This time around, however, it was Ehrler’s turn for a top 10.

On day one, he checked in 13 pounds, 13 ounces and sat just outside the top 10. He followed that up with 13 pounds, 8 ounces on the second day, which pushed him to second place in the qualification round.

On day three, he got bogged down on his own used water and brought in an 8-pound, 6-ounce bag for ninth place.

However, he learned from his day-three mistakes, covered a lot more water on day four and bounced back to a final finish of sixth place worth $28,000.

“I like tournaments like this where it’s a constant game of staying ahead of the curve,” Ehrler said after the Norman event. “The whole key to the tournament was covering new water and trying new things each day. Going back and fishing your own used water day after day was the kiss of death. The days I just went out and fished the lake like I had never seen it before were the days I did the best.

“Day three is the only day I did not do that – I fished off the memories of day two and it killed me,” Ehrler continued. “I was trying to force what worked the day before and got too bogged down and didn’t cover enough new water. On day four, I went fishing on all new stuff again, and it worked.

“I bring that up simply because that’s one of the hardest lessons to learn as a tournament angler,” he revealed. “Conditions are always changing, and you have to stay ahead of the game. Trying to live off the memories of yesterday can get you into real trouble.”

During the week, Ehrler fished a variety of lures including a 5-inch Senko on a 1/16-ounce Picasso Shakedown, a 4-inch Senko wacky-rigged, a Berkley Hollow Belly swimbait and a Lucky Craft G-Splash 85 in a bluegill color.

“Each day it was something different,” Ehrler said. “If I had one mainstay lure, it was the wacky-rigged Senko. I caught a lot of cruising fish with that by skipping it to fish suspended under docks and cruising down the bank.

“On day two, I jacked them up on the Hollow Belly swimbait,” he continued. “First thing that morning, I went to a flat that had some scattered brush on it and the bass were loaded up there. I caught a limit and culled three times; I had a 9-1/2-pound limit by 7:30 a.m., and that really let me relax the rest of the day. I was able to cull up a few more times that day by bed fishing and dock fishing.”

After a bad day three, Ehrler returned on day four armed with the G-Splash.

“That last day it got real balmy and cloudy,” he said. “After a miserable day three, I decided to burn my memories and fish all new water with a completely different lure. I tied on a Lucky Craft G-Splash 85 and within minutes started thrashing them on top. I spent the whole day with the trolling motor on high looking for new beds while throwing the G-Splash. I bet I caught 20 keepers on it that last day.”

Ehrler now sits in 13th place in the FLW Tour Angler of the Year (AOY) standings. With a couple more strong tournaments in the upcoming months, this former Forrest Wood Cup winner just might be in contention for an FLW Tour AOY, as well.

He weighed in limits of 12 pounds, 15 ounces and 11 pounds, 7 ounces in North Carolina to finish 23rd worth $12,000, which is all good with Gagliardi.

“Of course you always want to do better, but I’m happy with 23rd place,” Gagliardi said. “I sight-fished all week and caught just about what I thought I could catch based on weight. My execution was decent – I did lose a good fish the first day. But most of all, this finish keeps me on track in the points for the Forrest Wood Cup.”

Gagliardi is particularly concerned about the Forrest Wood Cup in 2008 because it is visiting his back yard – Lake Murray in South Carolina – where he could take home a $1 million payday if he wins.

“I’m totally focused on making the Cup,” he reiterated. “But I tell you what, if I have a really good tournament at Knoxville, I might have to start thinking about another AOY title.”

And Gagliardi is right. After Norman, he sits in ninth place in the overall FLW Tour standings, about 55 points out of the lead.

Gagliardi knows a thing or two about the FLW AOY since he won it in 2006.

“I’m not making any predictions,” Gagliardi said. “All I’m saying is that if I move into the top five in points, I’d have to change my just-make-the-Cup strategy and get a little riskier with my fishing to make up some ground towards the front.”

As for Norman, Gagliardi fished bedding fish all week.

“I pretty much knew that’s what I was going to do from the time practice started,” he said. “But the funny thing about this tournament was that I had to find bedding fish on the fly during the tournament. I marked a few beds in practice and when I went to them the first day, most of them were gone. That’s when I realized I could throw my whole practice out the window. New fish were moving up by the hour in the tournament and finding new ones was key.”

Gagliardi’s observation was shared by many of the top 10, including Lucky Craft teammate Brent Ehrler. After the first day, it became obvious the name of the game at Norman was to cover as much new water as possible during the day to find fresh fish.

“Going back to your own used water to try to catch fish that you found three days ago was a waste of time,” Gagliardi said. “You could bet that they had either already been caught or had already changed phases of their spawn. Finding new fish that had just made beds was crucial.”

To catch his sight-fish, Gagliardi relied on a 9/16-ounce Tabu jig and a Lake Fork Twitch Worm, wacky-rigged with a 1/0 drop-shot hook.

“I’d mostly throw the wacky-rig while I was looking for beds, and I caught quite a few of my fish that way,” Gagliardi said. “When I’d hunker down to fish for one on a bed, I’d go to the jig.”

Gabe Bolivar, who got off to a checkless start at the first two events of 2008, got things back on track at Norman with a 39th-place finish for $10,000.

“I like Norman, and I like the way it fishes – I had a top 10 here last year,” Bolivar said. “In that event, I fished docks the entire time. But this year, there didn’t seem to be as many fish on docks – there were a lot more fish on beds.”

As a result, Bolivar planned his strategy around sight-fishing, which worked well enough the first day for 11 pounds, 9 ounces.

“On the second day, the only sight-fish I had left were small – not even big enough to fool with,” he explained. “So I bailed on the sight-fishing and went dock fishing. The second day, the sun was bright, and I figured that would push a lot of the post-spawn fish under the docks.”

Bolivar pursued the dock fish with a 5-inch Senko rigged wacky-style with a 1/16-ounce jighead, which is becoming his new favorite finesse lure.

“It’s an awesome alternative to the shakey head,” Bolivar said. “It skips good and has a much different fall than a shakey head. And those fish on Norman wanted that Senko wacky-style, it was like night and day. I saw many of the fish I caught, and they would ignore that regular shakey head. But if you skipped it to them on a wacky rig, and it fluttered down around them, they would eat it.”

In all, Bolivar feels like he got his season turned around at Norman.

“I’ve had a tough time so far this year,” he said of his 2008 performance. “I mean it has not been horrible, but I’ve had a hard time getting things to go my way. And that changed at this event. I dialed into my pattern each day, caught a bunch of fish and got a check for the first time this year. It’s definitely an improvement, and I’m going to try to build on it at the next event in Knoxville.”