tour victory of his career by out-fishing his next closest competitor by more than 3 full pounds.
If it wasn’t clear before, it’s certainly obvious now that Ehrler is fishing as well as anyone on the planet. And that’s no exaggeration. In addition to today’s Lake Hartwell victory, Ehrler has won the Forrest Wood Cup title (2006), the FLW Tour event on Lake Ouachita (2010), the FLW Tour Table Rock Lake contest (2010), two FLW Series titles (Lake Havasu in 2009 and Lake Shasta in 2010), and the 2004 EverStart Series Championship.
In addition, Ehrler boasts 29 top-10 finishes in FLW events since 2003 as well as over $1.86 million in career earnings. He has recorded two angler-of-the-year titles (EverStart Series Western Division in 2003 and FLW Series Western Division in 2010), finished runner-up in the FLW Tour Angler of the Year race in 2008 and 2011 and netted three top-10 finishes in the Forrest Wood Cup since 2006.
And as a final bonus, Ehrler managed to shrug off his second-place finish at the FLW Tour Lake Hartwell event just one year prior en route to full redemption in South Carolina in 2012.
Not bad for a few days work.
“It feels so good,” said Ehrler, who netted $125,000 in first-place winnings at the Lake Hartwell contest this week. “I can’t tell you how awesome it is to win this thing. I just had a very good day today.”
Ehrler said that he had been mixing it up all week, fishing in depths ranging from 2 to 50 feet and employing multiple baits including everything from drop-shot rigs, to jigs, reaction baits to Picasso umbrella rigs. But today, Ehrler said he honed in on two key areas where he managed to do most of his damage.
“All of my fish came on two spots today,” he said. “Basically, both of those spots had fairly big drop-offs from about 30 to 50 feet. This lake is fairly flat so when you find those deeper drop-offs, you can get those better quality bites. It took me awhile to get going. But when those spots turned on, it went fast. I had a limit by about 9:30 a.m.”
Ehrler said that he targeted staging bass that were adhering to deeper drop-offs and content on feeding up on baitfish before moving onto the banks to spawn.
“I pulled up on one spot and caught a 4- or 5-pounder right away,” Ehrler said. “I had a dry spell in the middle of the day but I caught two good fish pretty late. I basically conserved both of my main areas today and that really paid off. I didn’t fish one spot at all until today and the other one, where I caught most of my fish, I only fished a little bit on day three.”
While Ehrler’s arsenal was vast all week, the California pro said he concentrated mostly on fishing a Phenix football jig and Phenix casting jig equipped with a 5-inch twin-tailed grub. Then when he found the fish he was looking for, he often employed a drop-shot Senko rig.
But winning the tournament wasn’t the only bonus for the young pro this afternoon.
“Today I got a text from my wife that my son just started crawling,” said Ehrler, trying to hold back tears onstage. “This has just been an awesome week. It really has.”
FLW Tour Major competition resumes March 29-April 1 at Table Rock Lake in Branson, Mo.
Special thanks to everyone at http://www.flwoutdoors.com
David Hunter Jones
By Ed Harp
Elite Series pro and Bassmaster Classic competitor John Crews is now in the plastics business with his newly launched company, Missile Baits. It was an interesting choice of businesses for the Virginia angler given the heavy competition in that part of the industry. How many times can a creature bait or a worm be reinvented?
“There’s a lot of opportunity in plastics for companies and for anglers,” he says. “I don’t see it as reinventing the worm. I see it as more like the fashion industry. There are always the old standby baits and colors that have caught them for years and will catch them for years. They’ll never go away. That’s like the little black dress or a white shirt.
“At the same time there are an almost unlimited number of designs and tweaks that are available for plastic bait makers and anglers. That’s like bellbottom pants. They haven’t come back, but the boot cut is now popular. That’s a tweak in my mind. People aren’t reinventing clothes. They’re redesigning them.”
Crews believes much of what drives plastics use is weather and water conditions. In a rainy year with lots of flooded shoreline you’ll see flipping and pitching creature baits at the top of the sales list. In dry years it’ll be more offshore stuff that dominates the market.
All that drives plastics is not logical, however. Remember when twin-tails on football heads were all the rage? And what about the shaky head a few years ago. Six-inch straight tail worms were in short supply in some tackle stores.
Most of those trends were driven by the anglers themselves. Pros were using them and catching fish. Writers and photographers were telling the story. Recreational anglers were buying them — and catching their own fish. Tomorrow it’ll be something new. Maybe we’ll see it coming, maybe not.
“It’s impossible to predict the future, but that’s really where I think plastic baits are going. They’ll follow fishing trends up and down. With constant change there will always be opportunity to serve the angling community and help them catch more fish. That’s what we’re about.”
With that said, however, Crews doesn’t see much of a change in materials, at least not in the immediate future. He believes plastic will be the staple for many years to come.
“Right now there’s nothing around that I know about that has the feel, durability and consistency of plastic, or that’s affordable. I’d love to see something that’s biodegradable come along. That’d be really great for everybody. Right now that’s just not happening. The scientists might come up with something in the future, but the future isn’t now.”
If you follow Crews’ advice, you might want to keep using your old standby baits that catch fish, use the new ones as they come along and store your bellbottoms safely in the back of your closet.
Mar 5, 2012
“Dream baby dream … ”
Dateline: Where Dreams Come True
Let’s dance.
Get up off your chair.
Stop reading this, it can wait.
Dance.
Find your wife, husband, girlfriend, boyfriend … and dance.
Dance like Travolta in the movie, “Michael.”
Dance like Kevin Bacon in the movie, “Footloose.”
I’m dancing to the music of Solomon Burke … “Down in the Valley,” right now in my Hampton Hotel room … sorry Room 212 down below me. Got my socks on, boxers, sleeping T-shirt … and my iPod.
Let’s dance.
I’m line dancing alone in my boxers for joy.
I’m dancing because you know what, you know what working stiffs all over this crazy country of ours.
I’m dancing alone because, dreams … working stiff dreams … do come true.
Dance America.
Dance.
Because no matter what you read, no matter what you are told … the American dream comes true … comes GOSH DARN TRUE.
May take some time, but dream it, work it, work your buttocks off, say your prayers, kiss your loved ones and hold true to your dreams, hold true to your hope, to your love, to your faith, to your laughter…and guess what…
… possible is actually POSSIBLE!
Just ask Elite angler, Greg Vinson.
” … come on and dream baby dream … ”
It was 646 days ago that I sat down with Greg Vinson and wrote the story … “Someday.”
In that story Greg told me this, “db someday … someday … I’m going to be Angler of the Year … someday I will compete in the Bassmaster Classic … someday … ”
Greg spoke of how he was about to quit, had to quit the B.A.S.S Elite series, couldn’t afford it because two months to the DAY that his entry fees were due, to months to that day … his wife Stephanie lost her job … and they needed the money and couldn’t send it in.
“Then the worst day of my life … the day the money is due … and we can’t send it … can’t send it … ”
At that point it looked like someday would never come.
Then the phone rang, and on the morning he was about to call B.A.S.S. and bow out, bow out on his dream … on the other end of the phone … a job offer for his wife.
You know the rest.
” … keep the fire burning … ”
You don’t know this though. Day Two, Greg is in second place a pound or so behind the leader … the dude comes into the Media Room and after standing up front for several minutes surrounded by a hoard of reporters I go up to him to offer congratulations on the day … and this is what he says to me, pretty darn near exact but I’m going to use the quote marks anyway.
“db check this out … ”
And he pulls out his phone, hits the photo library button, and while I’m expecting to see some kind of big fish … I find myself looking at a photo of his 3-week-old son, Gaige William Vinson.
His real dream.
Faith. Family. Fishing.
Now don’t get me wrong … we are not about to bring about world peace, end hunger, or have the Buffalo Bills win the Super Bowl here, we just working stiffs with dreams.
But it is the working man and the working woman with dreams who started this country. It is on our backs, it is in our dreams, the future of this country.
Which is why we need to dance for the Greg Vinson story, and for all the other stories of those who cross the Bassmaster Classic stage.
Comes the stage of dreams.
The Classic is about catching fish.
The Classic is about catching dreams.
And every time a dream is caught, we need to dance.
Don’t matter none, your stage.
What matters is that you know you have a stage.
That, here, on this soil, on these lakes and rivers, a stage waits for you.
Dream Baby Dream.
And to your dreams…
… hold true.
Let’s dance.
” … we gotta keep the light burning.”
Dream Baby Dream
Bruce Springsteen
Mar 5, 2012
“Dream baby dream … ”
Dateline: Where Dreams Come True
Let’s dance.
Get up off your chair.
Stop reading this, it can wait.
Dance.
Find your wife, husband, girlfriend, boyfriend … and dance.
Dance like Travolta in the movie, “Michael.”
Dance like Kevin Bacon in the movie, “Footloose.”
I’m dancing to the music of Solomon Burke … “Down in the Valley,” right now in my Hampton Hotel room … sorry Room 212 down below me. Got my socks on, boxers, sleeping T-shirt … and my iPod.
Let’s dance.
I’m line dancing alone in my boxers for joy.
I’m dancing because you know what, you know what working stiffs all over this crazy country of ours.
I’m dancing alone because, dreams … working stiff dreams … do come true.
Dance America.
Dance.
Because no matter what you read, no matter what you are told … the American dream comes true … comes GOSH DARN TRUE.
May take some time, but dream it, work it, work your buttocks off, say your prayers, kiss your loved ones and hold true to your dreams, hold true to your hope, to your love, to your faith, to your laughter…and guess what…
… possible is actually POSSIBLE!
Just ask Elite angler, Greg Vinson.
” … come on and dream baby dream … ”
It was 646 days ago that I sat down with Greg Vinson and wrote the story … “Someday.”
In that story Greg told me this, “db someday … someday … I’m going to be Angler of the Year … someday I will compete in the Bassmaster Classic … someday … ”
Greg spoke of how he was about to quit, had to quit the B.A.S.S Elite series, couldn’t afford it because two months to the DAY that his entry fees were due, to months to that day … his wife Stephanie lost her job … and they needed the money and couldn’t send it in.
“Then the worst day of my life … the day the money is due … and we can’t send it … can’t send it … ”
At that point it looked like someday would never come.
Then the phone rang, and on the morning he was about to call B.A.S.S. and bow out, bow out on his dream … on the other end of the phone … a job offer for his wife.
You know the rest.
” … keep the fire burning … ”
You don’t know this though. Day Two, Greg is in second place a pound or so behind the leader … the dude comes into the Media Room and after standing up front for several minutes surrounded by a hoard of reporters I go up to him to offer congratulations on the day … and this is what he says to me, pretty darn near exact but I’m going to use the quote marks anyway.
“db check this out … ”
And he pulls out his phone, hits the photo library button, and while I’m expecting to see some kind of big fish … I find myself looking at a photo of his 3-week-old son, Gaige William Vinson.
His real dream.
Faith. Family. Fishing.
Now don’t get me wrong … we are not about to bring about world peace, end hunger, or have the Buffalo Bills win the Super Bowl here, we just working stiffs with dreams.
But it is the working man and the working woman with dreams who started this country. It is on our backs, it is in our dreams, the future of this country.
Which is why we need to dance for the Greg Vinson story, and for all the other stories of those who cross the Bassmaster Classic stage.
Comes the stage of dreams.
The Classic is about catching fish.
The Classic is about catching dreams.
And every time a dream is caught, we need to dance.
Don’t matter none, your stage.
What matters is that you know you have a stage.
That, here, on this soil, on these lakes and rivers, a stage waits for you.
Dream Baby Dream.
And to your dreams…
… hold true.
Let’s dance.
” … we gotta keep the light burning.”
Dream Baby Dream
Bruce Springsteen
Fishing Lake Anna in March
March is a month to catch some of the largest fish of the year and many citations should be recorded this month. Although spring officially arrives on March 20th the extremely mild winter has triggered fish to move shallow, feed often and prepare for the spawn. Bait is plentiful and has already begun its migrations up the rivers and into the creeks. We have been catching Stripers for the last month in less than 5 feet of water, Crappie have been plentiful under shallow docks and Bass are cruising the banks. March fishing should be excellent this year.
STRIPERS: Stripers are scattered all over the lake now and are gorging themselves fattening up for the rigors of the spawn which will take place over the next couple months. Due to the warmer than average water temperatures Stripers are literally everywhere from the Dam all the way up the rivers, main lake to the backs of the creeks. Gulls will advertise where schools are working and will give anglers a good place to start fishing. Striper fishing has been excellent, my clients have been limiting out easily and on some days our catch rates have been in excess of 10 fish per hour. [Check out our catches on my journal at www.JimHemby.com] Stripers are fat and full of roe. Here are some proven tactics to catch Stripers this season.
Most anglers are limited to using artificial baits only and rely on Gulls rather than their electronics to locate feeding Stripers. The trick is to approach diving birds quietly turning your big motor off a minimum of 100 yards away and quietly using your trolling motor to sneak up on the feeding Stripers. Anglers should be using their electronics to locate fish well outside of the area the gulls are working due to the abundance of Stripers this year. There is so much bait this year usually the smaller Stripers are chasing the bait to the surface while the larger fish cruise the parameters of the bait schools occasionally feeding on easy bait. Many different baits can be used but throwing spoons either working them nearby the surface or letting them fall and working them all the way back to the boat have been catching nicer fish. Down lake near Dike 3 Pencil Poppers, Spook type baits and Rattletraps work well when the fish surface in the current. Jigs rigged with Super Flukes dropped near the action seem to catch better fish. Mid lake and up lake it is hard to beat throwing swim baits at the banks especially on warming trends. Locate an area where you see bait on your depth finder and target clay or rocky banks for better action. In low light times of the day waking a Redfin over a point nearby bait can bring chills to your spine when a big Striper explodes on your offering.
Artificial techniques work well but nothing fools a big Stripers like pulling a big Shad or Herring past them. If you can’t catch native baits try Jumbo minnows purchased from the marinas. For the next 2 months I will focus on points, humps and shallow flats where baitfish are present and especially where there is minimal boat traffic. Boat motors will turn the fish off and this year I have concentrated on working areas with little or no traffic regardless of the section of the lake with great results. On warming trends I will run Water Bugz planner boards over flats and right up next to the bank whether we are fishing deep main lake portions of the lake or the backs of creeks. On cooling trends and blue bird days if the fish do not cooperate shallow I will drop back to 20 to 30 foot flats and pull a combination of boards and down lines rigged at the depth I see fish on my Lowrance. As the water warms I will use larger baits and when the water cools I will downsize my baits. Being versatile is the key to successfully fishing for Stripers on this lake. Too many anglers fish “Memories” or where they see other boats fishing versus working areas where there is less fishing pressure and bait fish present.
BASS: Warmer than average weather has pushed Bass shallower than normal for this time of year. March is a month of Bass Tournaments on the lake and the fish will see every bait known to man this month. Lake Anna is usually the first stop on most tournament schedules and for a good reason, there are plenty of Big bass that are fatting up for the spawn. Bass are working pre spawn areas [primary and secondary points and various structures nearby spawning flats] feeding heavily in good conditions and retreating back to the first drops or shallower channel edges in when the conditions decline. Many fisherman are using the new multi-rigs [many with different names but basically the same look and appeal] with good results but as the fish move into spawning areas conventional baits should excel with the lack of large school of bait not being nearby. Mid lake and down lake concentrate your efforts in depths of 16 feet or less, working prespawn areas. Primary and secondary points down lake will hold giant Bass that are suckers for Suspending Jerkbaits. A good pattern to try is targeting 30 degree gravel banks that have cover on them with crank baits or swim baits. Other areas that will produce this month will be windy rip rap, throwing big bladed spinner baits on the banks. A few areas that always produce in March and April are coves like Hackneys, Boggs, Dukes Creek and the back of Sturgeon Creek. Backs of mid lake coves and pockets along with docks in deeper Marinas will attract nice bass now. Brush piles, big boulders and any structure should hold Bass that are in transition to spawning areas.
CRAPPIE: Fishing has been and will continue to be excellent for Crappie. Up lake nice fish have been very shallow using shallow docks, dead shoreline grasses and stumps for cover. In cold front conditions Crappie are congregating along bridge pilings and rocky drop offs. We have seen 100 yard schools of Crappie hanging along the first main drop off next to spawning flats in 10 to 20 feet of water. Try locating schools with small jigs and once you find the larger fish work them with medium minnows. We are catching a few Crappie on 6 inch baits pulling boards up on the banks!
CATFISH: The Cats have even been feeding earlier than normal this year. In addition to them being scattered around the numerous bait pods of bait everywhere Huge Blue Cats are up in the current at Dike 3. Last year numerous fish over 20 pounds were caught there in March and already this month a 42 pound fish was boated there.
