By BassFan Staff

What's the quickest way to overcome a 5 3/4-pound deficit on the final day of a tournament? Just catch a bass that weighs double that amount – it becomes the equivalent of taking six fish to the scale while the other competitors are limited to five.

Brent Ehrler caught just such a fish on Monday – a 10-11 bruiser that propelled him to victory at the weather-ravaged Toyota Texas Bass Classic at Lake Fork. With an 89-12 total for 3 days, he spoiled Jason Christie's bid for a wire-to-wire win as he outdueled the Oklahoman by 2 pounds.

Ehrler connected with the monster with about an hour of fishing time remaining. It was the biggest fish he'd ever caught in competition, and it was highly lucrative as it garnered him the top prize of $100,000 and a boat package, plus a new Toyota Tundra that went to the angler who caught the largest bass of the event.

"It feels awesome because this was one of those tournaments that I never really expected to win," he said. "My goal coming in was to try to make the cut and be respectable. Then at the pro-am (on Friday) they presented the ring to Keith Combs for winning last year and it was just huge – like a Super Bowl ring.

"I thought that was so cool, but that I was never going to (get) one of those."

He was the lone angler to crack the 30-pound barrier (31-08) on the final day. Christie caught 23-12 to finish 2nd with 87-12.

Andy Morgan ended up 3rd with 83-12 after a 26-08 haul on the final day. Chris Lane sacked 24-08 to finish 4th with 83-08 and Shad Schenck rounded out the Top 5 as a 22-08 bag boosted his aggregate to 81-04.

Here are the totals for the bottom half of the Top 10:

6. Casey Ashley: 79-04
7. John Crews: 78-08
8. Mike Iaconelli: 72-08
9. Keith Combs: 65-12
10. Brandon Palaniuk: 51-00

The storms pounding the region that encompasses parts of Texas, Oklahoma and Louisiana caused the cancellation of the fan-based portion of the event for the second straight day, forcing organizers to issue refunds to those who'd purchased tickets for either of the final 2 days. The fishing went on uninterrupted, however, and Fork's hefty bass continued to bite.

By design, the final day was 2 hours shorter than days 1 and 2 due to the scheduled awards ceremony and concert. That might've kept the weights down somewhat as some of the best big-fish action had been occurring after 2 o'clock, which was check-in time on Monday.

Ehrler's Move Paid Off

> Day 3: 5, 31-08 (15, 89-12)

Ehrler had anticipated catching 30 pounds at his first stop – a place he'd utilized throughout the derby, but had yet to mine for its full potential. It gave him only 23.

"I knew that wasn't enough, but I'd started the day behind," he said. "I wasn't protecting a lead and I had nothing to lose. I had one other area I wanted to hit, but not until later.

"The other place, where I caught the big one, was a place I'd fished in last year's tournament. I'd gone there once or twice in practice and didn't catch any, and every time I pulled up during the tournament there was another boat there. I knew with fewer people on the water today it would get a rest, and I timed it right."



Octagon Events
Photo: Octagon Events

Jason Christie caught some good fish on day 3, but had to weigh in a 1-08 specimen.

He made one other cull there with a 6-pounder and those two fish combined to give him a 9-pound improvement in the final hour. His bag also contained another 6, a 5 and a 4.

"At noon, I didn't think it was going to happen for me. I thought I was going to need 33 pounds."

He fished exclusively offshore and threw a crankbait and a swimbait. Full details of his winning pattern, as well as those of the other top finishers, will be published this week.

2nd: Christie Disappointed

> Day 3: 5, 23-12 (15, 87-12)

Christie was disappointed to come up short of victory after starting the day with a 5-pound lead. He'd also been in line to win the Tundra after catching a 10-01 specimen on day 1, but Ehrler snatched that from him as well.

"This one hurts," he said. "By no means did I think I had it won – I knew I had to catch them today. I just didn't get the bites.

"I had five bites all day long and I weighed in one that was 1-08 – the other four were good ones."

He had only three in his box 15 minutes before check-in, but the pulled two good ones off a place that had been producing during the final hours each day.

Octagon Events
Photo: Octagon Events

Chris Lane caught more than 20 keepers on day 3.

"This is not an excuse, but from 2:30 to 4 is when a lot of damage had been done on that lake," he said. "I pulled up to that last spot and caught two good ones, and after I got the second one in the net I made a couple more casts, and then it was time to go.

"I just ran out of time."

4th: Lane Caught a Lot

> Day 3: 5, 24-08 (15, 83-08)

Lane said he sensed an occurrence that didn't bode well for him happening around 1 p.m. – the time that Ehrler boated his monster.

"I kind of felt it," he said. "I had a lot of media around me all day until 1, and then they all left. I was like, 'Uh oh, something's going on here."

Like he'd done all week, he remained in shallow water and got a couple dozen keeper bites. The biggest was a 7-04.

"I absolutely hammered them today," he said. "I had a blast. It's awesome when you can go out and catch 4- to 7-pounder all day long.

"The way I look at it is I needed two more 7s, but I didn't know enough about the lake. I didn't know any more coves to go to and I was just going on what I could see."

It was his third time competing in the TTBC, but his first visit to Fork.

"It was unbelievable to be a part of a tournament that was this awesome. It's a great lake and the people were fantastic."

Octagon Events
Photo: Octagon Events

Shad Schenck thought he was in for a great day when he caught a 5-12 on his second cast.

5th: Schenck Had Fun

> Day 3: 5, 22-08 (15, 81-04)

Schenck had a whale of a time on his initial visit to Fork.

"It was a great 3 days and it was a fun tournament overall, but I really wanted to win," he said. "I had an idea that somebody who started the day in 3rd, 4th or 5th was going to win, and they were going to do it with a 30-pound bag."

He got just six bites on the final day and boated all of them. His biggest fish was a 5-12, which he caught on his second cast.

He had all of his weight by 10:30. All 15 fish he weighed during the event came from the same offshore locale.

"I did make a move, but I didn't do well and I came back to my place for another 45 minutes. I had one more spot where I thought I could catch a big one, but when I got there, Brent was sitting on it."