Fishing Report 5/20/2019

What a gorgeous weekend to be on the water…….oh wait. I do have to ask what is with all these cold, rainy, snowy and awful weekends destroying our great fishing plans!? Well nonetheless we’ve still got a good fishing report for you today and it looks like we have some nice weather coming for this holiday weekend!

South Dakota

You may have heard about Cat Rush 2019 here in South Dakota. The state record channel catfish has been voided due to a misidentification and the state record is wide open! If you’re looking to pursue one of these state records the top spots to look across the state are going to be the James River, Missouri River (Oahe, Sharpe, Francis Case and Lewis and Clark all have good catfish populations with big fish) and the Big Sioux River. Other rivers such as the Bad River and other tributaries are going to produce some fish as well. Good luck and hope you can get your name in the record books, however long it may be!

Lake Sharpe

In Pierre it is an absolute boat parking lot below the bridge pilings and all along the east shoreline. Fish can be caught, but know the hot locations are the causeway, east shoreline and under the bridges and many of the boats have piled into there.

For you anglers looking to chase the state record, there have been some nice catfish caught in Hipple Lake at Farm Island. While you’re looking to pass the time between catfish bites, the white bass have also been eager to take a crankbait or jig. For the most fortunate anglers, the gizzard shad bite is on fire. Believe it or not I actually hooked this one in the mouth with a #7 Shad Rap. We had a fun day messing around and producing some fairly entertaining videos that can be found on my Instagram page. And yes, I have proof it was hooked in the mouth there.

Lake Francis Case

The fish are still on those classic post-spawn locations and they’re on the chew. You’ll want to be looking on those shallower flats where the fish move onto after spawning. I’ve highlighted these spots on previous reports, but the go-to locations remain the same. Crow Creek, Kiowa Flats, White River and even further downstream off Elm Creek and Boyer.

Shore anglers can still have success pitching town for walleye. Those jigs/minnows are always a good option, but jerkbaits and crankbaits are going to produce fish as well. Shore anglers should start running into more smallmouth bass and white bass as well. For you bass anglers, the smallies are just getting cranking and the shallow bite on the rocks will be good all through summer.

Eastern South Dakota

The bite in eastern South Dakota continues to produce excellent fishing! While some anglers are still having success pitching plastics, other anglers have switched to jerkbaits and enjoyed success with them as well.

The smallmouth bass are also ramping up and the best fishing of the year for these guys is still yet to come. Top lakes continue to be 81 Ponds, Lake Thompson, Waubay Lake, Lake Poinsett and also Lake Albert.

Lake McConaughy

This week’s main event is Lake McConaughy. Over 50 of the “toughest anglers on earth” launched onto the biggest lake in Nebraska and Mother Nature tested just exactly how tough they were. The tournament brought rain, wind, storms, cold temperatures and just about everything else nasty you could think of. Mason and Bob Propst Jr of Propst Professional Anglers captured exactly how ugly conditions were for anglers.

The local anglers performed well this tournament and made Nebraska proud! Dustin Favinger and Zane Vapenik claimed the victory, carried by a strong Day 2 weight of 23-01 to propel them to 43-08 pounds total and a 6 ounce victory. The top five all brought two day weights over 40lbs to the table. Nebraska anglers composed the entire top 7 and 8 of the top 10 boats!

Big Mac continued to prove exactly why it is a monster walleye factory, kicking out over 1,200lbs of fish to anglers. The true monster of the event was a fish north of 12lbs. The enormous bait balls on the screen leave no question as to why these Big Mac fish are such giants!

The trade off to these giant bait balls is difficult fishing. When there is plenty of food, walleye are not forced to eat and that is why it was so important to contact those active fish. The bite window was quick when pods of active fish were located.

While some anglers trolled crankbaits to cover water, other anglers bottom bounced to stay on those active fish. Rough weather patterns, large schools of bait and just difficult situations made for some tough fishing, but even on off days Big Mac continues to show why it is a top trophy destination not only in Nebraska, but across the Midwest and country.

A complete recap of the tournament can be found on the Masters Walleye Circuit website as well as the final weights.

Northwest Iowa

The walleye fishing has been pretty good on Spirit, East and West Okoboji. The evening into the night hours has been the best up in the shallow water. Silver Lake and Tuttle Lake have also been producing a pretty good walleye bite as well.

The bluegill fishing has been strong on East and West Okoboji and the same could be said about the crappies on Spirit as well. The largemouth bass have also been firing off on Spirit, East and West Okoboji as well.

The bullheads have also been biting well on Spirit for anglers looking to feel a tug on the line. Though bullhead do not count as a channel catfish nor is there an open state record in Iowa, the fishing is still fun all the same!

Product Spotlight

In celebration of Nebraska anglers performing so well I want to highlight one of the best ways to show your Nebraska pride when out on the water. Summer will be here before we know it and one of the best ways to stay cool, but protect yourself from sunburn is a FIN shirt.

These shirts are light, breathable, and just really comfortable in general, but also protect your skin and save you from paying the price for a long day on the water. I’ve avoided many sunburns with these shirts and they also look great on those warm, early season Husker game days!

Luckily, for those later, cold Husker game days or MWC tournaments they have a wide variety of sweatshirts and other apparel as well. Whether you’re looking for women’s clothing, hats, shirts or even shaker cups FIN has you covered!

Huge congratulations to the FIN team on a Top 5 finish as well! They wear it way better than I do! Find your FIN gear today!