Grass is Changing, Smelt Are Back, and the River is in Play at Lake Pokegama | Event #2 Preview

We're halfway through the summer and it's time to get the 2026 Champions Tour season rolling once again. After an electric start at Big Stone Lake in Ortonville, Minnesota, that saw Aaron Teal capture the first victory of the year, the Champions Tour now heads north to historic Lake Pokegama. Stop No. 2 of the season is presented by Skeeter Boats and Humminbird.

Located just south of Grand Rapids, Minnesota, Lake Pokegama is a sprawling 6,700-acre fishery with roughly 69 miles of shoreline. Connected directly to the Mississippi River, Pokegama offers anglers one of the most diverse fisheries in the state. Vast shallow flats, healthy weed growth, expansive docks, rocky shorelines, offshore structure, and now miles of productive river habitat create countless opportunities for both largemouth and smallmouth bass.

Featuring shallow-water largemouth, smelt-chasing smallmouth, and an incredible abundance of forage, there isn't much water on Pokegama that doesn't hold bass. It's also a special place in Champions Tour history, serving as the site of the very first Champions Tour Championship, where Andy Walls claimed the inaugural Skeeter boat.

This time around, however, competitors will have an entirely new wrinkle to consider.

We caught up with Bassmaster Elite Series Pro and Bassmaster Classic Champion Easton Fothergill, a Grand Rapids native who has spent countless hours on Pokegama, to get an inside look at what anglers can expect.

"Lake Pokegama is still as healthy as ever," Fothergill said. "But with the addition of zebra mussels, it's the clearest I've ever seen it."

That increased water clarity has dramatically changed the fishery over the past several seasons. According to Fothergill, grass has shifted throughout the lake, disappearing from areas that traditionally held thick vegetation while flourishing in entirely new places.

"The grass has changed a ton," he explained. "There's no weeds where there always used to be weeds, and now there are weeds growing where they've never grown before."

Those changes have forced both bass and anglers to adapt, making local knowledge more valuable than ever.

One of the biggest storylines entering this event is the expanded tournament boundaries. For the first time, anglers will be allowed to fish the Mississippi River all the way to the County Road 18 bridge, significantly increasing the amount of fishable water.

Fothergill believes that decision could completely reshape the event.

"The population is thriving and they cover every inch of the lake," he said. "The river is just as healthy as the lake right now, and it will play just as much as the lake."

Instead of simply deciding between largemouth and smallmouth, competitors will now have to decide whether to spend valuable tournament time exploring the river system, where new stretches of current, vegetation, and backwater habitat offer another opportunity to separate themselves from the field.

"The river is an interesting dynamic," Fothergill added. "People are really going to have to think about it."

Pokegama's healthy bass population is fueled by an impressive forage base, and Fothergill says the return of one key species has been impossible to ignore. Several years ago, the lake experienced a significant smelt die-off, but the baitfish have steadily rebounded.

"The smelt bite gets more prominent every year," Fothergill explained. "There's a lot of smelt back in the lake."

That resurgence has changed how many of the lake's bass feed.

The last time the Champions Tour visited Pokegama, forward-facing sonar was still in its infancy. Today, it has become a major tool for competitive bass fishing. Even so, Fothergill doesn't believe electronics alone will determine the winner.

"Smallmouth are getting harder and harder to catch," he said. "Forward Facing Sonar will definitely play."

At the same time, he expects the eventual champion to blend modern electronics with traditional power fishing.

"The winner is going to have a mix of scope and no scope," Fothergill said.

While smallmouth will certainly contribute to many anglers' bags, Fothergill doesn't expect the tournament to be won exclusively offshore. "It's going to be a mixed bag in order to win," Fothergill said. Which aligns well with what Champions Tour Pro Noah Schultz as able to do the last time the Champions Tour visited Lake Pokegama in September of 2020.

With a thriving bass population and plenty of four to five pound-class fish swimming throughout the system, Fothergill expects another strong Champions Tour event. He believes the winning angler will likely need somewhere between 60 and 80 pounds over the course of competition.

Technique-wise, versatility will once again be the name of the game.

For smallmouth, expect anglers to utilize forward-facing sonar with minnow style presentations around roaming smelt, while also mixing in Ned rigs, swing head jigs, and dice style baits for fish relating to shallower structure.

Largemouth anglers will likely spend much of their day targeting docks with a variety of dock specific presentations, while frogs and flipping techniques could shine whenever fish become active in the vegetation.

With expanding tournament waters, changing lake conditions, healthy bass populations, and multiple winning patterns available, Lake Pokegama has all the ingredients to produce another unforgettable Champions Tour event.

Will an angler unlock the river? Will offshore smallmouth carry the day? Or will a shallow-water largemouth specialist hoist the trophy?

We'll find out when the Champions Tour, presented by Skeeter Boats and Humminbird, takes to one of Minnesota's most historic bass fisheries.

Pundit Picks

Hayden Anderson: The Champions Tour Rookie doesn’t hide his love for Lake Pokegama. Having multiple wins, and high finishes on the body of water, Anderson and Pokegama simply jive. If anyone is going to unlock the Smallmouth Bass in a way for them to contribute to a winning bag on this lake, the house money should be on this Northern Wisconsin Hammer. He also is an underrated offshore largemouth fisherman, with multiple wins across the state on deep weedlines already. Anderson should be on everyone’s radar in this event, because the only thing stopping him from finishing well will be the space between his ears.

Kyle Schutta: Since Schutta’s Championship win on Lake Minnewaska in 2024, he’s been relatively quiet for Schutta standards. I’d expect that to change here. Pokegama has a really strong shallow water bite both on the river, and the lake. I’d expect Schutta to be able to turn and burn, like he is so accustomed to doing, and attack this one in a completely different way than most of the Champions Tour field.

Matt Peters: A Champions Tour Veteran who’s been quiet for far too long now. Peters made a name for himself quickly on the Champions Tour, having won 3 Events and a Championship on Trout Lake in 2020, which is also a smelt fishery. Peters tends to do the best on bodies of water where he can target bait chasing smallmouth, and schooled up offshore largemouth. Pokegama in general sets up to fit him really, really, well. I’d expect him to have a strong showing at this event.