Lucas, Ehrler catch 29-9 to complete wire-to-wire win at final Team Series event

California natives overcome tough conditions to hold of defending champs

November 24, 2025 By Staff Report

SHREVEPORT-BOSSIER CITY, La. – The duo of Justin Lucas and Brent Ehrler powered through a stingy day at Cross Lake to claim the 2025 Bass Pro Shops Summit Cup, capping a gritty wire-to-wire performance in one of the tightest final rounds of the season.

Lucas amassed 10 scorable bass for 19 pounds, 1 ounce, while Ehrler’s late surge pushed the team to a commanding finishing weight of 29-9, securing the title over defending Summit Cup champs Drew Gill and Marshall Robinson.

The four-team field competed at Cross Lake and the Louisiana fishery proved challenging. Early rain, muddy water and scattered bait kept the entire field in check and prevented any team from pulling away. Through the grind, Lucas and Ehrler proved to be the only duo able to generate steady opportunities across all three periods, and they stacked seven scorable bass in the final two hours to secure the victory.

Lucas, who now calls Guntersville, Alabama, home but grew up in California, noted how fitting it was to win alongside Ehrler, a fellow West Coast product he looked up to as a young angler.

“This one feels special,” Lucas said. “Brent and I kind of came up in the same circles back home, and to win this one together – especially in Louisiana – that’s something I’ll never forget. Today wasn’t easy. Nobody was running away with it, and we had to grind every single minute.”

How They Caught ‘Em

Lucas and Ehrler started on the dam with a shallow-running crankbait – including an older, discontinued model Lucas grabbed off his garage wall on the way out the door – and quickly put a pair of scorable fish on the board. As the bite slowed, they adjusted by targeting shallow, rocky points where bait was sliding up with the wind. The crankbait continued to play throughout the afternoon, but the biggest strategic shift came when Ehrler moved to a finesse flipping setup to clean up behind Lucas.

“When Justin gets on a roll with a crankbait, there isn’t much point in me trying to do the same thing behind him,” Ehrler said. “I tied on the Yamamoto Yama Bug and just started pitching around the walkways and docks. It’s a new bait – I only had four packs of them. But it was the right adjustment. Those bites came fast, and they were the ones that really sealed the deal for us.”

Despite entering the final period just over 4 pounds behind Lucas and Ehrler, the Gill/Robinson tandem couldn’t match the late-day momentum. Meanwhile, the team of Todd Faircloth and Nick LeBrun mounted a charge behind Faircloth’s 4-pound, 14-ounce lunker, but the gap was simply too large to close in the remaining time. LeBrun, no stranger to Cross Lake, where he won the 2018 BFL All-American, made a late run with Faircloth in the shallow cypress forest on the west end, but it wasn’t enough to catch Ehrler and Lucas.

Lucas said the victory was the result of constant communication and trust – two things that define a successful Team Series partnership.

“We made the right calls,” he said. “We stuck together, we stayed patient, and when things got tough, we didn’t panic. Brent caught some absolutely critical fish behind me, and that’s what makes this format so fun. You’re never out of it as long as you’re making good decisions.”

“It’s been a while since either of us has won one of these,” Ehrler said. “We worked hard this week, we adjusted when we had to, and we got it done today in a really challenging place. Sharing this win with Justin, after all the years we’ve fished against each other – and now with each other – is just awesome.”