Fall presents one of the best bites of the year wherever you fish, but the bite seems to be exceptional on the Missouri River reservoirs in South Dakota. Specifically, the bite can become truly spectacular on both Lake Sharpe and Lake Francis Case as the calendar turns from September into October.
“Fall is referred to as one of the best bites of the year, which is true,” says Nick Harrington, Owner of Lip Ripper Fishing. “Fall also presents one of the most interesting dynamics as an ecosystem as a whole, which is why I do everything I can to both locate and trigger fish.”
Forage is the primary factor when it comes to these changing dynamics along the reservoir. Lake Sharpe and Lake Francis Case are both gizzard shad driven fisheries, which is what makes for the interesting dynamics anglers encounter.
“Spring is all about the spawn,” Harrington explained. “Summer is when fish are all about feeding, and there are plenty of options for them as the food web is in full swing, but fall is when things start to become interesting.”
Gizzard shad are known for being prolific spawners and will continue to spawn as long as water temperatures are warm enough to allow. This means by the time the water temperatures start to dip into the 60s, and ultimately 50s, there is both an abundance of gizzard shad present and various sizes of shad.
“In addition to plenty of food, and various sizes of meals, you also have to factor in that fish are on the move throughout the entire fall season,” continued Harrington. “Summer patterns are pretty consistent, but fall, that’s when you have fish migrating back up to the upper third of the reservoir.”
Reservoir walleyes often experience similar migration patterns throughout the year. In the spring, walleye will be up in the upper third of a system as it acts more like a river and provides ideal spawning conditions. Fish will then move to the lower third, which acts more like a lake, as they sit in their summer patterns. Throughout fall, fish will begin moving back up the system into the upper third of the reservoir yet again.
“When it comes to finding fall walleyes on these reservoirs, flats are the key,” elaborated Harrington. “These are areas that act as natural resting and feeding points for migrating fish, concentrates bait, and ultimately will hold fish throughout all of the fall months.”
Both Lake Sharpe and Lake Francis Case are known for very large flats, particularly in the Pierre and Chamberlain areas respectively.
“We’re fishing on flats that are pretty large, many are one or two miles long, that’s a lot of areas for fish to present,” details Harrington. “That’s simply finding the fish, I next have to stand out from the rest of the forage and make them bite too.”
To accomplish this, the key is a presentation that both covers large amounts of water and can stand out from the other clouds of bait. This is why Harrington deploys flashy presentations throughout the fall months.
“I fish very fast and aggressively all through the fall,” discusses Harrington. “I start every day with large Colorado blades, #3 or #4, and I pull them with about ¾ of a crawler at a good rate of speed.”
The large blades produce a significant amount of both flash and vibration, and also give Harrington the ability to customize colors particularly in the mornings.
“Generally, in the morning I do best with the gaudier colors,” details Harrington. “As the sun gets higher, particularly on calm days, it seems the bite transitions more to a metallic or plain white blade as the day goes on.”
The aggressive presentation helps Harrington make his presentation stand out from the rest of the forage in the system, thus triggering more bites from walleyes that are seeking to load up on calories throughout the fall months.
“The other key aspect of this presentation is speed,” continues Harrington. “I pull these blades fast, going with the current we may be going anywhere from 1.4-2.2 mph depending on what that current is pushing us at, it seems like crankbait trolling speed but it’s highly effective.”
The higher speeds allows Harrington to cover more water, and thus contact more fish, when fishing these expansive flats.
“This is a different scenario than we see on Lake Oahe in the summer for example,” explains Harrington. “In that situation, you have pods of fish holding on generally pretty small areas, here we have fish scattered across literally miles.”
The ability to cover as much water as possible, while standing apart from the rest of the bait in the system, is what makes Harrington’s fall presentation so effective.
“It’s honestly my favorite way to fish,” concludes Harrington. “When they bite, it’s a violent strike and the rod generally bends all the way to the water, it’s pretty awesome!”
Fall can lead to a complex dynamic when it comes to the combination of forage availability and fish movement, which is why both covering water and triggering bites is paramount to success. The aggressive presentation, and high speeds, is what Harrington deploys to put fish in the boat throughout the entire fall season.
