Ehrler Edges Morgan For Group B Win

Thursday, April 27, 2023

Photo: MLF/Rachel Dubrovin

Brent Ehrler used a Yamamoto Senko to catch all of his fish during the Group B Qualifying Round at Caney Creek Reservoir.

By MLF Communications Staff

MONROE-WEST MONROE, La. – Redlands, Calif. pro Brent Ehrler caught five scorable bass totaling 27 pounds, 14 ounces to win the Qualifying Round for Group B and advance straight to the Championship Round at the Major League Fishing Heavy Hitters event at Caney Creek Reservoir. Ehrler’s two-day total of 11 bass weighing 47-05 earned him the win by a slim 7-ounce margin over Day-1 leader Andy Morgan of Dayton, Tenn., who finished the round in second place with 46-14.

The all-star event showcases the Top 30 pros who qualified via the Bass Pro Tour competing in a no-entry fee tournament for a purse of more than $500,000, including numerous massive Big Bass Bonuses and a payout of $100,000 to the winner.

Dustin Connell of Clanton, Ala., finished the day in third place with a two-day total of nine bass weighing 36-11, while Jacob Wheeler of Harrison, Tenn., who started day in second place, fell to fourth with a two-day total of 10 bass weighing 35-12. Alabama pro Randy Howell rounds out the Top 5 with nine bass weighing 33-09.

With the Qualifying Round now complete, the anglers who finished in 2nd through 8th place from each group advance to Friday’s Knockout Round. The Knockout Round will feature 14 anglers competing to finish in the top eight. Saturday’s Championship Round will feature Group A Qualifying Round winner Bryan Thrift, Ehrler and the eight surviving anglers from the Knockout Round competing in a final-day shootout for the top prize of $100,000 along with the $100,000 Berkley Big Bass Bonus.

“Oh my goodness, what a day,” Ehrler said in his postgame interview. “I guess I just made the right decisions. I can’t believe that I was able to hold on today, though, I can’t believe Andy (Morgan) stumbled like that. He is such a good fisherman and my hat is off to him.

"This is not what I thought was going to happen today. I thought that if I had a good day I could go out and catch just enough to make the Knockout Round and fish here again. But man, to do what I did today and have Andy stumble, it had to take both of those things to happen. I’m truly blessed to have this happen today.”

A Yamamoto Senko has been the key bait for Ehrler so far this week.

“The week, for me, was really all about the Yamamoto Senko,” Ehrler said. “I caught a few on a dropshot, but most everything came on that Senko. Mainly a Neko-rig with a Gamakatsu Weedless Stinger hook that I designed specifically for throwing on a wacky rig and a Neko rig with an Ark Tungsten nail weight.

“My bread and butter for any kind of spinning stuff is my Daiwa Tatula Elite dropshot rod,” Ehrler continued. “It’s a medium-action rod, but it’s multi-purpose – I use it for everything. I use it for a wacky rig, I use it for a shaky-head rig. I use it for a dropshot rig. It does everything. I use it with a (Daiwa) Tatula LT 4000 reel, with 12-pound Sunline braided line and an 8-pound Sunline FC Sniper fluorocarbon (leader). I caught every fish that I weighed in this tournament on this setup."

Justin Lucas of Guntersville, Ala., struggled for most of the day and did not advance to the Knockout Round, but still walked away from the event a big winner. Lucas caught an 8-05 largemouth in Period 3 – the largest bass of the two-day Group B Qualifying Round – and won the $25,000 Big Bass Bonus. Another prize of $50,000 will be awarded to the heaviest fish landed Friday in the Knockout Round, and $100,000 will be awarded for the single biggest fish in Saturday’s Championship Round.

“I’ve never been this happy missing a cut before, I can tell you that,” Lucas joked in his postgame interview. “I only caught one fish today, but it was a big one. I caught it on a dropshot in 8 feet of water in some standing timber. I couldn’t see it on the graph – I just threw out into the timber and picked up (my line) and she was taking off. It was a fight. She was dogging it pretty good through the wood, but the Berkley Trilene came through.

“I’ve never caught one bass that was worth that much, so this is really cool,” Lucas went on to say.

Different from the Bass Pro Tour regular-season events, Heavy Hitters features anglers competing using the MLF catch, weigh, immediate-release format in which they catch as many scorable bass and as much weight as they can each day, while also feeling the pressure and intensity of the ScoreTracker leaderboard. A bass must meet the 2-pound minimum weight requirement to be deemed scorable in the Qualifying and Knockout Rounds, but for the final-day Championship Round a bass must weigh at least 3 pounds to score.

After each two-day qualifying round is complete, the Top 8 anglers from both groups advance to Thursday’s Knockout Round. In the Knockout Round weights are zeroed, and the remaining 16 anglers compete to finish in the Top 10 to advance to the Championship Round.

In the Championship Round, weights carry over from the Knockout Round and the highest two-day total wins.

Anglers launch each day at 7:30 a.m. CT. The Qualifying and Knockout Rounds, (days 1-5) will launch from Caney Creek Hooks Marina, located at 400 Spillway Road in Chatham, La.. The final 10 anglers competing in the Championship Round will launch from Bonner Ferry Road, located 5 miles northwest of Bastrop off of Highway 593. Fans are welcome to attend all launch and takeout events and also encouraged to follow the event online throughout the day on the MLF NOW! livestream and ScoreTracker coverage at MajorLeagueFishing.com.

To qualify for Heavy Hitters, the weight of an angler’s single largest bass from each event of the seven 2022 Bass Pro Tour events was recorded. The 30 anglers with the heaviest total from those seven bass qualified to compete in this event.

The MLF NOW! broadcast team of Chad McKee, Marty Stone and J.T. Kenney breaks down the extended action from 7:45 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. CT on each competition day. MLF NOW! is livestreamed on MajorLeagueFishing.com and the MyOutdoorTV (MOTV) app.

Group B Qualifying Round – Day 2

(Figure at far right indicates weight of angler's heaviest fish for the day)

1. Brent Ehrler -- 19-07 (4) -- 27-14 (7) -- 47-05 (11) -- 7-15

2. Andy Morgan -- 38-12 (11) -- 8-02 (3) -- 46-14 (14) -- 3-00

3. Dustin Connell -- 16-06 (3) -- 20-05 (6) -- 36-11 (9) -- 4-08

4. Jacob Wheeler -- 25-10 (7) -- 10-02 (3) -- 35-12 (10) -- 4-05

5. Randy Howell -- 16-11 (5) -- 16-14 (4) -- 33-09 (9) -- 5-14

6. Casey Ashley -- 5-05 (2) -- 26-04 (8) -- 31-09 (10) -- 5-02

7. Edwin Evers -- 16-12 (4) -- 14-11 (4) -- 31-07 (8) -- 5-07

8. Jordan Lee -- 8-01 (2) -- 21-14 (4) -- 29-15 (6) -- 7-00

The following anglers did not make the cut and will not advance to the Knockout Round

9. Justin Lucas -- 13-10 (4) -- 8-05 (1) -- 21-15 (5) -- 8-05