Labor Day has come and gone and summer is now unofficially over. This means we can start talking about fall fishing! In this week’s special fishing report, we’re going to take a look at what we have to look forward to this fall.
Missouri River
Lake Oahe
Oahe has been producing some excellent fishing all summer long and I expect more of the same once fall rolls on. The fish will start moving shallower again and boy oh boy are they some nice fish when you catch them! I anticipate some very nice fish coming out of Oahe this fall!
Lake Sharpe
The tailrace of Oahe Dam can produce some excellent fishing as fall rolls along. With the high flows, I anticipate this fall the bite is going to really fire up. This offers a great shot at both eater fish and overs. When this tailrace is on, it’s lights out fishing!
Usually the best way to attack the tailrace here is with shallow running crankbaits and stickbaits. Local favorites are stick baits such as Original Rapalas, Rapala Husky Jerks, Phantom Lures Abyss or Smithwick Rogues. I like the shad style crankbaits such as a Rapala Shallow Shad Raps or Phantom Lures VooDoo Shads.
Further downstream, flats can produce some excellent fishing as well. Bottom bouncing Smile Blades, plain hooks and even dragging jigs can produce some fantastic fishing. Fish can get finicky when the weather is tough, but stable weather often means cooperating fish.
Lake Francis Case
The Big Bend Tailrace is often a fan favorite when fall fishing and for good reason. This tailrace can produce some spectacular fishing, especially for numbers. There of course are some very nice overs to be caught here as well.
Here, it seems anglers prefer to use more fluke style plastics. They will also toss many of the hard baits used in Oahe tailrace too. Baits such as Rapala Scatter Raps and Shadow Raps are also popular here.
The main lake of Francis Case can be excellent as well. Jigging the bridge pilings in Chamberlain with heavy spoons, Phantom Lures Tillys, Rapala Jigging Raps or Moonshine Shiver Minnows is popular.
Shore anglers often have great success fishing the road grade in Chamberlain as well. Other areas such as the causeway at Cedar Shore Resort or fishing the railroad bridge can also produce some quick limits of nice fish. Casting jigs, crappie rigs, or hard baits can all produce good fishing.
Don’t count out the flats this time of year either. Popular flats such as Crow Creek, Kiowa Flats and the White River flats can all produce fish as well. Carpenter Bluffs also can kick out some solid fish.
Glacial Lakes Region
Brookings Area
The Brookings area is what made me fall in love with the Glacial Lakes Region of South Dakota. Fall is one of the best times of the year to catch a trophy walleye in this region. Let’s talk about some of my favorite lakes over this way.
81 Ponds is my favorite lake in this region and I’m monitoring the roadwork being done there closely. My hope is the work can be completed in time for us to enjoy some great fishing out there. When fishing this lake, my favorite baits are Rapala Shallow Shad Raps, Rapala Husky Jerks and Phantom Lures VooDoo Shads. Purple is my go-to color, but other colors such as Hot Steel, Walleye, and perch colors can also produce well.
Chris Seylar is a believer in crankbaits as well, but I’ve seen him have some great success with plastics out there in fall as well. His favorite plastics are the BFishN Moxi Ringtails.
Mason loves the VooDoo Shads out there. My first time ever fishing with Mason was on 81 and I watched him catch 30lbs of walleye in 6 casts. All I could do was net fish. It was one of the hottest bites I have ever personally witnessed.
Lake Poinsett is of course very well-know as well, but also offers some excellent fall fishing. Poinsett is known as a numbers lake, but there are some big fish to be caught. Just ask Chris!
Lake Sinai is another top lake to hit. I’ve had some fantastic fishing on Lake Sinai once the sun goes down. Throwing lighted slipbobbers with minnows off the points can produce some rock solid fishing. Walleye and crappie can both be found in your bag!
Lake Thompson is another great option. The Oldham Grade is a shore fisherman’s paradise. I’ve always had great success throwing anything blue out there. They really seem to like lipless rattling lures best of all. Other top options are the standard hard baits I detail above. I expect Thompson to produce well this fall as Chris had some great success out there this spring.
Clark Area
Dry Lake #2 can also yield some fantastic fishing in the fall. Wading off the road beds or casting the weedbeds can all produce some great fishing. Mason has had some fantastic success fishing Dry 2 while rocking the Husker gear too! GBR!!!
Webster Area
Waubay Lake produced some excellent fishing for us this summer. As the temperatures begin to fall I anticipate the fishing turning back on as well. Waubay is another lake that you can catch a lot of fish, but you also have a chance at some big fish!
Bitter Lake is another top option. We spent some time exploring Bitter after our Waubay tournament this July and despite having our time cut short due to storms we were able to find a lot of fish willing to take the hook. There are of course some giants in here as well!
My personal favorite trophy walleye lake is Antelope Lake just outside of town. We found an abundance of 12-14 inch walleye in here and it really looks like this is going to be one of those lakes that you can really catch a lot of fish! There are some giants still lurking too!
Opitz Lake is another outstanding option for a fun day on the water. Bottom bouncing the flats can fill a nice bag or slipbobbering and jigging the trees can produce success too!
The beautiful thing about this area is there are just so many lakes to explore and not enough time! Get out, drop some casts and you’ll probably find some great success!
Nebraska
Lake McConaughy
Don’t count out Big Mac for some fall giants as well! The big walleyes start “putting on the feedbags” and some of the best fishing of the year can occur in the fall months. The best news is the pleasure boaters have given the lake back to the anglers this time of year too!
Merritt Reservoir
Merritt is one of the top walleye destinations in Nebraska and fall is a great time to get on them. Some may even argue Merritt is the best walleye fishery in the state right now. I’ll let you make the call yourself.
Local Lakes
You may be surprised at what some of the local lakes can produce in regards to walleye fishing. Fall is one of the best times of year to get out and see what those lakes have to offer, you may find an early Christmas present at the end of your line!
Coming Up
We’ve got some exciting things coming up this fall! The October Challenge with Walleye Warrior is primed to takeoff October 1. I’m excited to see what the results of this are!
We’ll be talking all fall about some of our favorite presentations. You can find everything you need to know to help your catch more fish this fall on our fall fishing page.
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