The 2026 South Dakota Governor’s Cup is in the books. After two days of fishing, Beau Schilling and Ben Beadle have gone back-to-back capturing their second South Dakota Governor’s Cup Championship.
Historic Day One Propels Schilling and Beadle to Victory
Beau Schilling and Ben Beadle, after setting a new tournament record weight in 2025, followed up their historic performance with yet another. Weighing 33.27 pounds, their Day One weight set a new single-day tournament record.
They took the lead and ran with it, bringing 24.75 pounds to the scales on Day Two. Their two-day total of 58.02 pounds earned them the victory by nearly 14 pounds.
“I had an absolute blast, the big ones coming right away in the morning made the day just stress free,” said Beadle. “We knew we were gonna get the slots, we just went fishing it was a blast.”
Schilling started practice Monday at about 5 p.m. following boat issues.
“I was having some battery issues, Nate saved the day he took a full day out of his pre-fish to help me out,” said Schilling. “Practice just sucked to be honest, it was 105 every day and big ones were really stingy all practice.”
Despite the slow practice, once they caught the two big fish in the mornings they were able to focus on their slot fish, which resulted in a lot of fish.
“We went and caught so many fish it was unbelievable, letting go 10-15 overs every day trying to catch your slots,” continued Schilling. “It was a great tournament.”
The young defending champions had to beat four-time champions, Tyson Keller and Duane Hjelm, who scored second place with 44.77 pounds.
Nebraska anglers Brett Vinzant and Bill Kunze scored third place, and highest placing out of state team, with 43.82 pounds. Additionally, Vinzant and Kunze won the Viagra Division.
Jackson Hilton and Jackson Oberg had the biggest bag on Day Two, which propelled them into fourth place.
Jeff and Brody Simonsen Win Austin Olivier Division
The Austin Olivier Award goes to the highest placing parent and child team. In 2026, this was Jeff and Brody Simonsen, who rounded out the Top Five.
“It’s pretty special that he’s only 16 and he pretty much runs the boat and it’s just really cool seeing how he’s progressed over the years,” said Jeff. “It’s just really special fishing with your kid.”
Brody expressed that while the fishing was great, it’s about the memories that are made.
“This was awesome, I’m at a loss for words, everything worked out perfect, it was all great,”said Brody. “I would say the memories that we make over all the years have been awesome.”
Darrell and Kadence Peters scored sixth place overall, and second in the Austin Olivier division.
Military and Law Enforcement Division Goes to Stahl and Roe, Youngbloods Capture Couples Division
The tenth place overall team of Jason Stahl and Jeremy Roe secured the victory in the Military and Law Enforcement Division. Stahl and Roe weighed 37.10 pounds.
Second place in the division went to Don Miller and Dave Bies, who weighed 35.69 pounds.
Third place in the division went to Daniel and Ashley Youngblood, who also won the Couples division. Youngbloods weighed 33.63 pounds.
South Dakota Governor’s Cup Top 15:
- 1st: Beau Schilling and Ben Beadle – 58.02 pounds
- Highest In State Team
- Day One Big Bag
- Day One Big Fish
- 2nd: Tyson Keller and Duane Hjelm – 44.77 pounds
- 3rd: Brett Vinzant and Bill Kunze – 43.82 pounds
- Viagra Division Champion
- Highest Out of State Team
- 4th: Jackson Hilton and Jackson Oberg – 43.82 pounds
- Day Two Big Bag
- 5th: Jeff and Brody Simonsen – 41.88 pounds
- Austin Olivier Division Champion
- 6th: Darrell and Kadence Peters – 39.29 pounds
- 7th: Dusty and Greg Carroll – 39.10 pounds
- 8th: Curt and Justin Olivier – 38.62 pounds
- 9th: Mitchell Loban and Brady Will – 37.24 pounds
- 10th: Jason Stahl and Jeremy Roe – 37.10 pounds
- Law Enforcement and Military Division Champion
- 11th: Chris Haines and Ben Brown – 36.31 pounds
- 12th: John Hoyer and Kyle Minke – 36.31 pounds
- 13th: Dustin Christopherson and Adam Yost – 36.17 pounds
- 14th: Tate and Eric Schweitzer – 35.95 pounds
- 15th: Jared Kaup and Luke Vogel – 35.88 pounds
The Fishing Crew Volunteer of the Year
Bryan Waltz, better known as Chasen Walter, was recognized as the 2026 The Fishing Crew Volunteer of the Year.
“It takes an army, it just turned out to be one of those things I never imagined doing fishing tournaments,” said Chasen. “I want to thank Curt, I wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t for Curt.”
Chasen is the co-host of the Between the Hooksets podcasts, which is hosted by The Fishing Crew every Wednesday night.
Day One Sees Historic Single Day Bag
Day One saw excellent fishing conditions, and excellent fishing. Beau Schilling and Ben Beadle set a new single day tournament record with 33.27 pounds. Check out the story behind this historic bag!
Day Two Brings Different Weather, But Similar Results
Day Two brought completely opposite conditions, with strong winds, hot temperatures, and spotty storms. Despite the change in conditions, the results were the same with Beau Schilling and Ben Beadle standing on top the leaderboard. Check out the story behind their back to back South Dakota Governor’s Cups.
Lake Oahe has proven over the years to be a trophy walleye factory, and it lived up to its reputation once again. There were multiple fish greater than 10 pounds, including 12 pounders, and with the big fish of the tournament at 13.50 pounds there was no shortage of trophy walleyes crossing the scales.
In addition to the trophy fish, a strong number of fish between 17-19 inches that are in excellent condition pad the “slot fish” portion of a tournament angler’s bag. South Dakota law only allows one walleye over 20 inches per angler, which makes these results that much more impressive.
A significant number of small “overs”, or fish greater than 20 inches, were also released as anglers sought to catch their biggest overs possible. Anglers reported great numbers of fish between 20-23 inches, which are generally 4-6 pounds.
Complete results and information are available on TheFishingCrew.com.
Images Courtesy The Fishing Crew Facebook Page and Beau Schilling Facebook Page
