It was a beautiful week, but in a cruel twist wind and clouds took over as the temperature dropped for the weekend. Saturday and Sunday were both chilly days on the water, with winds blowing 20-30mph and gusting even higher on Sunday made fishing difficult! There are still some good fishing reports out there and we’ll highlight those this week.
Lake Francis Case
It was a busy weekend on Case with the Cedar Shore tournament Saturday and SD Elite Walleye Series Sunday. Many fish were caught, but the big bags simply didn’t occur with 13 lbs the largest bag over the weekend.
Water temperatures are mid to upper 40s and depending on where you are on the lake some fish are still pre-spawn and other fish could be post-spawn.
Trolling crankbaits on leadcore is the most popular tactic, but fish can be caught both jigging and bottom bouncing as well. It’s critical to be mindful of your depths as this is the biggest factor in finding fish. Early in the week fish could be found in the deeper 25-30ft water. By Friday we were pulling Smallmouth out of the deeper water and finding walleye in 16-22ft. The Smallmouth weren’t biting hard, but they were actually pretty quality fish when we caught them!
Vertical jigging on the bluffs also produced some fish. We found most our fish in the 20-24ft range with some nice eaters, but also plenty of little guys as well.
The water clarity continues to be poor and the winds this weekend really did a number on the shorelines. This was best seen from up above the water. The winds were strong and they created some serious mudlines on many windblown shorelines.
Lake Sharpe
The fishing platforms at Farm Island have actually been producing some really nice white bass! There are good numbers of fish and they’re very nice sized. Jigs and white plastics have been the top baits for anglers looking to target these fish.
There are walleye being caught along the rocky shorelines as well as in popular areas such as the stilling basin and various shorelines around town. The water continues to be very muddy though.
Eastern South Dakota
Fishing has really been firing up in eastern South Dakota. The multispecies action has been outstanding!
Walleye
The post-spawn walleye bite has been taking off across eastern South Dakota. Fish are shallow and looking to pile on the calories after spawning.
Albert has had a good walleye bite with some nice fish as well. Poinsett, Thompson and Brush have been producing some decent walleye fishing. Dry Lake #2 and Henry has also been producing some walleye. 81 Ponds has been very hit or miss, but there are quality fish to be caught.
The Masters Walleye Circuit came to Big Stone and it was a rather interesting tournament to say the least. Some boats only caught big fish, while others only caught eaters. In fact, the winning team only had 6 fish for 2 days with a winning weight of nearly 31lbs!
Crappie
Crappie fishing has been fantastic on Thompson. My buddy Chris Seylar has really been putting the smackdown on them! Casting jigs from shore or with waders has been the ticket to success.
White Bass
The white bass have also been smacking on the eastern part of the state as well. Poinsett and Thompson have been producing the best fishing and the white bass have been described as “pretty nuts”.
The same presentation used for walleye and crappie has been catching the white bass. Jigs and plastics or jigs and minnows have been the top producing baits.
Conditions have been tough, but the fish have been cooperating and it looks like there are many places to go to catch fish as well as several species!
If you’re looking to hit the Missouri River in the coming weeks give me a shout! I’d be happy to get you out and go have fun catching some fish! Everything you need to book a trip can be found on my website!
Good fishing,
Nick
