Ehrler Leads the Way After Shotgun Round 1 on Lake Conroe

CONROE, Texas – To say that Brent Ehrler has a colorful career history in the state of Texas is an understatement. Ehrler has picked up a couple of landmark victories in the Lone Star State, including a Toyota Texas Bass Classic win, and the champion’s trophy of the first-even Major League Fishing Competition (held on Lake Amistad in 2011).

But in the days before the first round of the MLF Bass Pro Tour Huk Stage Two presented by Favorite Fishing, Ehrler admitted that he’s been disappointed in the outcome of some of the events he’s competed in on Lake Conroe.

The California pro took matters into his own hands early in the first Shotgun Round of the week, connecting with eight fish for 22-3 in the first period, primarily throwing a spinnerbait and vibrating jig. Ehrler would eventually finish the day with 33-12, tops among the 40-angler Group A field, putting himself in a strong position as he heads into the event’s first Elimination Round competition on Thursday.

“I caught them pretty good this morning, I just don’t know that there’s a lot of fish in that area,” Ehrler said. “I did catch some nice ones – I got a near-5, a 5-5, a couple of 3s – but it’s hard to say if I’ll be able to do that again (on Thursday).”

Even though Ehrler added only 10-9 to SCORETRACKER in Periods 2 and 3, he spent the majority of the afternoon running new water, scouting for more productive spots for his next competition round.

“I literally did a full lap around this lake in the second and third periods,” Ehrler said. “I can’t say that I love what I saw, but I think I have a big enough cushion that I can lay off some spots (in the Elimination Round).”

Strader goes from “cautious” to comfortable

Heading into the first day of competition, Wesley Strader was “cautious” about his expectations of Lake Conroe. But after an 18-fish day, the Tennessee pro finds himself in a much more positive frame of mind (and a strong position to claim a Top 20 spot with 33-0).

Strader spent his day winding a Stan Sloan Bango Blade spinnerbait and picking his way through small, shallow, hard-to-reach spots with a 3/8-ounce Stan Sloan Zorro Flipping Jig and Big Zoom Salty Chunk.

“I went to an area in the morning that I hadn’t even practiced in, so I was pretty happy to catch a few pretty early,” Strader said. “I didn’t get many bites in practice, but I got enough to know what to look for.”

Jason Christie (29-11), Bradley Roy (29-4) and Adrian Avena (29-2) rounded out the Top 5.

The battle around the 20 spot

As has quickly become the case in the Bass Pro Tour format, much of the day’s drama unfolded around the elimination line (No. 20). Heading into Thursday’s Elimination Round, there’s only a 3-3 spread between Todd Faircloth in 13th (17-13) and Cliff Pace in 21st (14-10). There are six anglers within 4 pounds of the 20 spot.

Shotgun Round 2 Wednesday

The 40 anglers fishing Group B start competition Wednesday at 7:30 a.m. That group – which includes Stage One winner Jordan Lee – should see slightly less wind than Group A dealt with on Tuesday, and a daytime high creeping back toward the upper 60s.

Action starts at 7:30 a.m. CT, with official live scoring available on SCORETRACKER. The MLF NOW! live stream starts at 10 a.m. CT.