The Missouri River reservoirs are known for producing an excellent bite throughout nearly the entire year, but no other stretch of river may offer more fishing opportunities than the tailrace areas. These areas can be fished from either shore or from a boat and often produce excellent fishing opportunities all year long.
A tailrace is the area below the dam where water is released through the powerhouse and produces current throughout the reservoir below. The water released through the dam is drawn from the bottom of the reservoir above, which results in cool and consistent water temperatures throughout much of the calendar year. Additionally, the flowing water prevents freezing and can often provide open water fishing opportunities all winter long. In South Dakota there are four tailrace fishing opportunities.
The Oahe Dam tailrace in Pierre separates Lake Oahe from Lake Sharpe. The Big Bend Dam tailrace in Fort Thompson separates Lake Sharpe from Lake Francis Case. The Fort Randall Dam tailrace in Pickstown separates Lake Francis Case from Lewis and Clark Lake. The Gavins Point Dam tailrace in Yankton is the final dam of the system, which separates Lewis and Clark Lake from the rest of the Missouri River.
A Bite for All Seasons
The flowing water from the powerhouse will generally provide open water fishing opportunities throughout the majority of the winter. On warm sunny days, fishing can generally be quite good for anglers that either launch their boats or break out the boots and walk to their favorite areas. While the fishing throughout the winter months can be successful enough to prevent anglers from winterizing their boats, spring is when the fishing really starts to crank up.
As spring progresses, walleye will make their way up to the upper third of the reservoir for their annual spawn. The flowing water and rocky shorelines along the tailraces will attract fish and thus in turn anglers. While anglers fishing out of the boat can find success all day long, shore anglers often experience the best fishing as the sun begins to set and darkness creeps in. At this time, fish will move shallow and soak in the heat from the rocks.
In the summer, while some fish may migrate to spend summer in the lower end of the reservoir a resident population of fish will remain in the tailrace. This is for good reason, the flowing water will remain at a cooler, consistent temperature through the summer months and there will be a forage base all summer. The fish will be comfortable and fed, exactly what they are looking for at this time of year.
In the fall, walleyes that had spent the summer on the lower end of the reservoir will begin moving their way back up into the upper stretches. The tailrace becomes a popular destination for these fish, adding to the population of fish that had spent their time in the cool waters of the tailrace all summer long.
Flow Through Food
In many situations, the forage being consumed by walleyes in a tailrace has actually come from the lake above. In years of high flows, baitfish above the dam will be flushed through and find themselves in the fast water below. Many times, as this bait comes through the dam it will be dazed, injured or possibly even dead. This puts it in a very vulnerable situation to a waiting predator below.
Other forage opportunities will be fish from the reservoir below the dam that are attracted to the flowing, often cooler waters of the tailrace. This means at any given time there could be a resident population of baitfish as well as potential meals being flushed through the dam.
For reservoirs like Lake Sharpe, Lake Francis Case and Lewis and Clark Lake where gizzard shad are the primary forage this means that the main forage in the fast water and being flushed through the dam will be gizzard shad. However, Oahe Dam in Pierre can be an exception.
Lake Oahe is a cold water fishery that features both shiners and herring, which means when flows are high these shiners and herring may end up on the Lake Sharpe side. When this does happen, Lake Sharpe’s tailrace suddenly changes from a gizzard shad driven system to a herring/smelt driven system.
When this does occur, it is important for anglers to note the difference in the characteristics of these baits. Gizzard shad are a shorter, deeper species while herring and shiners are often longer and torpedo shaped. A 10-12 inch herring is too big for your standard eater class walleye, but is an excellent food source for trophy caliber fish. It is important to be aware of what the primary forage will be when you hit the fast water and how to best replicate that bait.
There are a variety of ways to target these areas, but both shore anglers and boat anglers will often be able to find success. In the next two articles of this series, we break down how to target tailrace walleyes out of a boat and shore.
Learn About Boat Fishing: Tailrace Walleye Tactics II: Putting Fish in the Boat
Learn About Shorefishing: Tailrace Walleye Tactics III: Shoreline Strategies
