The Walmart FLW Tour presented by Folgers will stop in Plattsburgh, N.Y., July 9-12 for the final regular-season tournament of the 2009 season on Lake Champlain that will feature anglers from across the United States, Mexico and Japan fishing for top awards of $125,000 cash in the Pro Division and $25,000 cash in the Co-angler Division.
 
“July is kind of a tricky month on Champlain from what I’ve heard,” said Team National Guard pro Brent Ehrler of Redlands, Calif., who has won more than $1.1 million in FLW Outdoors events and is leading the Land O’Lakes Angler of the Year race. “And why it’s tricky is largemouth are going to be a large factor in this tournament. From what I’ve heard, smallmouth are going to weigh lighter because they’re post-spawn.

“You may find good largemouth down south toward Ticonderoga,” Ehrler added. “But it’s 70 miles away, and if the wind blows, you may get there, but you may not get back (in time). It’s going to be tricky.”

Ehrler said he expects anglers to rely on topwater baits and flipping to catch their limits. Anglers targeting smallmouth may find success with a Carolina rig, jerkbait or tube. Ehrler said a soft-plastic topwater frog should be productive for largemouth.

“It’s going to be fun fishing,” Ehrler said. “On the flip side, you may run 70 miles, catch 12 pounds and it won’t be good enough.”

In the Land O’Lakes Angler of the Year race, Ehrler is going into the final regular-season event with a three-point lead over Clark Wendlandt of Leander, Texas.

“It’s very close,” Ehrler said. “Last year it flip-flopped a ton just in the very last tournament. And this year there’s four of us who are really, really close. So it’s going to come down to who finishes highest in the tournament is going to win the Angler of the Year title.

“If I let that get in my head, it will be tough,” Ehrler added. “If I can not worry about it, I could do really good. It’s when you get that added stress, then you start thinking differently about how you need to go into a tournament and do well.”