With a new class of rookies hitting the 2025 Champions Tour, Presented by Skeeter Boats, it has all of us wondering, “who’s going to be the surprise?” It’s a tale as old as time on the tour, new anglers show up, some leave, a few stick around methodically learning the process of this format, and some burst down the door and scream “OH YEA” as if they were the Kool Aid man in an infamous Family Guy Television scene.
That may be a stretch of an analogy, but you get the point.
And one of those anglers that busted down the door immediately was none other than Evan Blakley. Now heading into his 3rd Champions Tour Season, Blakley was a surprise in a rookie class that now can be looked at as one of the best we’ve ever seen. Jake Panichi won the Rookie of the Year Race, Joel Willert won the first event of the season on Big Stone, Walker Krampitz is now a two time Champion, Matt Holweg has chased the opportunity to win a Skeeter Boat relentlessly in both of his seasons, and Blakley won the first annual Pro/Am on the Whitefish Chain in his rookie season.
While the 2023 Champions Tour Rookie Class may go down as the most talented to ever hit the tour, Blakley has stormed on the scene with his upbeat, fun, and flat out enjoyable personality. It’s hard to imagine there’s anyone in this field who genuinely enjoys being on the water, and catching a bass, more than Evan Blakley and this trait has been infectious to not only the staff of the Champions Tour, but the angling field as well.
“I fish better when I’m happy, and I absolutely love catching bass,” Blakley laughed. “If I didn’t love it I’d just go back to work and save some money.” Blakley has had his fair share of camera time over his first two seasons on tour, and he’s left a lasting impression on the fans of the Champions Tour. The fun loving, while still competitive, atmosphere he orchestrates with his Boat Official and Cameraman is admirable. “All the camera guys are awesome, the whole crew is great. I love having 3 guys in the boat (during an event), 2 is fun but 3 is a party,” Blakley exclaimed.
The attitude and atmosphere he exudes is infectious, but don’t think he doesn’t have the exact same emotions rolling through his head as the rest of the Champions Tour field. The anxiety and stress of the every fish format is still alive and well in his brain as he’s searching for clues throughout the day.
“Oh, don’t think I’m not panicking. I’m panicking all the time, I just hide it better,” Blakley laughed. “Being happy and optimistic is what keeps me level.” At the end of the day, he knows every event is not life or death. For him, bass fishing is a great hobby that he enjoys doing, and if at the end of the day it ends up being a bad event, at least there’s a whole bunch of knowledge that is gained.
Heading into the 2025 Champions Tour Season Blakley took some time to look back at his first couple years on Tour. The whole experience has far surpassed his expectations. When first registering, the primary goal was to fish more bass tournaments and to fish against the best in the state. All of his friend group had been talking about the Champions Tour, and how that was the place to learn and develop his craft. The format is different, a much faster pace, and anglers must adapt quickly on the fly.
Blakley added about the format, “Everyone talks like you have so much time, but the lake split makes the day go so fast. During a normal 8 hour tournament day it feels like you have all day, and so much time. In the Champions Tour it feels like you’re just getting started then you have to go to lunch. Then you have to start going again.”
It’s a constant battle, and one of the hardest parts of the tour he’s had to adjust to over the years. Rather than eating lunch, and taking a bit of a break, Blakley has found more success with using the halftime break for rigging rods, and “basically pacing back and forth until we go back out there,” he laughed, once again.
The goals for this year are similar to that of everyone who fishes the Champions Tour, win one, preferably the boat, and try to be consistent. If one could find a hole in Blakley’s game up to this point, he’s had a single bad event in each year thus far, pushing him out of the Angler of the Year contention. “I’m excited as ever to get back at it, and going to try to not bomb one tournament like I have the last few years,” Blakley gave insight. “I am looking to get an AOY out of it.”
And with those goals, Blakley has been outspoken about his love for the Champions Tour Pro/Am Event. It helps that he won the first one, on the Whitefish Chain, but this event is special. If you’re unfamiliar, the Pro/Am is an event that anyone can fish (as a Pro). It’s a $1,000 Entry Fee event, with a large purse payout. The Pro is then paired with a randomly selected Amateur, and the two fish as a team for their best 8 Fish Limit that is recorded on the Reel LiveWell App. The Amateur field consists of the High School Boat Officials that roll around with the Champions Tour field all summer long.
“The boat officials are great, the keep the whole thing (Champions Tour) rolling,” Blakley explained. “Those kids are fantastic and I’ve never had an issue with one, they’re absolutely fabulous. Having won with Wyatt (on the Whitefish Chain), it was awesome getting to see him win it, and experience it with him. I feel bad for any of them that don’t get to fish it, because you can tell it’s always on their minds. A lot of those boat officials do it, because they want to fish that Pro/Am.”
Blakley has grown very fond of this event, and the bond that’s created between the boat officials and the Pro’s that fish the Champions Tour. If you’d like to fish this year’s event, it is on Lake Minnetonka, on Tuesday, July 15th and registrations are still open.
There’s several notable anglers coming to join the Champions Tour this season, and Blakley even added, “Anyone who fishes anything knows who Rich (Lindgren) is. They’ve fished against him, and lost to him at some point. He’s probably the one to watch.” But with that said, and like this article began with, a new rookie class is rolling in this season, and the whole field is wondering who the next surprise is going to be.
“There’s also the rookie class (of anglers) coming in that we don’t know,” Blakley added. “Like me when I came in, and they’re going to catch them.”
So now we look forward to 2025 and wonder, who is going to be the next Evan Blakley in this year’s rookie class.
