Mille Lacs Breaks Champions Tour Records
Coming into the day, there was no question that Champions Tour anglers were going to light up the scoreboard with Mille Lacs bass. The only question was, just how bright those lights would be. The morning fished slightly tough for a fair amount of the 30 boat field, by Mille Lacs standards.
Anglers were sent to the northern half of the lake where Nathan Whiting roared to a 13 plus pound lead with 63 pounds 6 ounces after four hours of fishing. Like many anglers, Whiting was targeting bed fish and mixing in the occasional cruiser. At the half, Whiting was followed by Brian Wood, John Figi, Jim Moynagh, Matt Peters and Tadd Johnson to round out the top six, Championship qualifying spots.
The second half brought the anglers to the south end of the lake where winds were calmer. That combined with warming temperatures and slightly brighter sky’s made for an action packed afternoon. Several anglers were fishing similar areas and at times multiple boats could be seen catching fish at the same time.
The top of the leader-board bounced around a bit, but the standings stayed fairly similar all afternoon with one exception. Bob Perkins made a major surge after a fairly tough morning to crack the top six by a mere 2 ounces. Nathan Whiting stayed strong in the second half, holding on to the top spot with 117 pounds 9 ounces. His closest competition was good friend and tournament partner, Brian Wood. Brian, who won last year’s Champions Tour event on Mille Lacs, closed the halftime gap slightly but couldn’t quite repeat as champion, tallying 108 pounds 5 ounces.
The winner of the Big Bass Award presented by YETI was Champions Tour veteran angler Tadd Johnson with a 5 lb 5 oz smallmouth. The Champions Tour angler who increased their weight the most from the end of the first half to the second half, won the Wenzels Farm Comeback Award, Andy Nitchals increased his catch by 43 lb 3 oz between the two half’s.
Our Champ, Nathan Whiting recaps his day on Lake Mille Lacs!
- Nathan Whiting 117-9
- Brian Wood 108-5
- John Figi 101-6
- Matt Peters 96-2
- Jim Moynagh 84-7
- Bob Perkins 75-4
- Matt Stefan 75-2
- Brad Leuthner 72-2
- Shane Raveling 70-3
- Andy Nitchals 67-13
- Mark Courts 66-13
- Tadd Johnson 66-7
- Dean Capra 65-2
- Dustin Byfuglien 63-9
- Corey Brant 60-2
- Pat Martin 55-12
- Dave Larson 44-8
- Andy Walls 44-7
- James Lindner 36-6
- Will Pappa 34-3
- Jim Merthan 33-3
- Trevor Lo 31-2
- Michael Walters 30-11
- Joel Willert 29-6
- Connor Summers 27-7
- George Liddle 26-4
- Arnold Helgerson 21-9
- Dave Skallet 20-9
- Rich Lindgren 13-15
- Daniel Larson 10-10
The remaining events of the 2018 Champions Tour presented by Skeeter Boats and Yamaha Outboards schedule are as follows:
- June 30th, Gull Lake – OPEN Event
Hosted by The Quarterdeck Resort - July 13th, Gull Lake
Hosted by The Quarterdeck Resort - July 21st, Lake Mille Lacs – OPEN Event
Hosted by Izatys Resort - August 7th, Lake Minnetonka
Hosted by Lord Fletcher’s
To learn more about the opportunities to compete in the Classic Bass Champion Tour Opens or to download an entry form, please visit: https://classicbass.com/blog/2018-classic-bass-champions-tour/ .
The Classic Bass Champions Tour will again be streaming live results, posting fish catches and fishing techniques throughout the day as competitors aim to catch as many legal bass as possible. Each angler is paired with a boat official who will weigh and record every catch into the new Classic Bass Champions Tour scoring system. At no time will any bass be placed in the boat’s livewells and brought to a weigh-in.
Classic Bass’s primary objective is to provide bass fisherman with beneficial and current bass fishing information, and this goal will now be boosted by the Champions Tour, as results can be followed real time via ClassicBass.com and on social media. Competing anglers will also be providing Classic Bass with helpful fishing information on the lake they are fishing, along with the techniques and lures they are using.
