Pat Ehlers

 

Pat Ehlers is from Milwaukee, WI and still lives in the area.   He picked up a fly rod for the first time in the early 70’s and opened his fly shop, The Fly Fishers in 1988. Throughout his fishing career,  Pat has guided throughout Wisconsin and the Great Lakes as well as in Montana and Alaska. He has also taught fly-fishing schools, fly-casting and fly tying classes around the country and has appeared as a speaker and instructor at shows and seminars throughout the U.S. 

Pat is a member of the Echo Fly Rod Co. Design Team (Vancouver, WA) and designed fly rods developed for warm-water and saltwater fly-fishing. Pat is a contract designer/royalty fly tier and consultant for Rainy’s Flies of Logan, UT and has designed fly tying tools bearing his name for the Renzetti Co. of Titusville, FL. Pat also is a tackle consultant and trip host for Frontiers Travel of Warrendale, PA.

Pat is a pro team or pro staff member for the following companies: Vexus Boats Flippin, Arkansas, Mercury Marine Pro Team, Minn-Kota and Humminbird Electronics. Pat belongs to the National Professional Anglers Association (NPAA). He has done promotional appearances for Skoal Outdoors and had been a co-owner and an instructor for The Chequamegon Bay Smallmouth School in Wisconsin for 16 years.  Pat has served as a retail advisory board member of AFFTA (American Fly Fishing Trade Association).

Pat has appeared in newspaper and magazine articles, makes regular appearances on radio programs and has also appeared on numerous TV shows throughout the country; both regionally and nationally including Fox, ESPN, Sunshine Network and The Outdoor Channel networks.

In chasing both fresh and saltwater fish his fishing has taken him across the US from Alaska to Florida, as well as Canada, Mexico, the Bahamas, Central America, South America and the South Pacific.

1. Home Waters: I look at everything in the state of Wisconsin and the Upper Peninsula as my home waters. My dad was from the UP and I spent most summer weekends exploring trout streams, smallmouth rivers and the lakes up there and still do. Wisconsin is an incredibly diverse fishing state and I love exploring it all. Even down here near Milwaukee, we have some of the best bass lakes in the state within a half an hour from my home.
2. What 2-3 lines do you use the most and why? I trout fish and saltwater fish a lot, but my fishing has become very warmwater species centric. With warmwater in mind,  I fish the Bass Bug taper in shallow water or when fishing topwater. For sub-surface I fish  the Sonar Titan Sink Tips quite a bit. It is a critical line for early summer in the lakes when bass are going a bit deeper and I find them very important in rivers as well. I have a couple of presentations that I use with floating hair bugs/divers that I use a sink tip and long leaders for too. As the fish move into summer patterns and go even deeper, I like the Sonar I/3/5 sinking lines.
3. What was the watershed moment when you knew you wanted to make your living fishing?  I spent 2 weeks in Alaska back in the 80’s on a hunting trip. We were camped on a river and I was fishing it. I looked around and just thought, man this is really special, why is it that I have to work 50 weeks to be up here doing this for only 2 weeks. A light went on and I thought why not do this for all 52 weeks. That got me started figuring it out.
4. If you could spend one day on the water with anyone, who would it be? Probably Mark Zona. He’s an exceptional angler and I love his awesome knucklehead sense of humor. 
5. On the rocks or straight? Beer.
   
6. If you could give one piece of angling advice to a younger version of yourself, what would it be?  When I was a kid there was no internet to go to for help. You pretty much had to figure it out on your own. I still think going out and being on the water as much as possible and figuring it out on your own is still the best way to get better. There’s nothing wrong with going online for help but watching YouTube videos won’t get you experience. Also work hard on your casting. 
7. What’s in the cooler?  My cooler is usually a bit of an afterthought. There’s always some water or Power Ade type drinks but as for food, it all depends if I remembered to pick something up.
8. What are you doing when you’re not fishing? Being in the business fishing is pretty all-consuming. There’s always something to do with gear and my boats and I really like messing around with them anyway. I love rigging and tweaking things in them. I’m always playing with new fly designs too. Other than that, either riding my Harley or if it’s deer season I try to get up in the tree.
9. Stealth or bright lines? I usually like bright lines. I believe we see them in our peripheral vision even when not looking at them and this helps with casting timing. I do use stealthier lines when saltwater fishing though.
10. Craziest experience on the water?  I got stuck in a water spout in my boat on a northern Wisconsin lake. It was bizarre how it was hard to get away from and pretty much cornered me. It spun me around about 6 or 7 times and soaked me but was actually more funny than scary.