West To East
Ehrler, Reese, Hickey Faced Tough Cup Practice

Thursday, August 14, 2008
by Terry Battisti

As day 1 dawned at Lake Murray, S.C. for the Forrest Wood Cup, questions still remained as to how tough the fishing will be. High water temperatures have given the fish their summer lockjaw, and many anglers still wondered whether they could catch a limit.

But deep, clear-water fisheries like Murray are the norm in the West – so could the western anglers have a head up on their competition?

Westerners Brent Ehrler, Jimmy Reese and Jason Hickey hope that their clear-water experience will help them in their quest to become the next million-dollar man.

Ehrler's a noted deep-water expert but has proven himself no slouch when it comes to figuring out the fish of the South. He's amassed an impressive resume fishing the FLW Tour and is a former Cup champion.

Reese, on the other hand, has made his living in the West, but don't let that fool you. He's a skilled deep-water angler, and shallow fisheries like Clear Lake and the Delta are his home waters.

Hickey, hailing from Idaho, is fishing his first tour-level championship. He's proven himself in the Western FLW Series over the last few years and has the ability to catch fish wherever he goes – Lake Amistad being one example, where he earned his Cup berth in the East/West Fishoff.

Prior to day 1, BassFan sat down with all three and asked about their practices, and their thoughts on the event.

Ehrler Doesn't Know

Not only is Ehrler a former Cup champion (2006), he also missed winning this year's FLW Tour Angler of the Year title by a single point.

But all that experience doesn't matter when the bite's off.

"I really don't know what I'm going to do come game day," he said. "It takes all day just to get a few bites. Right now I have nothing special going on at all. I'm kind of all over the place.

"I'm catching some deep and some shallow, some inside and some outside. It's one here and one there – there doesn't seem to be any key. In this event you could put together what would seem like a couple good areas in practice and then go out and not catch anything."

He said "the blueback pattern isn't going to work too well" and the fact that there's so much forage in the lake "has made it difficult to figure out what the fish are doing."

He hasn't talked with any of the competitors except roommate Gabe Bolivar and noted that "neither of us are on anything."

"I think it's going to take around 20 pounds to make the cut, and then maybe 18 to win the final 2 days," he added.

Reese So-So

Reese is another angler who's a fierce competitor. He's won two Western Stren points titles, plus 18 boats and $280,000. And for BassFans who don't follow the West but recognize the last name, yes, he's Skeet's brother.

"I have four letters that describe the bite here this week – so-so," Reese said. "That's it in a nutshell.

"The first day and a half on the water I just scrambled around learning the water. I tried to narrow the lake down into four areas that are close to each other. I did well covering that water and have some spots that hold fish. I just don't know if I can catch five fish a day."

He's got both deep and shallow patterns, and wants to work both into his daily mix.

"I do have some confidence," he added. "My sights are set on 8 1/2 pounds a day, but everything will have to work out perfectly. I really think it'll only take 17 pounds to make the cut. To me this tournament is a dream come true. I'm pumped to be fishing it. It's the Super Bowl of bass tournaments."

Hickey Pre-Practiced

Hickey qualified for the Cup also by way of the East/West Fishoff.

"I feel like 14 years of hard work has finally paid off for me," he said. "It's a big relief for me. I'd been close a number of times but was never able to get over that hump. But I got a break at the Fishoff and was able to make it.

"I'm excited to be here. I've always wanted to fish a big tournament in the summer because that's my strong suit."

But hailing from Idaho, Hickey's found out that the South's waters are a bit different than those of his home state.

"Everything that looks good here doesn't have fish on it," he noted. "That's the difference between here and Idaho. I'm used to seeing something good on my graph and being able to catch fish on it. Here the fish are a lot wiser.

"The unknown for me is the blueback herring," he added. "Ideally you want to be around them, but I haven't seen any yet and that concerns me. What I have noticed, though, are the fish are on the bottom."

And somewhat surprisingly, he made the trip from Idaho to pre-practice. "I was here for 2 weeks before the cutoff," he said. "It was really tough then – maybe three to four bites a day average. Now it seems the bite has picked up some, but now I know what I'm looking for.

"I have a dozen or so areas that are holding fish and I hope they maintain. My tournament plan is to break up my day between the river and main lake."

Hickey also wanted to thank "all the folks back home" who've helped him over the years, and especially George Roth of George's Custom Rods for making him a new set of sticks for the tournament.