“I was flipping sparse toulies and throwing a crankbait,” Ehrler said. “I was throwing several different Lucky Craft crankbaits – the BDS 3 (Spring Craw), the S.K.T. Mini MR (Mad Craw) and the Flat Mini MR (Spring Craw). My game plan was to flip until it got too windy, and then I could rely on the crankbaits.”

Ehrler went out flipping on day one and caught a decent limit. Around 11 a.m., the wind started to blow, and Ehrler decided it was time to pull out the crankbaits. Not only did he have the wind to contend with, but the Delta has a tidal pattern, which added another level of difficulty to the tournament.

“We had high water in the morning and low water in the afternoon,” Ehrler explained. “The fish seemed to bite better on the low tide with a crankbait, so my pattern was seeming to work out well – flipping in the morning and cranking in the afternoon during low tide and wind.”

After weighing in 31 pounds, 4 ounces on day one, Ehrler went back out on day two with the same pattern in mind. He flipped sparse toulies for two or three hours and was only able to catch one fish. Ehrler had to make a decision on what to do next, and he decided to abandon his primary pattern all together and go with the crankbaits.

“I was done with flipping after only catching a little one the morning of day two,” Ehrler said. “I decided I would only throw crankbaits the rest of the tournament because I knew they were biting them.”

By 9 a.m. on day two, Ehrler was fully committed to the crankbait bite, and it turned out to be a good decision. Bringing in a 20-pound, 13-ounce limit gave him the confidence to go out and do it all again on day three. He fished all three crankbaits on day three, during different times of the day and took the lead going into the final day of competition.

Ehrler had a specific pattern while fishing the three Lucky Craft crankbaits. On high tide in the morning, he was able to catch fish on the Flat Mini MR because it runs a little deeper than the others. He decided on the bait with the smaller profile because there were usually many other anglers fishing in the same location.

“The smaller crankbaits seemed to get the bites,” Ehrler said. “In the afternoon, when the tide would drop, I switched to the BDS 3 and the S.K.T. Mini MR. I would throw the BDS 3 because of it’s bigger profile to get the bigger bites but switch to the smaller Skeet Mini when other guys were around.”

Fishing mainly rock with the crankbaits, Ehrler knew something was different from last year on the Delta, and most other anglers felt it, as well. The grass, which is usually thick in the Delta, had all but disappeared.

“I was fishing mainly rock with no grass around at all,” Ehrler said. “This year the grass has been killed off or something. There are areas that used to have grass but don’t anymore. The fish would hide out in the grass but now that the grass is dead, the fish seemed to have moved to the rock. There is less cover on the rock, and the fish are more accessible. Without the grass in the way, I was able to get my bait in front of 90 percent of the bass in any specific area.”

When fishing the S.K.T. Mini, Ehrler would use a Lucky Craft medium action crankbait rod, and with the other two baits, he was throwing Lucky Craft’s medium/heavy crankbait rod. With all three crankbaits, Ehrler used 12-to 14-pound fluorocarbon and an Abu Garcia Revo reel.

Ehrler caught 18 pounds, 6 ounces on day four for a total four-day weight of 102 pounds, 1 ounce; the most weight he has caught to date. According to Ehrler, the main success factor was catching three big fish on day one using the crankbait, which gave him the confidence he needed to continue throwing them all week.

“I didn’t catch any big fish on the crankbaits in practice,” Ehrler said. “But I caught a few six-pounders on day one and realized how good of a pattern I had going. Those key bites were crucial in my decision-making process. If I had those crankbaits tied on, I could catch the big ones.”

“The first day of the tournament, I went out thinking the flipping bite would be a pretty safe bet,” Bolivar said. “Even though my practice wasn’t the best, I thought I could have a decent tournament fishing the toulies. It was actually really tough, especially as the wind blew in the corner where I was fishing.”

Bolivar was flipping a Pepper Jig with a Sweet Beaver trailer into the toulies, and for the dropshot, he was using a six-inch Berkley finesse worm on 12-pound fluorocarbon. However, he was only able to bring in four fish on day one for a total weight of 14 pounds, 9 ounces. After losing a couple nice ones on day one, Bolivar thought he’d be able to go back to the same location and focus on the same pattern to bring in better weight on day two. However, the pattern didn’t pan out like he’d hoped. He was able to bring in a five-fish limit, but it only weighed 15 pounds, 5 ounces. The big fish were elusive for the Ramona, Calif. native.

“The third day, I went back yet again and tried the same thing,” Bolivar said. “I was scrambling around and didn’t have confidence in anything besides the flipping pattern. And I was losing confidence in that one real quick. I had heard there was a good crankbait bite going on, and Brent [Ehrler] had actually given me a BDS 3 earlier that morning, so I tied that on. I hadn’t thrown it much in practice, but by mid-day I knew I should have given up the flipping pattern long before.”

After finding a riprap bank, Bolivar started cranking the BDS 3 and was able to catch two fish before the day was over. He lost a nice one that, according to Bolivar, weighed nearly nine pounds. It was the biggest fish he’d seen in practice or during the tournament. After weighing in a 6-pound, 8-ounce limit on day three, Bolivar knew he’d been on the wrong pattern all week.

“If I could change anything, I would have thrown the crankbait a lot more during the tournament,” Bolivar admitted. “Hindsight is 20-20, and I really learned my lesson here this week.”

The lack of grass threw Bolivar for a loop, too. Last year, he was able to weigh in a nice stringer while fishing among the toulies with a jig and dropshot, but this year was a different story. Bolivar finished 143rd with a three-day total of 36 pounds, 6 ounces.

Dobyns’ doctor wants him to rest for a couple months before he determines if surgery will be needed. Dobyns was attached to his kill switch during the accident but was not wearing his life jacket. Had he not been connected to the kill switch, this accident could have yielded a much worse outcome.

“I am getting better by the day, and I am lucky to be here to complain about my aches and pains,” Dobyns said. “I was fortunate to have the boat stop at arms length once I came up from under the water. I was running at 70 mph when I had the accident. I was not wearing a life jacket at the time, and the fact that I had the kill switch hooked to me saved my life. I want to remind all the fans and anglers everywhere, both amateurs and professionals, to please wear your life jackets and kill switches. They may save your life.