They say the years keep going by faster and faster, and it’s hard to argue that these days. Suddenly the Champions Tour is heading up to Alexandria, MN for the third, and final stop of the 2025 Champions Tour, Presented by Skeeter Boats, regular season. And with this early August trip up to this infamous body of water, there is a lot on the line with this trip, that we will document below.
Earlier this year it was announced that the Champions Tour field would be cut down, with the goal of reaching a field size of 50 Anglers for the 2026 Season. In order to reach this number, after the final regular season event on Le Homme Dieu the bottom 22 Anglers in the 2025 AOY Race will be cut. This will then bring the field down to 45 Anglers. To fill the last 5 spots in the 2026 Champions Tour field, we will be having a 50 Boat Qualifying tournament on Lake Koronis on Saturday, September 20th.
Registration has been opened up to those who were on the 2025 waiting list and were unable to get into the field; they have been informed so via email. After the event on LHD on Tuesday, August 5th, the 22 Anglers who have been cut from the Champions Tour field will have until Friday, August 8th to register for the event on Lake Koronis. On Friday, August 8th at Noon (CST) the remaining spots will be opened to the general public to fill the remainder of the field. It is important to note that, at this time, we do not expect many spots to be open to the general public. So if you are looking to fish the Champions Tour in 2026, you will need to register ASAP on August 8th.
| Qualification Event Details |
- Event Fee: $500
- Every Fish Counts Format
- Champions Tour Rules & Penalties Apply
- Event Capped at 50 Anglers
- 8:00am – 3:00pm with no Mid-day Break
- MOST IMPORTANTLY, Competing Angler MUST supply a boat official
- Boat Officials will then be randomly assigned to an angler
This will be our first Qualification Event for the Champions Tour in a LONG time and we are looking forward to it! On the other end of the AOY race spectrum, the Champions Tour field is fighting for their birth in the 2025 Championship, where the winner will receive a brand new Skeeter ZX200 as their prize package, in this prestigious no-entry event. In order to qualify, anglers will have to finish in the Top-33 in the AOY race, as we will only be taking 33 anglers.
(Jack maybe insert verbiage about the win and you’re in, I don’t know the details of that or if we go down spots for double qualification, etc)
In the grand scheme of things, there’s only going to be about 12 anglers in the Champions Tour field that won’t have a “next event” based on their standings, those who finish middle of the pack. So with all of that said, there is A LOT on the line up at Le Homme Dieu this trip around.
The Le Homme Dieu Chain of Lakes, also known as the Alexandria Chain, is located right in the town of Alexandria, MN in Central/Western Minnesota. This chain features several different lakes connected by channels, and glorified culverts between them. Navigation can be a bit difficult at times, but with the high water year we’ve had up to this point, it would be our guess that we wouldn’t see too many difficulties getting between the lakes. The main playing grounds of this event will be Darling, Carlos, Le Homme Dieu, Geneva, and Victoria, and all 5 of them offer a unique set of traits for our anglers to figure out.
The Champions Tour has been to the Le Homme Dieu Chain a handful of times over it’s history, with a commonality between all of them, it normally takes between 80 – 110 lbs to win here and it always seems to be a barn burner down to the end. This chain of lakes is stuffed full of largemouth bass, and even some smallmouth as well, and these event tend to be a “keep your pace” style of event, in comparison to La Crosse. The last time we were here, Walker Krampitz just edged out Tim Schoeder to bring home the win with 77lb 13oz on a day that saw the bite fizzle out in the 2nd period. This thriller Walker was able to bring home by only 1lb 3oz with a catch on his last cast before running back to Arrowwood Resort, in Darling. If you haven’t seen this video, it’s on our YouTube Channel and you can catch up before this stop.
Now, to preview this event, we chatted with 2nd Year Champions Tour Pro, Ryan Kieke. Who graduated from Alexandria Tech in May up in the area, and has quietly had a really successful start to his career on the Champions Tour, with a handful of Top-10’s already at this point.
“Le Homme Dieu is your typical grass style fishery, you can compare it to Gull,” Kieke said. “You’re got a flipping bite, deep weedline bite, and a dock bite as well if you want it.”
There’s even a population of smallmouth bass to chase around, if your heart desires.
Breaking down the different lakes in this chain, Kieke mentioned that they all kind of have their own personalities. Victoria is a very steep shoreline lake, a lot of the time you’re in 30ft casting to 2ft, and there’s not a lot of deep structure. Geneva can be very diverse, as it has a bunch of different structure to fish, and most notably a couple big points that tend to garner a lot of attention. Carlos is where a majority of the smallmouth bass live, it’s very vast, and there’s a lot of dead water, but there also can be some massive groups in this lake.
“Darling and of course, Le Homme Dieu, tend to have a lot of the big groups of fish,” Kieke added, “and those are the types of groups that will (more than likely) win this tournament.”
Kieke spent some time on the lake before the off limits period went into effect at the end of July, and he mentioned that the fishing was a little off compared to normal, “When I was out there (before off limits) the fishing was pretty spotty. The grass wasn’t as far out as it normally is, and I think that’s because of the high water” Kieke hypothesized.
He explained that the area lakes have all felt a little “behind” this year with the surplus of rainfall the state has received this summer, and it’s been a little confusing trying to stay ontop of the fish. But he did mention that while Le Homme Dieu has been off limits, he’s been enjoying other area lakes, and it seems as if the summer transition has finally snapped into place, and he would expect to see the same on Le Homme Dieu once practice begins.
Kieke expects that this event could very well be a slugfest, as it normally is, but he doesn’t think the weights will be as deep throughout the field this time around.
“Someone is going to find a big group and I could see 100 lbs happen, but I think it’s going to slim down a bit and the check range is going to be really tight,” Kieke explained. “Especially based off how it was fishing before the off limits period.”
Looks like we’ve got ourselves signed up for a pretty exciting and eventful conclusion to the Champions Tour Regular Season up in Alexandria, MN! We will see you all at Arrowwood Resort in Lake Darling for the awards ceremony starting at 4:00 PM, as this will be a very eventful one!
Pundit Picks
BART
Oh Le Homme Dieu! It’s always exciting when we get to come out to the Alexandria Area, especially to this chain of lakes. This place is stuffed full of bass, tons of cover, and compared to a lot of places we’ve been this year, it’s easier to get around (which makes life being a cameraman a lot easier). With the high water we’ve seen this summer, and on this chain, I’d expect the fishing to be pretty awesome to be honest. High Water on lake chains tends to move fish around to some newer areas, so I think there’s a chance we see some different lakes, or at least areas, play compared to usual. And I really think there’s a chance you see a shallow water winner on one of the most notorious deep weedline lakes in the state.
Pick 1: Matt Peters is DUE, and that’s exactly why I’m picking him for this one. It’s hard to find a man who’s more proficient with offshore schools than Matt Peters, and THE best in the field at soaking a spot until they will not bite anymore. He’s made a killing fishing the Champions Tour over the years in offshore events. The last time Peters was on Le Homme Dieu he was just edged out by Walker Krampitz, and flirted with bringing home the title a large portion of the day. It’s been a while since we’ve seen Peters bring home a trophy, and I think there’s a good chance you see it happen on Tuesday.
Pick 2: This is the event where Nate Nipper is going to put his foot down in the Angler of the Year, and Rookie of the Year race. Nipper has proven that this format does not faze him, and he’s already playing the game as if he was a savvy tour veteran. Nipper is an extremely proficient offshore fisherman who is dialed with his electronics, and momentum is on his side right now. As we know with the Champions Tour, that can be a really big thing, and I think at the conclusion of this event you’re going to see Nipper heading into the Championship with at minimum, a 10 point lead in the AOY Race.
Pick 3: A pick that will definitely be under the radar, but if there’s someone who’s going to win Le Homme Dieu in less than 5ft of water, it’s going to be Kevin Fassbind. And like I mentioned above, with the high water this year I actually think there’s a better chance than ever before that this event gets won shallow. Kevin is a tour veteran and a model of consistency at this point. He’s always around fish, and that’s a huge deal in these events that turn out to be slugfests. I think at the end of the day we’re going to end up watching Kevin fish every piece of shallow water cover known to mankind, and he will go down to the wire with all of the offshore specialists.
Pick 4: My last pick is going to be YouTube Sensation, Sam Sobieck. This is year 3 on the Champions Tour for Sobi, and it will be the FIRST TIME in his career he gets to go back to a venue he’s fished a Champions Tour event on previously. The last time we were here, Sobi was the victim of being the “first man out” of the Championship cut, and I think that experience has really gotten him rolling the past few years. Sobi is an extremely talented angler, and when he’s completely focused on fishing an event, not worrying about all of the video he needs to edit, or tasks to do at home, he’s deadly. Vermilion was not in his wheelhouse, and after a surprise Top-6 finish in La Crosse, I think his attention has firmly been snapped into place. I think we are going to see a Top-5 finish out of Sobi once this one comes to an end.
JACK
Pick 1: Tim Schroeder knows his way around a weedline bite and when he gets hot on a school of fish there are few guys who can execute to his level. This event in both timing and location set up extremely well for how Tim fishes and he’s due for a good finish after a tough run of events this season. The rest of the “Waconia Crew” of anglers have had their shining moments on the tour in the past couple seasons, now it’s Tim’s time to steal the spotlight.
Pick 2: John Figi seems like an obvious pick being that he’s a past winner at this location and although the time of the year is different, LHD is still going to fish in a similar way to how Figi won in 2019 and in a game of sheer numbers he could easily run up the score and surpass 100 pounds of bass again. Even if this event doesn’t pan out like it did 6 years ago, Figi is extremely versatile and as comfortable flipping shallow largemouth as he is throwing a dropshot at deep smallmouth so he should have options and adjust accordingly.
Pick 3: Jim Moynagh hasn’t been the powerhouse we are used to seeing, and after a surprising stumble on Vermilion, a lake where he has a rich history I don’t see him missing another opportunity at a lake he’s had success at before. A 2nd place finish at Le Homme Dieu in 2019 left him just one fish short of a victory and there’s no doubt in my mind that looms large in the back of his mind as we go into this tournament. If this turns into a dock fishing event watch out because Jim will be in the mix. He’s the hammer with arguably the most history on this tour and there’s no way he continues this quiet slump for long.
Pick 4: Zach Piescher had some pictures of big ones in practice, and he’s one of the youngest anglers fishing the Champions Tour meaning he is as hungry as anyone to make a name for himself on a tour that’s grown synonymous with being a kickstarter for successful young anglers on the rise. Piescher no doubt wants to be the next name to rise through the ranks and he has all the tools to do so on a lake where he fished multiple high school events and should go in with plenty of history and knowledge.
