One of the most popular spring walleye fisheries in the country, Lake Francis Case, always finds itself in the spotlight and 2025 is going to be no different. Lake Francis Case often provides some of the first open water walleye opportunities of the season, and one of the best spring bites available in the country. This is why anglers flock to the unofficial capital of spring walleye fishing, Chamberlain, South Dakota.
Lake Francis Case offers far more than an excellent spring bite though. One of the major Missouri River reservoirs in South Dakota, Lake Francis Case stems from Big Bend Dam in Fort Thompson to Fort Randall Dam in Pickstown. The reservoir offers a complex fishery, with an excellent year-round walleye bite and a unique paddlefish fishery as well.
“Many anglers think Lake Francis Case and their mind instantly goes to spring fishing in Chamberlain,” says Nick Harrington, Owner of Lip Ripper Fishing. “The reservoir has more to offer than just spring fishing though, the bite often is good throughout the season as you follow fish up and down the reservoir.”
Lake Francis Case is the 11th largest reservoir in the United States, stretching 107 miles long and featuring 540 miles of shoreline. The reservoir covers 102,000 acres and reaches a max depth of 140 feet. This makes it the 4th largest reservoir on the Missouri River mainstem.
“Lake Francis Case fishes a bit similar to Lake Oahe,” continues Harrington. “There’s an abundance of large creeks and tributaries especially as you work your way down to the lower end of the reservoir.”
Each September, South Dakota Game, Fish and Parks (GFP) fisheries biologists conduct their gill net survey. These nets are placed at 75 randomly selected sites that range from 8-99 feet of water. This survey gives biologists an idea of the fish populations found in the reservoir.
The species present in these gill nets paints a good picture of the fish community within the reservoir as a whole, which includes 21% walleye, 8% sauger, 22% channel catfish, 10% yellow perch, 2% smallmouth bass, and 12% gizzard shad. It is pretty common for similar numbers of walleye and channel catfish to be found in the reservoir, and constitutes a bulk of the total catch in the system.
“Walleye and catfish really dominate the system,” details Harrington. “There’s some decent smallmouth fishing especially down near the face of the dam, but when you look at the system as a whole it’s walleye, catfish, and everything revolves around gizzard shad as that primary forage.”
Generally speaking, walleye populations closely follow the run off into the system. High water in the Missouri River basin results in increased walleye abundance for Lake Francis Case. An excellent example of this would be in 2010-2011, the largest flows through the system. Walleye populations really responded to this period. Contrary to this, a drought cycle often sees lower walleye abundance in the system.
Localized run-off is most important to Lake Francis Case. The mountain water is often sterile having gone through four reservoirs before reaching Lake Francis Case, whereas local tributaries such as the White River as well as other larger creeks such as Platte and Pease Creek provide nutrient-rich water. These local nutrients are what helps Lake Francis Case thrive and drives fish production.
“When we’re looking at Oahe we’re generally looking at mountain snowpack,” details Harrington. “Francis Case though, it really depends on what happens at that local level on some of those bigger creeks. It’s just a different dynamic due to the location of the reservoir in the whole river system.”
The 2023 and 2024 years were below average in terms of the total numbers of walleye within Lake Francis Case overall, but the number of 15-20 inch fish in the system was similar with every year except 2020. As a whole, 58% of walleyes are greater than 15 inches, indicating abundant good sized fish in the population.
“I heard a lot of concerns from anglers this past year about the fishing they’d experienced on the reservoir,” states Harrington. “When you look at the numbers though, there is a good number of pretty desirable sized fish present to catch.”
This means there are good numbers of harvestable fish, just not as many smaller fish less than 15 inches. That said, age-0 walleye, which are sampled via electrofishing, were right at average. This sets up for still a good number of fish recruiting to the system for the coming years.
“There’s certainly fewer fish in the system than we’re used to, but I don’t think that’s what the factor was this season,” explains Harrington. “The good news is it looks like there are still young fish working their way up the ranks.”
In addition to reaching solid lengths, the walleye in Lake Francis Case are in fantastic condition. Relative weight of fish is higher than typically seen in the reservoir, which is likely a result of a mild 2023-2024 winter.
Lake Francis Case is driven by gizzard shad, the primary forage within the system. Gizzard shad do not tolerate cold conditions well and harsh winters can result in decreased numbers of shad in the system. Historically, if there are more than 100 days of ice cover it can be expected there will be significantly reduced numbers of shad for the coming year.
This was not the case for the 2023-2024 winter. This was an incredibly mild winter, which meant there was not a major die-off and there were more than average numbers of shad entering the spring. There was excellent shad production throughout the summer, which meant there was far more than average gizzard shad in the system available for walleye to eat throughout the entire 2024 season on Lake Francis Case.
“This explains the higher than average relative weights, which essentially means they were fat and happy,” elaborates Harrington. “This also speaks to the growth rates in Lake Francis Case.”
A key indicator of walleye growth is the length at age-3. The target length is right at 15 inches. Lake Francis Case fish are exceeding this target, reaching 16 inches by age-3.
Overall Lake Francis Case walleye are eating well, which means they are growing quickly and reaching excellent relative weights. This means fish are very healthy, but also means they don’t necessarily have to eat and makes them tough to catch.
“If I had to pick a major factor into the tough fishing anglers reported in 2024 it would be the available forage in the system,” states Harrington. “Abundant forage is great for our fisheries, but not always great for us as anglers.”
Despite the tough fishing, angler usage of the reservoir was right around average for the 2024 season. The bite was indeed tough, with walleye catch rate about .5/hour. This means it took anglers on average about two hours of fishing to catch a walleye. This is not typical for the reservoir, but similar bites occurred in 2010 and 2016.
“We’re used to Lake Francis Case being an action fishery, but that wasn’t the case in 2024,” says Harrington. “I think it’s still safe to call the system a walleye factory, but fish being present and anglers catching them doesn’t always go hand in hand.”
There’s several factors that went into this tough fishing. As noted above, there were ample fish for anglers to harvest in the system, but the abundance of gizzard shad likely made these fish difficult to catch as they did not have a great need to feed constantly. Generally speaking the higher the relative weight goes up, the more it impacts catch rates. As mentioned above, 2024 was an above average year for relative weight.
Another possible factor for the tough fishing anglers encountered were the changes the reservoir is going through. Zebra mussels, which were discovered in 2019, have cleared the reservoir up and are likely resulting in walleyes inhabiting different areas than they are traditionally. This has also contributed to aquatic vegetation growing in different areas than it has previously, specifically deeper depths, where the vegetation is less susceptible to waves and thus able to be utilized by small and large fish alike.
This combination of factors means anglers fishing those traditional spots may have struggled, while those anglers that went and searched in new areas and techniques were able to find fish. This is a transition the reservoir is going through, and will likely result in a change in the way anglers approach the system.
“The Missouri River reservoirs as a whole are complex fisheries,” details Harrington. “Areas that may have held fish previously may not anymore, and the same can be said for techniques. When you look at the historical trends about every decade the system experiences a major change and anglers need to adapt to that.”
When the catch rates are lower, the walleye harvest is lower as well. This was true in 2024, with approximately 67,500 walleyes being harvested. While the bite was tough in 2024, it wasn’t necessarily because of the lack of numbers of harvestable walleyes in the system but rather the combination of environmental factors that made fish both less likely to bite and more difficult to locate than traditional locations.
“I’m optimistic for 2025,” forecasts Harrington. “I know 2024 was tough for a lot of folks, but I am not going to say the reservoir is in trouble by any means. In fact, I’d say the reservoir is overall in a really healthy condition.”
The number of harvestable fish in the system, species composition percentages, relative weights, and growth of walleye support this statement.
“If we saw a noticeable change in the percent of walleyes sampled versus other species, decreased growth, fish in poor quality condition, or straight up missing year classes that is when I’d raise the alarm,” reinforces Harrington. “We’re not seeing any of that. I think we’re going to see anglers try some new things in 2025 and I think we’re going to see some really nice fish caught.”
All eyes will be on the reservoir, as it hosts the National Team Championship in Pickstown June 19-21, 2025.
“It will be interesting to see how anglers that don’t have a lot of experience on the reservoir approach it,” says Harrington. “We’re going to see some new ideas emerge and it’s going to be pretty neat to see.”
Lake Francis Case also hosts several spring tournaments and this year will be more of the same. The Cedar Shore Resort Walleye Tournament will take place April 12-13, Platte Area Chamber of Commerce Tournament is May 3, and 26th Annual Lake Francis Case Walleye Tournament will be April 19.
“I’m excited for what the 2025 season has in store for Lake Francis Case,” concludes Harrington. “Book that vacation, sign up for that tournament, and plan to hit the water because I don’t think we’re going to be disappointed this year.”
Pickstown to Host National Team Championship
As mentioned above, the most prestigious tournament in walleye fishing will be headed to Lake Francis Case in 2025. The National Team Championship will launch out of Pickstown June 19-21. This will be an excellent barometer to the techniques and locations that prove to be successful and reveal the number of quality fish in the system.
Cedar Shore Walleye Tournament Scheduled for April 12-13
A traditional early season tournament, the Cedar Shore Resort Walleye Tournament will take place April 12-13 in Chamberlain. Last year’s event saw high winds, dirty water, and cold conditions. Anglers are hopeful this year offers more ideal conditions to be on the water and better represents what spring fishing in Chamberlain is all about.
Platte Area Chamber of Commerce Tournament Scheduled for May 3
Another popular event, the Platte Area Chamber of Commerce, is looking to rebound from a disappointing 2024. The 2025 tournament will take place May 3 and anglers are hopeful to see some big weights brought to the scales as they normally are.
