Happy first day of fall! To celebrate, let’s talk fall fishing! Fall fishing is coming into full swing and we have plenty of bites to talk about. Let’s get to it!
Missouri River
Lake Sharpe
There are several bites taking place on Lake Sharpe right now. The best bite has been wherever the Propst Professional Anglers go! Fishing on flats on the upper end of the reservoir has been the best. Bottom bouncing with Mack’s Lure Smile Blades has been the top producer by far.
The shore bite at the Oahe dam tailrace continues to give anglers headaches. The abundance of bait has made fishing very difficult. Anglers are having the most success working baits aggressively and drawing reaction strikes. Under normal circumstances, I would say expect the bite to pick up in the coming weeks, but time will tell.
For anglers looking to feel a tug on the line, white bass and smallmouth have been popping pretty well further away from the power house. The smallmouth are pretty decent and some of the white bass are giants!
The causeway and other rocky shorelines in Pierre are producing better, but fishing can still be difficult especially on certain nights. Casting shallow running crankbaits and jerkbaits has been the best plan of attack, but on any given night they may be snapping or they may be nowhere to be found.
Lake Francis Case
The water is still pretty dang high on Francis Case. The Cedar Shore causeway is (for the most part) out of water, but the rocks are still submerged. Strong winds can hit the shoreline and mud and create some pretty serious mudlines.
The Big Bend dam tailrace is also stacked up with bait. There are walleyes to be caught, but if you’re just looking for a tug on the line the drum fishing is honestly fantastic!! I would anticipate the walleye fishing picking up as the weeks move on though.
Glacial Lakes Region
The temperatures were a little warmer last week, but as the cooler temperatures set it the fishing is going to be getting better and better. The good news is, it’s still pretty good!
Fish are keying on those shallow shorelines after dark. The beautiful thing about the region is with so much water to explore, whenever you find structure that looks promising there is often some spectacular fishing!
I like to look for weed edges or flats, rocky shorelines, culverts, timber and also areas of moving water such as inlets/outlets. The more elements the better. Saturating these areas with shallow running crankbaits and jerkbaits (or jigs if you’re my buddy Chris Seylar) can often pay dividends!
While many local anglers have their own “hidden gems”, the more well known lakes are also producing some good fishing as well.
Lake Poinsett continues to produce some excellent fishing for a variety of species. Walleye anglers are doing very well, particularly in the evenings and nights. The perch fishing can be hit/miss depending on the day, but when the fish don’t even know where they want to be that can make it tough! Anglers are also getting white bass and crappie with some smallmouth bass too!
You saw Lake Campbell in the report last week and it hasn’t changed. Fishing continues to be strong on Lake Campbell. Lake Campbell is very close to Brookings, so anglers in the area don’t have to go far!
Antelope Lake near Webster also deserves some love. An abundance of 12-15 inch fish has made Antelope really a top spot in the Webster area. This is another lake that is close to town and fish are in many places you look for them!
Don’t forget about Waubay, Bitter, Opitz and a variety of other lakes in the area. Like I said, fishing is getting better and better as the temperatures drop and now is a great time to hit your favorite lake!
Iowa Great Lakes
For those reading this section and curious if Nebraska won this weekend, yep they did. (It was slightly terrifying, but a win is a win, eh?) Alright onto the fishing!
The fishing on Spirit is picking up along with the perch bite! Spirit is of course a fantastic body of water to find walleye, perch, bass and more so you can plan on some good fishing coming out of here.
West Okoboji also still has a pretty good bluegill bite and the crappies are also picking up as well! If you’re looking for a good panfish bite this is certainly worth checking out!
News and Notes
There is one fishing report left until my October Challenge with Walleye Warrior. Next Monday is the final day of September, so it will be fitting to make next week’s report a forecast for what I expect to be good this October. Much like the Fall Fishing Forecast, we’ll elaborate on what we’ve experienced and what we’re anticipating for the final month of what many consider the open water season.
We’ve got quite a spread for the side giveaway I’m running for the closest guess to my total pounds for the month. Below I’ll outline the weights we have in. I’ll be accepting guesses up until October 1. Post your guess on this post to enter. Whoever guesses the weight closest to what I bring in will receive my top 5 lures I used that month.
Sawyer Giese: 127 lbs
Hannah Kast: 134 lbs
Mike Blachford: 146 lbs
Chris Daldorf: 156 lbs
Wade Hiller: 165 lbs
Travis Pierce: 169 lbs
Marc Boelman: 177 lbs
Corey Pierce: 197 lbs
Nick Christensen: 222 lbs
Bob Garner: 240 lbs
We’ve got quite the spread here with nearly 120lbs covered from the guesses. For those curious, my goal is to get out about 20 times this month. Hopefully that helps your guess!
We’ve got great fishing all across the region. Get out and have some fun this week and good fishing!
135 lbs!