Topwater's usually a factor in post-spawn tournaments, but it's most often a morning pattern. Anglers have a small window of opportunity after blastoff to pick off a few good fish, or a limit of schooling fish, before the sun gets up and the fish move back into cover.
Every once in a while, somebody can make the topwater go all day long. Zell Rowland made a career out of it early on. Craig Powers is another who's notorious for working an all-day topwater bite.
When the recent Ouachita FLW Tour began, few predicted topwater would be an all-day pattern. The lake was well above flood stage and the bass were buried up in the flooded brush.
But as the tournament wore on, the water receded and the fish pulled out of the bushes
to prey on bedding bream. Finesse was a major factor – several of the Top-5 finishers threw shakey-heads and soft stickbaits out in front of the bushes.
Winner Brent Ehrler did some of that on days 1 and 2, but halfway through day 2 he made a discovery that led to a key decision. When his main-lake finesse bite started to die, he moved into a pocket and saw a mind-boggling number of fish cruising around in the clear water. He made the decision right there to commit to topwater for the duration of the tournament.
The topwater helped him salvage day 2 with 13 pounds, he came in the next day with nearly 19, then sacked 11-11 on an ultra-tough day 4 to win by a 1 1/2-pound margin.
It marked his second FLW Tour win of the season, and along with a victory at the season-opening Shasta Western FLW Series, boosted his total 2010 FLW Outdoors winnings to nearly $250,000.
What follows is an in-depth look at how he won Ouachita.
Practice
Given the flooded conditions, Ehrler practiced all over the lake and in all water depths. His initial gameplan was to start each morning with a topwater, then fish secondary stuff with a nail-weighted Senko and shakey-head.
"I didn't have a good practice," he noted. "Going into the tournament, I thought I could catch three or four in the morning, then go finish a limit (with finesse). All my good bites in practice came on a topwater either real early or right in the evening – none during the day. Although I didn't run the topwater pattern very hard during the days."
Competition
> Day 1: 5, 14-00
> Day 2: 5, 13-11
> Day 3: 5, 18-11
> Day 4: 5, 11-11
> Total = 20, 58-01
The first day, Ehrler nailed a 6-pound morning fish on topwater and added three more, then finished his limit with a Senko.
He struggled the next day though. So far, he'd concentrated on main-lake stuff like rocky points. He never got a morning topwater bite and caught his first Senko fish at about 10:00. His next Senko fish came at 1:00 and he knew he was dying.
"I decided to go into a bay and start looking around," he said. "Right away I saw three or four fish on the way back in. I started casting around and caught one, then I saw more, and more and more. I thought, 'You have to be kidding me – there's bass everywhere.' I finished out my limit with the Senko and figured I'd fish there the next morning with a topwater."
He did start there on day 3, but in addition to his Lucky Craft Gunfish 115, he tied on a Brian's Prop Bee, because everybody told him that's the bait to throw around bream beds.
"I never caught a bass on one of (Prop Bees) in my entire life," he noted. "I caught one right off the bat on the Gunfish, then started with the Prop Bee and caught a 4 1/2." He added another keeper shortly after, then started to move around and added a 6-pounder on the Gunfish.
At that point he had four fish and decided to run new water. He ditched the Senko, committed to the topwater and was able to catch fish throughout the day.
Ehrler found that in open water with a little wind, fish bit the Lucky Craft Gunfish better, but when it was greasy-calm, they wanted the Brian's Prop Bee.
"Now I was torn – which bait should I throw?" he said. "I started to figure out that when I was running open water on the main lake in lowlight with more wind, the big ones would bite the Gunfish better. When it was greasy-calm and sunny, I'd throw the Prop Bee.
Given his all-day success on the topwater, he decided to commit to it entirely again on day 4. He caught all his day-4 fish on the pattern and the fish bit both baits, but more bit the Prop Bee, he noted.
Additionally, he discovered late in the day that most fish had pulled out of the pockets into the main lake, en route to their summer haunts. He figured he was too late in that discovery, but turns out he had enough to win.
Winning Pattern Notes
Bedding bream are commonly a factor in winning patterns at Ouachita this time of year, although there was some uncertainty at the beginning of this event, simply because flood conditions put the beds too deep for many to see.
"I physically saw some bluegills on beds and they tended to be in the pockets and creeks – not on the main lake," Ehrler said. "I don't know how I missed that deal (in practice). These bass were in wolfpacks and swimming on the bank, but it wasn't everywhere – it was just in some places. I don't know how I missed that until the second day."
Winning Gear Notes
> Gunfish gear: 6'10" medium-action Lucky Craft Sammy rod, Abu Garcia Revo Premier casting reel, 28-pound Sunline PE braid, 19-pound Sunline Machine Gun mono leader, Lucky Craft Gunfish 115 (pearl ayu) and Brian's Prop Bee (bluegill).
> He swapped out the stock hooks on both baits for Owner No. 4 Stinger-36 trebles.
> Senko gear: 7' heavy-action Lucky Craft Reaction Tube rod, Abu Garcia Soron spinning reel, Lunker City Nail weight, 1/0 Owner Weedless Wacky hook, 5" Gary Yamamoto Senko (green-pumpkin/amber laminate).
The Bottom Line
