In Brent Ehrler’s mind, the comparisons between the Bassmaster Classic and Forrest Wood Cup ended Sunday when he put his boat on the trailer to mark the end of the 3-day practice session.
The rest of this week will be uncharted waters for the Californian, who competed in nine Cups (he won in 2006), but will be making his Classic debut this week at Grand Lake in Oklahoma. Once the competition gets going on Friday, though, he knows it’ll be just another tournament.
“I’ll admit I was a little nervous before practice,” he said Monday. “I was amped up and probably fished stupid for a day or two. Then I sat back and looked at it and realized it’s just another tournament. The fundamentals of the fishing part are the same. In that sense, it’s no different.”
Off the water is where it’s going to be hectic. Ehrler’s schedule is booked solid from Monday right through Sunday between B.A.S.S. functions and sponsor obligations and, of course, the tournament. The competitors have Monday and Tuesday off before getting one more day of on-the-water preparation Wednesday. Ehrler spent part of today filming with a crew from GoPro on Claremore Lake in nearby Claremore, Okla.
“I’m jam packed from tonight on,” he said. “It’s straight 100 percent doing more stuff for this tournament than anything I’ve ever done. This is all completely new to me.”
And he’s loving every minute of it.
“Believe me, this is the first time I’ve been here and I’m enjoying everything about it,” he said.
