As we approach the 2024 Champions Tour Season, Presented by Skeeter Boats, the anticipation is building for a highly anticipated schedule. This season the Champions Tour will be featuring 2 brand new venues, including Lake Okoboji and the St. Croix River, but as usual we have an ‘ol reliable on the schedule and that is no other than Gull Lake. As we look forward to the season, let’s preview the storylines, anglers, and venues that we will be visiting this year.
LOCATIONS
The two new fisheries on the schedule will make 2024 an intriguing and unique season. It will be exciting to watch how anglers attack Okoboji and the St. Croix River. But of course Gull Lake is always one of the very best tournament lakes in our region. Every tournament location offers something to be excited about in 2024. Lake Okoboji takes the Champions Tour to its first out of state event. There’s big fish in Okoboji, a lot of them, and both smallmouth and largemouth. Gull was a little stingy the last time the Champions Tour visited but as most regional anglers know, this lake could take a monster weight to win if the fish are going on tournament day. The St.Croix is certainly the most unknown and unique body of water on the schedule. There will be tons of water to fish, smallmouth and largemouth, and obviously with this being a river system things are always near impossible to predict. Again, every tournament this season offers something very intriguing and we look forward to each and every derby.
ANGLERS RETURNING TO THE CHAMPIONS TOUR
Then there’s the Champions Tour Pro’s that are returning after a brief break. We have guys like Kyle Schutta, Brad Leuthner, and Jeff Bosshardt coming back to the trail this year. These are anglers who have won events and/or been serious contenders at a lot of them. They’ve had a few years off and certainly have the ability to not only be serious contenders in individual events, but all 3 could push for the Angler of the Year title.
THE DEFENDING CHAMP
The next question is if anyone beat Noah Schultz? In competitive fishing, no matter the level it’s extremely rare to witness the type of Championship dominance that Noah has displayed on the Tour. He’s a threat to win any event but when the Champions Tour Championship rolls around and a new Skeeter Boat is on the line, he seems nearly unstoppable at this point. He’s an incredible angler and his confidence has to be soaring during Champions Tour events. Noah would be the first to tell you that a lot needs to go right before he can even begin to think about the 2024 Championship, but the question stands… Will anyone be able to top Noah Schultz in the 2024 Champions Tour Championship?
2024 ROOKIE CLASS
2024 looks to bring another strong rookie class. We always have surprises and some Rookies that end up being major players, last year’s class with Joel Willert, Jake Panichi, Evan Blakely, Matthew Holweg, Walker Krampitz, and others was staggeringly good. But this year’s class has some sticks as well. With names like John Nelson, Chad Garton, Ryan Kieke, Dante Sezer, and more this group of angler brings a great deal of experience, making it hard to call them “Rookies”. Several of them also bring experience specifically on the lakes that the Champions Tour will be visiting.
WHO WILL STEP UP IN 2024?
Each year we see anglers take a step forward as they learn to adjust to this format and fishing around so many people. It’s definitely a learning curve and certain anglers handle it better than others. Last year, Chad Keller took a monstrous step forward, after having several big events in previous years, then stumbling in one or two, he put a full season campaign together that almost got him an Angler of the Year Trophy.
There’s a lot of great anglers that could fall into this slot this year. Keep an eye on Pros like Chad Smith, Sam Sobieck, Will Pappa, Dane Vocelka and Lyle Held. These guys have performed well in the Champions Tour but they all seem ripe to win an event and take the next step in the Champions Tour.
AOY WATCH
It’s nearly impossible to predict who might emerge as the Champions Tour Angler of the Year because there are so many great Pros on tour. Some anglers have a great deal of Champions Tour and local experience, other’s have valuable nationwide experience, and some have both. The 2023 AOY Arnold Helgerson had an incredible year sticking to what he does best and coming up clutch in the biggest event of the year to win the AOY title. Arnold will be hard to beat in 2024 but it’s difficult to ignore names like Kyle Schutta, Joel Willert, Jacob Novak, Brad Leuthner, and Ron Mehr. The list goes on! Again, there’s a number of anglers that will have a great chance to capture this coveted title in 2024.
