Jun 11, 2024 | By: Lakeland News

This Year’s Knights of Columbus Walleye Classic Winners Are the Youngest Ever

The Knights of Columbus Walleye Classic has been one of northern Minnesota’s premier fishing tournaments over the past 23 years, and at its 24th edition last Saturday, it once again lived up to that moniker with a surprise finish.

The tournament began like any other year, at the waterfront on Lake Bemidji, but this year, it ended inside the Sanford Center with the top 10 teams being introduced via a boat parade.

There were plenty of professional anglers among the group, but it was a couple of amateurs, 20-year-old Kamin Pierce and 21-year-old Darren Roth, who took home the $15,000 top prize. They are the youngest team ever to win the Walleye Classic, and it was an emotional moment for both of them.

I can’t even put a word on it. It was a good day and I didn’t think I could do it. I don’t know. I didn’t. Things just came together and just lined up and things were good. I can’t even describe the feeling. It was unbelievable.

It still hasn’t sunk in yet, to be honest. It’s unreal. I mean, going from last year fishing and zero ing to coming out again this very next year and winning it, it’s unreal.

Pierce and Roth caught a couple of 7-lb. walleye and almost got a third one that size as well. Their total for fish was 31.8 lbs.

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