It is tournament week here in Pierre, South Dakota! Lake Sharpe is going to take center stage this week, with two major tournaments set to take place. The first event is the National Walleye Tour, which will be Thursday and Friday. The second event is Sharpe Showdown, which will be Saturday and Sunday. Because of the tournaments this week, this week’s fishing report will look a bit different, and showcase everything going on along Lake Sharpe!
First and foremost, let’s start with the fishing report. The upcoming tournaments means there is no shortage of boat traffic on Lake Sharpe right now, and there is a good bite to be had. There continues to be an abundant of 14-16 inchers present in the system, and anglers who aren’t fishing a tournament and just want to have fun and catch a mess of fish are set to be extremely satisfied!
Fish are scattered throughout the reservoir, and essentially any popular location is holding fish. Due to the upcoming tournaments we won’t get specifically into these, but the key takeaway is water temperatures are between 42-46 degrees and spawning activity is beginning along the reservoir. This means that those spawning areas are full of males that are active and cruising, and the females are holding close to them as well.
Pitching with a jig and minnow and trolling crankbaits are both effective. Trolling has allowed anglers to cover the most water, while jigging can put fish in the boat the quickest. Clear water temperatures, strong flows from the dam, and abundant fish has made for good fishing along the entire reservoir, particularly on the upper third of the system.
The National Walleye Tour will launch out of Down’s Marina April 24-25, and many anglers are struggling to pattern the 17-19 inch fish compared to the 15-16 inch fish. While catching fish is not a problem for many, catching the right fish is. Nick Harrington previews this event, and what he expects will play a major role, in our Insider Outlook: National Walleye Tour Visits Lake Sharpe.
Following the National Walleye Tour will be Sharpe Showdown, which is set to take place April 26-27. While not fishing NWT, Nick Harrington and Tom Sieburg will be competing in this event. Sharpe Showdown is hosted by the Pierre Area Chamber of Commerce and put on by The Fishing Crew.
This past week was the first night of Tuesday Night Walleye Fishing League in Pierre, which saw Nick and Mason start the season with a Top 5 finish. If you missed it, check out the Week One League Report and find out how they did it!
We’ve been highlighting the Midwest Walleye Challenge in South Dakota, and we had our first Midwest Walleye Challenge South Dakota Update 4/18/25. It was a busy weekend, and the leaderboards have continued to change. Check out the updated leaderboards!
Overall Longest Walleye Top 10:
- Hunter Halverson 26.5 inches
- Zachary Schwartz 22.5 inches
- Kevin Holter 21.7 inches
- Jeremy Heideman 21 inches
- Jeremy Friebel 21 inches
- Michael Ocobock 20 inches
- Nick Harrington 19.5 inches
- Aaron Koski 19 inches
- Jeff Uzzle 18.5 inches
- Cody Morris 18.3 inches
Overall Most Walleye Top 10:
- Nick Harrington 78
- Michael Ocobock 42
- Hank Asher 39
- Jeremy Heideman 24
- David Blaha 7
- Tom Heier 5
- Aaron Koski 5
- Michael Shinstine 4
- BJ Olson 3
- Cody Morris 3
As a reminder, everyone is encouraged to submit all of their catches to provide the most accurate data to GFP fisheries biologists! There is still time to register for this event as well!
Cedar Shore Resort Walleye Tournament Results
Lastly, if you missed it check out the final results from last week’s Cedar Shore Resort Walleye Tournament! Lake Francis Case produced both quality walleyes, and great numbers of walleye, and all signs point towards a rebound year for the fishery!
Stay tuned for results on all of the weeks’ events!
