Brent Ehrler had an interesting explanation for his success yesterday, when he caught a tournament-leading total of 25 pounds, 6 ounces, including the big bass of the day, which weighed 9-1.
“The fish are confused,” he said. “You have to fish confused.”
Obviously, my idea of fishing confused and Ehrler’s are two different things. I don’t catch 25-6 in a state of confusion. Ehrler was referring to the fact that Rayburn’s bass are located throughout the water column now. If you tracked his boat on Day 1, it would look like a drunk man staggering home from the local gin mill.
“You go in, you go out, you go in, you go out,” Ehrler said. “If it looks good, you fish it. The fish are doing everything right now. You could catch a 10-pounder in a foot of water, you could catch one in 30-foot of water. You have to plan your day just saying if it looks good, you’re going to fish it.”
He said the 9-1 came in about 10 feet of water, and he caught keeper bass as shallow as 5 feet and as deep as 18 feet. He caught non-keepers shallower.
“Hopefully, I’m going to be open-minded,” Ehrler said. “That’s what it’s going to take. To do (the same thing) four days in a row, I think is impossible. The guy who wins this tournament is going to learn something as we go. It’s not going to be, I’m going to go here, I’m going to do this, I’m going to win it.”
Apparently, Ehrler is building upon what he learned on Day 1. BASSTrakk shows him with 21-6 so far today, which keeps him atop the leaderboard.