By Steve Weisman
Once again, the Okobojis did not disappoint as 64 teams on the Classic Bass Champions Tour from Indiana, Iowa, South Dakota, Minnesota and Wisconsin got to experience bass fishing at its best last Tuesday, June 11. Anglers were blessed with a mostly sunny day, a westerly wind and low humidity.
According to Jack Gavin, director of operations for the Okoboji qualifier, ““The Champions Tour’s journey to Lake Okoboji certainly didn’t disappoint. The lake and the surrounding area provided staff and anglers everything we could possibly want from an event standpoint. The fishing was outstanding, especially late in the tournament when Hunter Wendt and John Nelson separated themselves from the pack, battling back and forth for the title. The Champions Tour visits several of the very best bass fisheries in the Midwest and the number of 2 to 5 pound bass that Lake Okoboji kicked out was extremely impressive, making for an excellent tournament.”
Handling fish
The Champions Tour is a very unique style bass tournament with NO bass EVER put in a competitor’s livewell. Instead, with a minimum weight of two pounds, each bass over 2 pounds is weighed on the water, recorded in the Reel LiveWell app, and then released right back into lake. No fish bouncing around in a livewell and then taken to a scale for weigh-in. Everything is handled right there on the boat with a quick release.
Another unique twist to the Champions Tour is that anglers can weigh as many bass over two pounds as they can catch. Since it is a catch-and-release, it makes sense. Plus, there are no concerns over culling or upgrading issues.
Finally, the Champions Tour has a break in the middle, kind of like a first and second half of a ball game. For the Okobojis, this also meant a change of fishing area for the competitors. One half of the day was spent of West Okoboji and the other half on the lower half on East Okoboji and the rest of the chain. Each angler pre-determined which area they would fish in the morning and the afternoon.
Getting live updates
By going to the Classic Bass Champions Tour website, I was able to get live updates on how the tournament was going. That’s the cool part about the Champions Tour. At the midway point, overall data showed that 315 largemouth bass and 70 smallmouth bass over two pounds had been weighed, photographed and released. At that point, Dane Vocelka from Richmond, MN, and a three-year veteran of the tour was leading the way with 50.2 pounds for his 17 fish registered. He was followed by Terry Vang, a rookie on the circuit from Ramsey, MN, with 44.10 pounds for his 17 bass. At that point, 16 anglers had weights over 25 pounds of weight.
A big turnaround
By the end of the day, however, Hunter Wendt, a four-year veteran on the tour from Pequot Lakes, MN, had jumped to first place and ended the day with an overall weight of 97 pounds 13 ounces for 34 bass to secure the $13,000 first place prize. Wendt weighed in 22 bass, all largemouth bass in the afternoon competition after 11 smallmouth bass and 1 largemouth bass during the morning. Gavin says, “Hunter has been knocking on the door several times now, and today he broke through. His second half surge certainly made for an exciting conclusion to the tournament.”
Runner-up with an overall weight of 88 pounds 13 ounces for 31 bass went to John Nelson, a rookie on the circuit from Blaine, MN. He only weighed three bass in the morning for 8 pounds 4 ounces, but then he nailed it in the afternoon with 27 bass! Meanwhile, Aaron Teal, a three-year veteran on the tour from Richmond, MN, took third place with 73 pounds/12 ounces with his 26 bass.
“Nellie (Nelson) proved that in the Champions Tour format, you’re never out of it. He landed on the right school of bass in terms of numbers and size, which rocketed him up the leaderboard.”
Brian Bengtson, a four-year veteran from Minneapolis, MN, took the Big Bass honor with a 6 pound fish.
For the day, a total of 498 largemouth bass and 86 smallmouth bass were weighed, verified and released by the end of the tournament.
The qualifiers continue on July 16. “The Champions Tour’s next stop will be at Gull Lake in Brainerd, MN. Gull is one of Minnesota’s finest fisheries and if conditions are right, we could see winning weights well over 100 pounds under the every fish counts format.”
For more information on the Classic Bass Champions Tour, please visit its website at https://www.classicbass.com/ .
Wendt catches one of his 34 bass that helped him win the Okoboji qualifier.(photo submitted)
Hunter Wendt lifts the $13,000 check for winning Classic Bass Champions Tour qualifier on the Okobojis.(photo submitted)
