Winter 2020
M
aking it as a professional angler inherently
requires a diverse array of skill sets; and for
California pro Brent Ehrler, his solid arsenal of soft plastic rigs helps him maintain that well-rounded
competence that has kept him at the top of his game.
“You run into so many scenarios where you need a soft
plastic bait, whether it’s a Senko-style worm with not as
much action, but more of a spiral fall; or a crawdad style bait
with a bigger profile that’s going to be more of a flipping
technique,” Ehrler said. “The Senko also has a horizontal
fall when you rig it weedless. You need a straight tail worm,
as well as some type of crawdad imitation — you need a
combination of both for the different scenarios you’ll face.”
As for how he views the hard bait/soft plastics decision,
Ehrler offered this perspective: “They’re both equally
important for different scenarios because different times
of the year, different techniques shine. One tournament, I
might be throwing a Lucky Craft LC 1.5 squarebill; the next
tournament, I might be throwing the Lucky Craft Sammy 108
topwater and then the next time, I’ll be throwing a Senko.
“What I have found is that I may end up catching fish in
the tournament on a Senko, but I probably found those fish
with a crankbait, a jerkbait or a topwater. In practice, there’s
such a limited amount of time, you have to cover a lot of
water to find the areas that hold a higher concentration of
fish. When I come back to those areas, I typically catch more
fish on soft plastics. So, I found them on one bait and caught
them on a different bait, but both played a crucial role in my
success.”
PLASTIC POSSE
Noting that plastics are a necessary compliment to his hard bait efficiency, Ehrler identified his top-4 most common rigs, featuring Gary Yamamoto Custom Baits.
#1 TEXAS RIGGED FLAPPIN HOG
Rigged on a 3/0 Gamakatsu Heavy Cover hook, the Flappin Hog, a highly active creature bait handles most of Ehrler’s flipping/pitching duties. He’ll use it to target a variety of shallow cover, along with fixed dock poles, as well as grass cover.
“I’ll fish that on 20- to 22—pound Sunline Sniper fluorocarbon with a flipping stick, because you’re usually flipping into heavy cover where you have to pull the fish out,”
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