In this week’s fishing report we take a look at the fishing on Lake Oahe and talk about the upcoming championship for South Dakota Elite Walleye Series.
Lake Oahe
The theme of the past reports have been the fishing on Oahe is good, but the fish are moving deeper. This continues to be true. The fish have moved out deep, but fish can still be caught with live bait on the shallower edges adjacent to deep water.
The Propst Professional Anglers have continued to stay on the fish on Oahe. In fact, the fishing could be considered pretty dang good.
Championship Weekend at Mobridge
Oahe is going to take center stage this weekend, when South Dakota Elite Walleye Series goes to Mobridge for our championship event. This is certainly going to be an interesting event. The top 40 anglers are eligible to compete in this two day event, with both days paying championship points.
As we stand, Mason Propst and I sit 11th in points. It was an up and down season, but we’re confident we can end it on a high note.
We started the season on a low note, with just a brutal finish at Chamberlain. We weren’t prepared for the brutal beating Mother Nature had in store with winds blowing upwards of 30mph and temps in the 40s. We caught a lot of shorts, but weren’t able to catch the right fish and I take full responsibility in this. I was hoping we could scratch out some better fish and the bites never came.
We bounced back with a 6th place finish at Platte. It was a tough bite, but we were able to bring in a good limit of 16-18 1/2s. We were one good fish away from a top 3 finish, but we’re happy with a solid bounce back performance and my first career Top 10 finish.
Heading into Waubay, Mason gave a terrific mid-season recap. We had high hopes going into this event and while 8th place wasn’t quite where we wanted to end up, we were less than a pound away from a Top 4. This time we had our over, but we didn’t have those really nice 17-18 inchers.
Through the highs and lows, we find ourselves 11th in Team of the Year standings. The poor showing at Chamberlain looms large, but it was humbling and really helped us focus in on the rest of the season. We got back to having fun and that is when the better finishes started coming.
Heading into Mobridge, that’s the plan. Find fish, catch fish and have fun. It sounds simple, but it’s those little things that can be overlooked and cost you.
It’s been so fun fishing with Mason and learning from both him and Bob. I’ve learned so much from both of them and I can say I’ve probably learned more this 2019 season than any other of my fishing career. I can’t wait to see what we can do to finish off the circuit and head into next year with a lot of confidence.
The plan is going to be bottom bouncing Smile Blades and crawlers along those areas adjacent to deep water I mentioned above. There has been a lot of small walleyes and perch so we may be going through a lot of crawlers! One thing I’ve found when we’re up against those types of bites is using those soft plastic baits like GULP! nightcrawlers for just a little more durability from all those bait stealers. We’ll see if this proves to be the ticket!
Regardless, it’s been a lot of fun fishing this circuit. Brock puts on a heck of a tournament every time and I truly have no complaints. If you’re looking at getting into tournament fishing, SD Elite is one I would highly recommend.
Oh yeah, the fishing can be pretty good on Mobridge too!
Devils Lake
Speaking of tournament circuits, Devils Lake was the main attraction this weekend! Masters Walleye Circuit took on Devils Lake and Devils did not disappoint! It took over 52lbs to take first place!
The deep water bite was the ticket here. That deep water jigging was the key and kicked out quite the bag! MWC has the full recap of the event on their website.
Other News
Last week I officially announced the October Challenge I’ll be doing with Walleye Warrior. If you catch more fish than me in October, you can win yourself a free guide trip for the 2020 season. I have the full details on my website.
Next week, we’ll kick off our talks about fall fishing and more details about the challenge. In the meantime, it’s time to focus on Mobridge. Good fishing!
Related Reading
