The epic barn burner on Lake Vermillion has now come to a close with Hunter Wendt coming away with a victory, but not only that, a new all-time record in the Champions Tour presented by Skeeter Boats weighing in 127 bass for 282lb 5oz. An event that not only met the expectation and hype leading into it, but far surpassed it beyond anyone’s wildest imaginations. An event that would see upwards of 7000 pounds of bass weighed on the Reel LiveWell App, and nearly 4000 fish caught, 3,999 to be exact. It took over 150 lbs for Champions Tour Pro Ryan Kieke to bring home the last check (17th Place), and a 100 lb bag of fish, which is widely regarded as an amazing day on the Champions Tour, would land you squarely middle of the pack.
As we review this event, we can take a look at our Top-10 and see a commonality of anglers targeting spawning smallmouth or fish nearing that stage. An important note to make is that in the Champions Tour, you are only allowed to weigh a spawning fish once; there was simply that many fish on the bank and anglers very rarely ran into each other. It was a magical week on Lake Vermillion, that we more than likely will never see topped.
In past Champions Tour events on Vermilion, anglers and the tour team have walked away scratching heads a bit on why the bite wasn’t better. Expectations would be high and the fish simply wouldn’t read the script on tournament day. Obviously we were dealing with a different animal due to the spawn but weather conditions and every other star certainly aligned this time around for an absolute beatdown for nearly the entire field.
Our Top-5 Finishers of the event at the conclusion were:
1st Place – Hunter Wendt = 282lb 5oz
2nd Place – Nathan Nipper = 261lb 15oz
3rd Place – Chad Grigsby = 209lb 4oz
4th Place – Kyle Schutta = 203lb 13oz
5th Place – Tate Blomquist = 183lb 13oz
Yeti Big Bass – Tony Johnson = 5lb 1oz
Wenzel’s Major Mover – Evan Blakley = 35lb 8oz
We now have our media team combing through hundreds, upon hundreds, of fish catches. And anticipate the Lake Vermilion video to premiere shortly before the La Crosse event. So hang tight, as we make sure this legendary day is given the proper attention, and delivery it deserves.
Now the Champions Tour prepares to head to stop number two which will be taking place on the Mississippi River down in La Crosse, Wisconsin on Pool 8. A new destination for the Champions Tour that is widely regarded as one of the most fertile fisheries across the United States. Although we do not expect to see the record-breaking amount of fish and weight caught. It is surely a location that can push the boundary of 100 pounds.
