Like most anglers who qualified for this year's REDCREST, California pro Brent Ehrler is familiar with Grand Lake, the tournament site. He's been there before and has a good gauge of how it sets up and an idea of what he needs to do if he hopes to take home the title. As the tournament approaches, he's preparing for every scenario, including the weather patterns, but expects it to be a great event.
Ready for Anything
As Ehrler gets prepped for the tournament, he said that weather would be the single most crucial factor in the event and, along with water clarity, will determine his approach.
"If the water levels and clarity are stable, it will be a good event," he said. "I don't think Grand Lake is really a 'numbers place,' and we won't see a lot of guys catching 20 bass a day. I think a day catching seven or eight over two pounds will be good."
Ehrler based his reasoning after fishing there a handful of times, including a 13th in the Bassmaster Classic, 28th in an Elite Series stop, and 47th while fishing the FLW Tour.
"I've been there a few times but don't have any experience there this time of year," he said. "I've seen it in June when it was all post-spawn and also early in the year when it snowed on us. I do know it has some good fish, though, and there are good odds to catch a four or five pounder and maybe one up to seven pounds."
Ehrler believes a handful of lures will get the most action from him and other anglers fishing this event and listed jerkbaits, spinnerbaits, jigs, and crankbaits as potential REDCREST winners.
Jerkbaits
For his jerkbait fishing, Ehrler plans to fish them on high percentage areas known to congregate pre-spawn bass in this region.
"I'll be looking for those points and bluff walls," he said. "I'll also mainly be fishing steeper banks; that's a big deal on Grand this time of year. I'll use standard jerkbaits as well as deeper diving baits like the new Lucky Craft Lightning Pointer DD."
Ehrler chooses to fish his jerkbaits on a 6'9" medium light Daiwa Tatula Elite Seth Feider rod paired with a Tatula Elite Reel.
"That reel is designed for long casts and many people don't realize how important that is for jerkbaits and crankbaits," he said. "You get your bait out further and you keep it in the strike zone longer and you can also get the bait deeper."
Crankbaits
For cranking, Ehrler plans to use both shallow and mid-range baits in many of the same areas he will fish a jerkbait.
"I'll be looking for the channel swings, points and steeper stuff as well as the rock banks and rock transitions," he said. "I'll have a Lucky Craft 1.5 tied on as well as a 1.5 DD. Those two are different depths, and I'll also adjust based on the cover in front of me."
He likes the 7'2" medium glass cranking rod he designed in the Daiwa Tatula Elite lineup with a Daiwa Tatula Elite reel in the 6.3:1 gear ratio for both crankbaits.
Spinnerbaits and Jigs
Two final ways that Ehrler could see himself having success at REDCREST are with jigs and spinnerbaits. The spinnerbait is a popular prediction among those fishing the event and Ehrler says there are plenty of targets to cast one at on Grand Lake.
"I like my 7'3" medium heavy 'Multi Purpose' Daiwa Tatula Elite rod for spinnerbaits," he said. "It's great for many different techniques, including throwing spinnerbaits. I'll fish it with a Daiwa Tatula Elite Reel and it's effortless for making casts, even at short range."
He believes a ball head and skipping jig will get most of his work for jigs and he'll use BOSS Brent Ehrler Skipping Jig and Brent Ehrler Ball Head and fishes both on the 7'1" heavy Daiwa Tatula Elite Skipping rod with a Daiwa Tatula Elite reel.
"That's a great all-around jig rod even though it was designed for skipping," said Ehrler. "I like the ball head for a more finessy approach and will use 14-pound line; it's a smaller profile and will be good around docks and rock. I'll fish the skipping jig under docks and will bump it to 20-pound test."
As he was getting his tackle prepped for Grand Lake, Brent Ehrler has decided to keep things simple for lure selection, but he's also keeping an open mind. Winning a tournament of this magnitude is something he's done as a former Forrest Wood Cup champion. He'd love to add another championship event to his resume this year in Oklahoma.