Big Stone Lake Preview | Champions Tour Season Finally Set to Begin

After an untimely delay to the start of the 2026 Champions Tour, Presented by Skeeter and Yamaha, the field of 50 anglers is finally set to begin its season.

Originally, the year was scheduled to kick off nearly a month ago on the legendary waters of Lake Mille Lacs for what many anticipated would be a historic prespawn smallmouth bass event. Mother Nature had other plans. Persistent winds forced the postponement of the tournament, which has since been rescheduled for Sunday, August 2. As a result, Lake Mille Lacs will now serve as the season finale rather than the opener.

That brings us to Big Stone Lake, Presented by Yamaha and MinnKota, Hosted by the Big Stone Lake Area Chamber of Commerce.

Stretching approximately 26 miles along the Minnesota-South Dakota border, Big Stone Lake forms the headwaters of the Minnesota River and covers nearly 12,600 acres with roughly 55 miles of shoreline. While the lake has long been known for outstanding walleye fishing, it has also developed a reputation as one of the premier largemouth bass fisheries in the Upper Midwest. Over the past decade, the reservoir has earned the nickname "Pig Stone" thanks to the abundance of heavyweight largemouth that call it home.

The Champions Tour last visited Big Stone Lake in June of 2023, when Joel Willert captured the victory with 48 pounds, 1 ounce. That event, however, was heavily impacted by a severe thunderstorm that rolled through during Period Two, resulting in more than an hour of lost fishing time and dramatically affecting the final weights.

This time around, expectations are considerably higher. While Big Stone can become notoriously "grimy" during the post-spawn period due to extensive pond weed growth, local anglers believe conditions are shaping up much differently than they have in recent years.

To preview the event, we reached out to Big Stone Lake local Riley Arndt for insight into how the fishery is setting up heading into tournament week.

The first thing Arndt mentioned was water clarity.

This year's lack of significant snowfall and spring runoff has allowed vegetation to establish itself much earlier than normal. As a result, the lake has remained surprisingly clear despite the strong winds that routinely sweep across the valley from the Dakotas.

"There was already four to five feet of pond weed growth the moment the ice came off," Arndt explained. "The pond weed needs to rip out for it to get dirty, but right now it's crystal clear because there hasn't been any vegetation dying off. That typically happens around Father's Day. Then you'll see the coontail and milfoil start growing as the lake dirties up."

Even after several recent storms and periods of rainfall, Arndt expects water clarity to remain relatively high. For many competitors, that represents a significant departure from what they experienced during the Tour's previous visit and from what many anglers traditionally associate with Big Stone Lake.

When discussing the fishery, Arndt breaks Big Stone into three distinct sections: the north end, the mid-lake section, and the south end.

The northern portion is largely bank-oriented, featuring steeper shoreline breaks and fewer offshore rock features. The southern end is almost the complete opposite, containing more expansive shallow water, numerous islands, offshore rock structure, and countless rock fingers extending away from shore. The midsection combines elements of both and often features the clearest water on the lake thanks to the reservoir's distinctive S-shaped layout, which provides protection from prevailing winds.

The bass population itself is also undergoing a transition.

Big Stone earned its "Pig Stone" reputation by producing exceptional numbers of trophy largemouth throughout the past decade. According to Arndt, the lake was likely at its peak in terms of size structure when the Champions Tour last visited in 2023.

Today, the population remains extremely healthy, but the number of true giants has declined somewhat.

"I fished a few tournaments last fall, and we were still catching 40 to 50 fish a day," Arndt said. "You just don't see quite as many of the five and six pounders as before. There's a lot more zebra mussels in the lake now than there used to be, so the lake is definitely going through a transformation, but the population is still really high."

While Arndt doesn't expect many six or seven pound bass to show up on the Reel LiveWell leaderboard, he does anticipate plenty of action and potentially even more bites than competitors experienced during the previous visit.

He also expects anglers to approach the fishery much differently than they did three years ago.

"You'll see more fish off the bank," Arndt said. "Not necessarily deep offshore fish, but fish that aren't just sitting around trees and docks. Because the water is cleaner, I think you'll see more anglers fishing away from the shoreline than the last time you guys came."

Champions Tour fans may remember that the 2023 event was largely won and lost around shallow wood cover and inside weed edges, with swimbaits and frogs playing major roles. Arndt expects grass-oriented patterns to play a much larger role this time around.

"I doubt offshore rock becomes a major factor," Arndt explained. "Sometimes you'll get a good bite around offshore areas if the crappies are still spawning, but grass fishing will definitely play a much bigger role than it did last time."

With the tournament falling deeper into the post-spawn period, expect techniques such as flipping vegetation, chatterbaits, swim jigs, and frogs to dominate. Finesse presentations like a Senko will undoubtedly produce fish as well, but power fishing appears likely to carry the day.

"It should take around 80 pounds to win," Arndt predicted. "It's not going to be a 50 or 60 pound grinder like last time, but with the lake being split, people will be sharing water and splitting fish."

You can follow all of the action on Tuesday, June 9th on the Reel LiveWell App and the Classic Bass Social Media Pages. For those following along, here are a few anglers to keep your eyes on.

Pundit Picks

Noah Schultz: Big Stone Lake sets up perfectly for Schultz. The southern Minnesota native remains the winningest angler in Champions Tour history and continues to pile up Top-10 finishes at an impressive rate, but it’s been a while since he’s won. Few anglers on Tour possess more experience targeting post-spawn largemouth in vegetation-rich systems, particularly when cleaner water conditions are involved. After an underwhelming finish during the Tour's previous visit, don't expect Schultz to make the same mistakes twice.

Kevin Fassbind: Fassbind has quietly assembled one of the most consistent resumes on the Champions Tour. He owns eight career Top-10 finishes and has qualified for every Championship since joining the circuit. Despite never securing a victory, he has repeatedly found himself in contention. Fassbind is also one of the best, if not THE best shallow water angler on the Champions Tour. He rarely leaves the bank, and he does extremely well fishing there.

One reason Big Stone could fit Fassbind so well is his extensive background as both an accomplished ice angler and panfish specialist. Post-spawn largemouth often key heavily on bluegills and crappies, and few competitors understand those forage species better. Fassbind routinely excels in grinder to mid-weight style tournaments, and with no smallmouth bass in the equation, this may be one of his best opportunities yet to secure his first Champions Tour victory.

Walker Kramptiz: Few anglers have enjoyed a hotter start to their Champions Tour careers than Walker Krampitz.

The southern Minnesota standout has won an event in each of his first three seasons and already boasts victories on both the St. Croix River and the Mississippi River in La Crosse. He also captured a tournament on Big Stone Lake earlier this season before the off-limits period began, giving him valuable recent experience on the fishery.

Could Big Stone deliver his fourth career win and complete a trifecta of victories on the major river systems in Minnesota?

Given Krampitz's consistency and ability to contend across multiple fisheries, it would surprise nobody to see him near the top of the leaderboard when the final fish is weighed on the Reel LiveWell App.