West Coast the Best Coast in Elimination Round 1

TULSA, Okla. – Maine is about as far from the West Coast as you can get. However, the top three anglers in the first Elimination Round of the 2019 Wiley X Summit Cup on Great Pond all hailed from the left side of the country.

Aaron Martens, Skeet Reese and Brent Ehrler were able to use different techniques to conquer Great Pond thanks to their West Coast upbringings. Ehrler and Martens were able to drop-shot their way through to the Sudden Death Round thanks to their familiarity with the lake.

“I was in a spot where I won the round the first time we were there,” Ehrler said. “Aaron (Martens) was 200 yards away from me the first time we were in Maine and saw me catch all those fish and win the day. Well, he was right next to me this time and he wins the round.”

“Ehrler thought it was his spot,” Martens said with a chuckle. “I checked out some other areas then came back to that spot. There were bait fish, birds and boulders so it just seemed like the right spot.”

Martens finished the day on top of the SCORETRACKER with 21 bass for 40 pounds, 11 ounces. It helped that he had fished Great Pond before, during the 2015 Summit Cup. However, Martens says he reverted back to his youth and his California roots to bring about his success.

“I grew up fishing deep stuff like I fished in Maine,” Martens explained. “I think a lot of the West Coast guys have an advantage when it comes to deep water fishing just because that’s how a lot of us learned how to fish.”

Drop-shotting was the strategy Ehrler employed with 15 bass for 29-11, good enough for a third-place finish. But the California pro added a little extra finesse to his technique in Maine.

“What worked well for me was casting my drop shot,” Ehrler recapped. “It was about 30 to 35 feet deep where I was. I would cast, drop and then start shaking the bait and reeling it in really slow. That allowed me to catch those suspended fish in about 15 feet of water.”

Skeet Reese finished in second place behind Martens with 15 fish for 31-11. While Martens and Ehrler opted for deeper water, Reese stayed closer to the shore. Two different strategies on the same lake, both producing a similar result. Reese says if you’re in Northern or Southern California, you can be fishing completely different styles of lakes. He says that just goes to show the diversity of California.

“We have such diverse fisheries on the West Coast that we got to learn from growing up,” Reese said. “I think it makes us just great all-around anglers because we’re experienced with different kinds of lakes.”

The 2019 Summit Cup from Waterville, Maine continues with Elimination Round 2 on Great Pond. The show will air Outdoor Channel on Saturday, February 23 at 2 p.m. ET.