By Steve Weisman
For many people, signs of fall revolve around crops and trees beginning to turn, but to a lot of anglers in the Iowa Great Lakes, the Pocahontas Iowa Great Lakes Invitational Fishing Tournament (PIGLIFT) is a true harbinger of fall…and guess what. Once again, the PIGLIFT teams participating in the 37th annual tournament did not disappoint the weekend of September 6-7! With a total of 25 teams participating, it gave a good test to the “PIGLIFT fall adage!”
PIGLIFT, which at one time was a catch and weigh tournament (as all tournaments were), has now transitioned to a catch, measure (length), photo release tournament since 2020. So, since all fish are released, any fish over 14” is “legal” according to PIGLIFT rules.
As Jesse Newgard, committee volunteer, for PIGLIFT, says, “This catch, measure, photo, release format gives a true picture of what fish were taken during the tournament. If we used a catch and keep tournament, we would have to follow the slot limit, which would eliminate fish between 19” to 25”. That would mean only 21 fish under and over the slot fish would have been weighed. We think it is great for the teams and the fishery. We now keep track of all slot fish caught and give that information to the DNR biologists.”
Although PIGLIFT is a competitive tournament, it is designed to spread prizes out, so a team can only win a single category once. In the walleye division, for instance, if you win the longest walleye, that supersedes the longest stringer of five walleye. The same holds true in the panfish division, a team can only win this division once.
As you might guess, most of the walleyes came from Big Spirit Lake, along with some from West Lake Okoboji.
So, here we go…
Traditionally, the PIGLIFT teams troll crankbaits in the basin of Big Spirit Lake. However, with the advent of the Forward-Facing Sonar, the presentations are changing. According to Newgard, “Our team does not have Forward-Facing Sonar, but I pre-fished with a guy who does. It was an eye opener for me. We’d search for big schools of baitfish and then look for the walleye. With Forward-Facing Sonar, we could target the big walleyes and see if they would bite.”
This presentation became an Element 82 Walleye Jig Head tipped with a nightcrawler pitched to the walleyes. They would either bite or they wouldn’t. Newgard says, “Forward-Facing Sonar is a true game changer. However, most of our teams do not have Forward-Facing Sonar.” As a result, pulling plugs was still the go-to presentation.
Day 1
Day 1 was the more difficult of the two days with more wind. That was especially true for the teams trying to anchor in the waves to pitch the jig/nightcrawler presentation. A total of 12 teams measured, photographed, released and submitted a combined 48 walleyes. The top two teams measured 116.75 inches (23.75, 22.5, 23, 22.75, 24.75) and 114.25 inches (23.75, 22.5, 23, 22.75, 24.75), respectively. The team of Travis Shinon and Austin Kakacek captured the Day 1 title, while the team of Bob Flaherty and Joyce Baxter took second place.
Andy Johnson’s team including Evan Johnson and Scott Johnson took Big Fish honors with a 26-inch walleye.
Day 2
Sunday’s weather was completely different with flat calm conditions. Results were better overall with 15 teams measuring, photographing and submitting a total of 65 walleyes. A total of eight teams measured lengths over 102 inches. The team of Brad Cundiff and Todd Olson measured 117.75 inches (25.5, 24, 23.5, 23.25, 21.5). The team of Rob Bunda, Brad DeWall and Matt Tate measured a 27 incher for Big Fish on Day 2. Since, they won the Big Fish on Day 2, their five-fish limit length of 126.5 inches (27, 24.5, 24.75, 24.75, 25.5) was not eligible for top walleye honors. However, the 126.5 inches broke the previous length record of 118 inches set in 2024.
Analyzing results
Looking at the two-day tournament, the traditional pulling plugs in the basin at 2 to 2.3 mph using either snap weights or lead core worked as always, but the use of the Forward-Facing Sonar helped teams focus on specific schools of baitfish and the larger walleyes that were following them.
Pretty amazing that a total of 113 walleyes were measured, photographed, released and submitted over the two days. In addition, according to Newgard, a huge number of 12-13+ inch walleyes were caught and released, a great sign for the future of the Big Spirit Lake walleye fishery. Here is an interesting fact. If PIGLIFT would have been a catch and weigh tournament, only 7 walleyes on Saturday and 5 walleyes on Sunday would have been below the 19-inch slot level. On the top slot size, only four walleyes on Saturday and 5 walleyes on Sunday would have been over the 25-inch slot size.
What that means is only 21 walleyes would have been brought to the scales, whereas the current measure, photo, release and submit and format meant 113 walleyes were part of the ’25 PIGLIFT results! Better for the fish, and most certainly better for the teams!
Panfish Division
At the same time, a panfish (perch, crappies and bluegills) division is also held, but the panfish continue to be brought to the scales each afternoon at Kabele’s Trading Post. Day 1 winner was the team of Dean Weydert, Nate Kajewski and Cole Dickey with a 10-crappie limit weight of 9 pounds 8 ounces. The crappies came from Big Spirit Lake.
Day 2 winners included the team of Travis Lampe, Ben Zenor and Matt Bichel with a weight of 4 pounds 14 ounces coming from West Lake Okoboji.
One final look
This was the 37th annual PIGLIFT tournament, dating back to 1988. Having fished it for 32 years with John Amick (Poky native) and Bill Elling and our team retiring from the tournament in 2022, I can attest to the fact that it is one great weekend. From fishing with friends, always held the Saturday of the Cy-Hawk battle and highlighted by a great ribeye meal at McKeen’s Pub and Grill on Saturday evening.
Plus, the Iowa Great Lakes area always welcomes PIGLIFT teams! A tip of the hat to the 25 teams, the sponsors, volunteers and hosts for making the 37th PIGLIFT another sign that fall has arrived on the Iowa Great Lakes!
Brad DeWall with the biggest walleye of the tournament, a 27 incher.
The big basket of crappies weighing 9 pounds 8 ounces.
