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Redlands, Calif. – One would think that winning a $500,000 prize in the FLW Tour Championship and winning a Stren Series Championship would make a guy feel like he had arrived. Or, that he would see himself as an ultimate competitor to win every tournament as soon as it was scheduled. Not necessarily so, Brent Ehrler, the 2006 FLW Tour Championship winner is comfortable with where he is in the points.
“I start every season with the goal of making the championship,” Ehrler said. “I am mainly interested in being the guy who qualifies for a lot of championships; then the rest will fall into place.” Ehrler appears to be squarely on track to accomplish his goal in 2007, as he is in 11th place in the points with two tournaments left on the schedule.
“I finished in 13th place at Lake Norman, and am pretty excited about it,” Ehrler exclaimed. “It is my highest finish in a regular season event and it shows my progression as an angler.” Along with his broad goal of qualifying for the FLW Tour Championship, Ehrler starts each season with a goal to make a top 10 cut, and the finish at Norman was almost there.
Ehrler’s goals reflect his outlook on himself as an angler. “I’m only in my third season fishing back East,” Ehrler said. “I’m still on a fairly steep learning curve, and I’m just trying to focus on staying consistent.” His Beaver Lake finish was an example of his approach.
“I didn’t have a good practice at Beaver,” Ehrler reported. “I didn’t feel like I was on ‘em real good, and just went fishing every day.” Ehrler reported that he could not find a steady big fish pattern so he focused on trying to get a couple of early topwater bites, then turn to plastics.
“I wasn’t in good position after the first day,” he said. “I wasn’t able to connect with my fish, and it forced me to work harder the next day.” He changed his morning approach and spent the first two hours with topwater bait in his hand. “I threw a Ghost Tennessee Shad Lucky Craft Sammy 100 and was able to get a couple of good fish that helped me, after that I turned to the worm.” He finished in 50th place at Beaver, but he started the tournament in the 11th place position in the points, and stayed there after Beaver.
Ehrler said that the FLW Tour creates interesting challenges for anglers, and it relates to the size of the field, as well as the amount of time anglers get to practice. “These lakes get pounded,” Ehrler reported. “There are 200 guys fishing for a week, and every spot on the lake gets fished, so it effects the fish.” He said it affects the way he practices.
“I try to focus on moving fast in the first couple of days of practice,” Ehrler said. “But, you can see the bite start to slow down as the week wears on; that is why plastics are so important on the FLW Tour.” He said that he usually ends up finding his fish on reaction baits, but turns to a shaky head or drop shot as the event goes on.
The BASS ZONE caught up with Ehrler as he was working on one of his houses. Ehrler said that he took some of the winnings from the 2004 Stren Series Championship and invested them in a piece of land to build a home on as an investment.
“My father-in-law is a General Contractor, and having worked with him in the past, I knew that real estate would be a good investment,” Ehrler said. “I spend my time working on these homes when I come home to improve their value in order to supplement my income as an angler.”
He said it has been a busy year, but that the tournament schedule was going to get in the way of things he looks forward to every year. “Our tournament at the Detroit River is not going to allow me to go to ICAST this year,” he said. “I look forward to working with Lucky Craft every year, and I won’t be able to do that this year. I talked to Minoru [Segawu, Lucky Craft’s President of US operations] and we will try to make it to the Japan show this year if we can work it out.”
The Potomac River is next for the FLW Tour, and by press time, Ehrler will have caught a plane to Charlotte N.C. to get his tow vehicle and boat, and head to the site. You can keep up with Brent and the rest of the FLW Tour action at
www.flwoutdoors.com
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