Ehrler Tops KO Round, But Skeptical About Finals

Sunday, June 8, 2025

Photo: MLF/Tyler Brinks

Brent Ehrler caught 33 scorable bass during Saturday's Knockout Round at Kentucky Lake.

By MLF Communications Staff

CALVERT CITY, Ky. – Coming in to the fifth MLF Bass Pro Tour event of 2025 at Kentucky Lake, Brent Ehrler’s only goal was to finish among the Top 30 and earn a paycheck. As the Qualifying Round progressed, he shifted his sights to advancing to the Knockout Round, which he managed in clutch fashion, catching two scorable bass in the last 12 minutes Friday to secure his spot in the Top 20.

When he launched on Saturday, Ehrler didn’t think he’d have much left in the tank. Turns out, he only needed one period to amass the weight he’d need to advance to the Championship Round.

Ehrler stacked up 41 pounds, 4 ounces on 19 scorable bass during the opening stanza, second only to Kentucky Lake local Jake Lawrence. He finished the day with 75-2, besting Jacob Wall by 7-4 to top ScoreTracker.

“I kind of struggled yesterday; that’s why I was shocked that I was able to catch what I caught today,” Ehrler said. “But I found an area that was a lot better than I thought, and I was able to capitalize on it in the morning.”

Ehrler will now advance to his 18th career Championship Round, where he’ll set a new goal: claiming his first Bass Pro Tour victory. Doing so won’t be easy. He’ll be joined by the rest of the Top 9 finishers from Saturday — a group that includes Lawrence and fellow Kentucky Lake veterans Cole Floyd and John Hunter plus other ledge experts such as Wall and Michael Neal – not to mention Qualifying Round winner Jacob Wheeler. With nine of the Top 10 fishing offshore on Kentucky Lake, it should be an explosive finale reminiscent of the legendary lake’s glory days.

Ehrler echoed a common refrain from the pros competing in the first ever Bass Pro Tour event on Kentucky Lake: While the numbers on ScoreTracker might look gaudy, the bass aren’t everywhere. Ehrler noted that, in its heyday, the reservoir’s famous river-channel ledges would be teeming with bass. This week, anglers can still find schools, but there aren’t as many, and those that they have found have seen a lot of pressure over the past three days.

“There’s not a lot of them there, but some of them are biting,” he said. “It’s weird. Normally, I find a lot of schools. This time, I only found about four. And out of the four, only two of them are pretty good. So, I’ve narrowed it down to where I can catch one or two on one or two spots, and I can catch more than that on another spot. It’s not like before, where you’d have 20 schools to run to. I don’t have that.”

That’s why, when Ehrler started Saturday on the school that had produced most of his weight during the first two days of competition, he wasn’t sure there would be many bass left willing to bite. He was happy to be proven wrong. His 33 scorable bass were easily the most anyone caught on the day.

Ehrler mixed traditional ledge lures (a deep-diving crankbait and a hair jig) with some more modern finesse offerings (a dropshot and jighead minnow). He said maximizing his lone period with forward-facing sonar, which he chose to deploy in Period 1, was vital to fooling the pressured fish.

“The key was being able to see them on my Garmin,” Ehrler said. “I could see them and cast to them.”

Once he topped the 60-pound mark, Ehrler used just about all of Period 3 to idle and scan new water. He said he found two new schools of fish that he’s hoping can produce during the Championship Round.

“When I knew I had enough weight, I went and looked, and I actually found two more schools,” he said. “So, that’s good. I don’t think they’re giant schools, but it’ll give me some stuff to fish, because I have very few areas. I have like three spots to fish, and I think only one of them is really good. And, at some point, it’s not going to be good. I may have hurt them to the point that it’s not going to be good.”

While it would be poetic for an angler who’s had so many close calls to earn his first BPT win at an event where he never saw it coming, Ehrler doesn’t like his chances of taking home the trophy. He predicted it’ll take well over 100 pounds to top the loaded field. Still, he said he’s excited for a Championship Round where “I’ve got nothing to lose.”

“I think a guy like Jake Lawrence is just toying with us,” Ehrler said. “I mean, he caught 60 pounds in the first period and quit fishing. So, I could honestly see him catching 100-plus pounds no problem. I’m going to have to fight tooth and nail to catch 60 pounds tomorrow. He’s going to go out and catch 120 pounds like it’s nothing.”

Shortly after lines-in, Lawrence said his goal was to weigh 60 pounds as quickly as possible, then spend the rest of the day idling in search of more schools.

Mission accomplished.

Lawrence rocketed out of the starting blocks. Using his forward-facing sonar during Period 1, he boated 20 bass for 56-1. He then added three more scorables in the early minutes of Period 2 before strapping down his rods and spending the rest of the day in search mode.

Lawrence has spent by far the most time of anyone in the field scouting Kentucky Lake during competition hours – after cracking 100 pounds on Day 1, he didn’t make a single cast on the second day of qualifying. That could make him especially dangerous since the former guide also entered the event with the most prior experience on the fishery.

“We have put miles and miles on the Mercury this week, all for tomorrow,” he said.

Lawrence will be looking to claim his sixth career win on Kentucky/Barkley in MLF competition but his first at the national level. If he can pull it off, it would mark his second consecutive BPT win (and could require a second straight shootout with Wheeler) after he won Stage 4 on Chickamauga and Nickajack in thrilling fashion.

Lawrence has plenty of spots at his disposal; it’ll just be a matter of hitting them at the right times and avoiding schools that are getting pressured. More than anything, he’s “extremely excited” to finally have a day during which he can reel in as many bass as possible.

“I feel really good,” he said. “I wish that there were bigger groups of them out there. But I've got way more groups than what I’ve got time to fish tomorrow, so I’m really excited about that. We’re just going to have to make the right stops at the right time. It’s an age-old saying on the TVA in the summertime, timing is everything. A few of these schools are getting grouped up really well early, and a few schools are getting grouped up really late. So, it’s just going to be a matter of getting in the right rotation.”

Alton Jones Jr. earned the Day 3 Berkley Big Bass Award Saturday with a 5-8 largemouth that he caught on a crankbait in Period 3. Berkley awards $1,000 to the angler who weighs the heaviest bass each day.

On Sunday, the final 10 anglers will launch at 7:15 a.m. CT from the Kentucky Dam Marina, located at 466 Marina Drive in Gilbertsville. The takeout will be held at the same location beginning at 3:45 p.m. daily.

The MLFNOW! broadcast team of Chad McKee and J.T. Kenney will break down the extended action live on Sunday from 7:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. ET. MLFNOW! will be livestreamed on MajorLeagueFishing.com, the MyOutdoorTV (MOTV) app and Rumble.

Knockout Round

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

1. Brent Ehrler -- 75-02 (33) -- 3-15

2. Jacob Wall -- 67-14 (28) -- 4-00

3. Jake Lawrence -- 63-08 (24) -- 4-07

4. Cole Floyd -- 61-13 (24) -- 5-00

5. Michael Neal -- 53-03 (23) -- 3-12

6. John Hunter -- 52-02 (20) -- 4-07

7. Adrian Avena -- 49-03 (17) -- 4-04

8. Andy Montgomery -- 46-01 (23) -- 3-02

9. Spencer Shuffield -- 44-04 (17) -- 4-03

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