The South Dakota Governor’s Cup concluded Sunday, July 19 and at the end of two days of fishing it was Beau Schilling and Ben Beadle on top with 58.02 pounds. Following a historic Day One, which saw Schilling and Beadle bring 33.27 pounds and the largest single day bag in Governor’s Cup history, their second day bag of 24.75 was enough to capture the victory.
This makes it back-to-back South Dakota Governor’s Cups for Schilling and Beadle, who won their first event in 2025. In 2025 they set a two-day tournament record weight, and in 2026 they set a single day tournament record weight. These young anglers are truly writing their names in the history books.
Day Two Brings Opposite, Adverse Conditions
Day Two was the complete opposite of Day One, with high temperatures, high winds, and isolated early morning rain bringing new challenges to anglers.
A strong storm rolled through the area between 3-4 a.m., with an impressive lightning show carrying on to the east of the river until about 6 a.m. The strong winds were right behind the storm, and gusty winds presented themselves right at take-off.
The field took off into big waves, and the easy travel anglers enjoyed the day before was no longer a reality. This impacted where anglers were able to travel, and limited the overall number of fishing spots available.
The winds did make the fish bite, and fishing the wind blown shorelines was been proven to be productive. Fish are holding in all depths, as shallow as 5-7 feet and suspended in as much as 50-70 feet. This is because of the variety of forage options in the reservoir, which includes gizzard shad, smelt, and ciscoe.
Anglers targeted a wide range of depths, techniques, and locations across the event. Livescoping was the most common method, but trolling crankbaits and bottom bouncing also produced.
Day Two Sees More Quality Bags, Similar Result on Top
The Day One leaders, fresh off a record setting bag, continued their historic run with their second South Dakota Governor’s Cup Championship in as many years.
Beau Schilling and Ben Beadle weighed 24.75 pounds on Day Two, to bring their total to 58.02 pounds.
“We just went and did the same thing, and our big ones actually decided to bite the last few days,” said Schilling. “We had a blast.”
Schilling and Beadle won by a near 14 pound margin, over four-time champions Duane Hjelm and Tyson Keller.
“We had a pretty good game plan, we were going to our big ones right away because we caught our big ones early yesterday,” continued Schilling. “We had our big ones within a half hour of starting.”
On Day One those big ones were 12 pounds, for Day Two a 9 pound walleye was what helped seal the event.
“We got really lucky with a 9 pounder this morning,” continued Schilling. “We were really blessed to have our big ones cooperate.”
On his 21st birthday, Ben Beadle gets to celebrate in style.
“We were not very confident heading into it,” said Beadle. “It all just came together Day One, we had a good feeling Day Two and it all just came together.”
The second place team after Day One, Brett Vinzant and Bill Kunze, brought 16.01 pounds on Day Two. Their two-day combined weight was 43.82 pounds and good enough for third place.
“I’ll be honest, with 30 minutes left we had 8 pounds,” said Vinzant. “Our big fish didn’t bite today, but we never quit.”
The third place team after Day One, Tyson Keller and Duane Hjelm, brought 22.00 pounds for Day Two. Their two-day weight came to 44.77 pounds, leap frogging them to second place.
Jackson Hilton and Jackson Oberg brought a 25.09 pound bag on Day Two, which jumped them up the leaderboard with a two day total of 43.82 pounds. They landed in fourth place.
Darrell and Kadence Peters had a solid Day Two, with an 8.31 pound big fish anchoring a 22.65 pound bag. This brought their two-day total to 39.29 pounds. They landed in sixth place.
Curt and Justin Olivier backed up their Day One performance, and after taking off Day Two in 5th place brought another 17 pounds for a two-day total of 38.62 pounds. They ended in eight place.
Chris Haines and Ben Brown had a 7.85 pound walleye, which was the anchor of a 21.91 pound Day Two bag. This brings their two-day total to 36.31 pounds and just outside the Top Ten in 11th place.
John Hoyer and Kyle Minke had a strong day two, bringing 19.88 pounds to get their two-day total to 36.31 pounds. They found a good numbers bite, with fish between 3-5 pounds, they just couldn’t put together any fish larger than 6 pounds.
“We were in Prairie Chicken Bay, and there were a lot of 3-pound unders,” said Hoyer. “It was so fun, we had 30 or 35 walleyes, and at the end we had 4.4 pounder so we boxed it.”
The big fish of Day Two, which was a true giant, came in at 13.50 pounds. It led to a 25.02 pound bag for Webster and Webster.
Chad and Samantha Schilling brought 14.59 pounds on Day Two, for 32.28 pounds.
“Once again I got my butt kicked by my kid,” said Chad Schilling.
Curt Underhill, tournament director, was quick to point out to Chad that his kid’s one day weight beat Chad’s two day weight.
Indeed, while there were excellent weights brought to the scales, it was once again Beau Schilling and Ben Beadle that stood atop the field by nearly 14 pounds.
South Dakota Governor’s Cup Top 15:
- Beau Schilling and Ben Beadle – 58.02 pounds
- Tyson Keller and Duane Hjelm – 44.77 pounds
- Brett Vinzant and Bill Kunze – 43.82 pounds
- Jackson Hilton and Jackson Oberg – 43.82 pounds
- Jeff and Brody Simonsen – 41.88 pounds
- Darrell and Kadence Peters – 39.29 pounds
- Dusty and Greg Carroll – 39.10 pounds
- Curt and Justin Olivier – 38.62 pounds
- Mitchell Loban and Brady Will – 37.24 pounds
- Jason Stahl and Jeremy Roe – 37.10 pounds
- Chris Haines and Ben Brown – 36.31 pounds
- John Hoyer and Kyle Minke – 36.31 pounds
- Dustin Christopherson and Adam Yost – 36.17 pounds
- Tate and Eric Schweitzer – 35.95 pounds
- Jared Kaup and Luke Vogel – 35.88 pounds
Once again, Lake Oahe showed off with both the quality of fish to be caught throughout the reservoir. The number, and size, of the slot fish combined with the trophy caliber fish literally up to 13.50 pounds showed the best of what the reservoir has to offer!
Photos Courtesy Beau Schilling’s Facebook Page and South Dakota Governor’s Cup Facebook Page
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