Big bucks lure Redlands' fisherman

REDLANDS - Brent Ehrler knows the "gone fishin' '' stereotype.

"People think we go out and wait for the fish to bite our bait, or kick back and take a nap,'' he said.

"That's not how it is at all.''

Ehrler is a 29-year-old pro angler from Redlands who is on the cutting edge of what might be the next breakthrough TV sport in the country.

Professional bass fishing.
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Don't laugh. Bass fishing already has TV tie-ins with ESPN and Fox.

Also, big money already can be won by spending a day on a lake, casting and retrieving.

Ehrler knows all about it, having earned $500,000 - you read that right - by winning the Wal-Mart FLW Tour championship at Lake Logan Martin, in Alabama, earlier this month. A competition that will pay $1 million (!) to win next year. Yep. For goin' fishin'.

Said Ehrler: "People go, `I can't believe they're giving away that kind of money for fishing!' I tell them it's growing, and it's continuing to grow.''

Some suggest professional bass fishing may be on the fast track to national awareness that NASCAR traveled a few decades ago.

http://www.dailybulletin.com/sports/ci_4221213