Trio Recounts Dramatic Road To Classic Berths

By Todd Ceisner
BassFan Editor

Boyd Duckett, Randy Howell and Brent Ehrler are no strangers to winning on the biggest of stages in bass fishing. Both Duckett and Howell have Bassmaster Classic wins on their résumés while Ehrler is a five-time winner on the FLW Tour, including the 2006 Forrest Wood Cup.

But all three went into the recent Elite Series Angler of the Year Championship needing strong finishes to put themselves above the cutoff mark for qualification for the 2017 Classic. All three delivered in the clutch.

Ehrler’s runner-up finish was his best career showing in a B.A.S.S. event and it punctuated an uncharacteristic roller-coaster season for him with a seven-spot jump in the points standings to lock up a second straight Classic trip.

Duckett had missed four straight money cuts prior to the Mississippi River event, but a 15th-place finish in Wisconsin and a 12th-place showing at Mille Lacs Lake resulted in a seven-spot jump as well for the 2007 Classic winner.

Howell thought he’d nuked his Classic hopes at the Potomac River, where he got hung up on a sandbar one day and needed help from his marshal to get his boat dislodged. The resulting DQ for that day led to a 102nd-place finish and ratcheted up the pressure in the final two events to get back into Classic contention. A top-12 at the Mississippi River was the first step and his 20th-place effort in Minnesota was enough to get him up to 38th place in points, safely inside the Classic cut.

Following are some additional details about how each angler tackled the pressure-packed finale.

Ehrler: ‘I felt like I won’

Ehrler is not accustomed to needing a strong finish at the end of the season to secure a spot in the championship event of the circuit he’s fishing. During his FLW Tour days, he finished in the top 10 in points in seven of the eight seasons between 2007-14. Last year, he was 9th as a newcomer to the Elite Series. Being in 41st and below the Classic cutline heading into the AOY Championship was a foreign concept and an uncomfortable position.

“I didn’t like that position at all,” he said. “I already put a lot of stress on myself. I was backed into a corner. I had to catch them. Otherwise, I was not going to the Classic.”

He bombed at the Mississippi River (87th) the week before Mille Lacs, so a short memory was crucial to his success.

“I put myself in a hole going into that tournament,” he said. “It wasn’t like I was in and was trying to maintain my spot. I literally had to catch them or I was out. I didn’t like that.

“I’m not out there being lazy and going about my business. I work as hard as I possibly can at all events. It’s not like I said, ‘I’m out of it so I have to work harder.’ This one just put more stress on me. It was the first time being in this position.”

He ultimately fished in a manner that he was comfortable with – finessing smallmouth with a dropshot while mixing in a spinnerbait and jerkbait.

“For me to do what I needed to do, I had to find groups of big ones out deep,” he said. “I knew that’s how it’d be won.”

After a tough practice – “I did not feel great when they called my number in the morning to go out,” he said – he caught 25 pounds in the first 45 minutes on day 1 before pulling off the area and opting to conserve the spot.

“It was fast and furious every cast,” he said.

Day 2 was more of a grind with long lulls in between bites. He moved around and eventually culled up to 20-14. He was 3rd in the tournament and safely inside the Classic. Still, he knew he needed another solid bag to clinch it on the final day.

By 11:30 a.m. on the last day, he had two squeakers and a 5-pounder in his livewell. He was starting to worry about where he’d finish and how it would impact the points.

“I was thinking I was out of the Classic,” he said. “I figured I’d fall into the 20s or 30s and miss it.”

He was moving to a new spot and figured he’d turn on his SideScan to examine another area close to where he was at.

“I just stated looking to see what was down there,” he said. “I idled a couple minutes and found two boulders. I scrolled over and waypointed one. I figured those boulders are normally good for one or two fish. I was going to run 10 miles to my next spot. Instead, I spun the boat around and on the first drop, I caught a 3-pounder for my fourth fish."

He went through a bunch of 2-pounders and culled up to 13 or 14 pounds. He knew he needed bigger fish to seal the deal. Soon after, he landed a 6-10 that got him up to 18 or 19 pounds. A couple more 4-pounders capped off a stellar late-day rally and punched his Classic ticket.

“That one fish got me in the Classic,” he said of the 6-10, which is the biggest smallmouth he’d ever caught. "I didn’t want to risk breaking down so at 12:30 or 1, I had 23 pounds and I knew I’d make the Classic if I made it to check-in. I know I could’ve caught a couple more fish, but it wasn’t worth it to me. At 11:45 that day, I was not in the Classic. By 12:30 I was well in it. It was like I won the tournament.”

Rally Nothing New to Duckett

Duckett was reeling after missing four straight checks and five out of six entering the Mississippi River event. He posted a 15th at La Crosse to get inside the top 50 in 44th, then logged a 12th-place finish at Mille Lacs to close the season 37th in points. It was a momentous rally and one he will savor for a while.

“Not making the Classic is never fun,” he said. “I hated to go into last two events being behind like that, but I figured two top-15s would be enough to make it and I wasn’t too far off.”

Duckett admits his other business interests have taken some of his focus off of competitive fishing, but he enjoys the pressure-cooker situations like the one he found himself in late this season.

“I’m such an unusual bass pro because I stay so busy working that I wish I fished every event as intensely as the ones that matter the most,” he said. “I really enjoy that. I know that sounds goofy, but when there’s a lot on the line I get really focused and every bite matters and I enjoy that. I was looking forward to, if you can, being in that position. I’m a different fisherman when I’m able to focus that hard. I think the great ones who have great seasons focus like that 10 times.

“Most of the time it’s not my number one priority. When it is, it’s wonderful and it makes me wish I kind of just did that all season. It’s fun to work that hard. I love the Classic because every cast matters a lot and it’s easy to lose track of that during the season.”

Unlike the majority of the field, Duckett didn’t employ a spinning rod at Mille Lacs. He changed up between a 1/2-ounce jig, a 1/2-ounce spinnerbait and a 4-inch swimbait threaded on a 1/2-ounce head, all on 14-pound line. Practice was tough and he went into the tournament without much to go on.

“I ran new water the first day of the tournament, but once I realized what was happening – the east and north side was where the guys who caught them were – I found a good group on day 1 and used them twice and most all the second day,” he said.

He fished shallow on day 2, targeting both smallmouth and largemouth, and came in with 22-07 to jump into the top 10. His 19-13 bag on the final day pushed him down to 12th, but it was enough to get him on the plus side of the Classic cut.

“When you work at something – I knew I needed two top-15s – if you come up short, it’s hard on you, but if you get there, it makes you believe in yourself,” he said.

Pulling off the rally this year doesn’t quite make up for missing the 2014 Classic at Lake Guntersville, but he knows to not take these opportunities for granted.

“The Houston Classic was a big kick for me,” he said. “At 56, I don’t know how many more I’m going to make. It’s going to be a record Classic in terms of attendance and we may very well break Kevin’s record from the (Louisiana) Delta. It’s one you want to be a part of.”

Final-Day Drama for Howell

Howell’s misfortune at the Potomac put him outside the top 50 in points going to La Crosse. He scrapped his way to a top-12 finish and made his way up to 42nd in points, making the run at a Classic berth at Mille Lacs a little more manageable. Still, it didn’t make it any less stressful.

“I was still 12 points out,” he said. “That’s a lot. I was nervous.”

He caught pedestrian stringers of 18-04 and 17-15 on the first two days at Mille Lacs and was 31st on the leaderboard entering the final day.

“I knew I needed to gain 10 to 15 points and the only way to do that was to get a 25-pound bag,” he said.

He continued to fish the same areas with the same bait – a wacky-rigged 4-inch Senko on a dropshot rig in 15 to 20 feet of water – but his timing was better on the final day.

“I caught four big ones in a row,” he said. “I had 25 pounds by 11:30 and was already feeling pretty confident that’s what it would take. I still sweated it out through the weigh-in.

“On day 3, I stayed on certain rocks that had bigger fish. It seemed like other bigger fish would replace the ones that got caught off those places.”

He said the smallmouth at Mille Lacs weren’t as aggressive as smallmouth he’s caught elsewhere. He compared fishing for them to fishing for largemouth during the spawn.

“Not giving up on them too quick was key,” he said. “It was almost like working a bedding fish. Finesse fishing is not my specialty and I feel like I conquered a giant mountain. I learned so much that week and I feel like I know a lot more about how to catch them than before I got there.”

The stress of the final two weeks of the season took its toll on Howell physically. When he returned home to Alabama, he discovered he’d lost eight pounds from the time he’d left.

“That was from all the stressing and not eating,” he said.