The 24th Annual Cedar Shore Resort Walleye Tournament is in the books, and Lake Francis Case showed up in all aspects of the way the reservoir is known for! The tournament featured great numbers of fish, a trophy caliber fish, and one very major wind event!
Day One of the event was gorgeous conditions, with minimal wind, warm temperatures and partly cloudy conditions. Day Two featured high sun, and higher winds! Gusts to 60, and sustained winds between 20-25 mph made both travel and fishing difficult. However, it was the timing of the spawn that captured the main story line.
The warming trend brought water temperatures from 41-44 degrees up until 44-49 degrees and kicked off the spawn across the reservoir. Certain areas saw different levels, and sizes, of fish entering their spawning stage and resulted in a strong variance of bites across the reservoir. Particularly the northern end of the reservoir saw more fish in pre-spawn conditions, where further south the fish were spawning and beginning post-spawn patterns.
Despite the changing conditions, many anglers were able to bring in excellent bags. Coming in on top was Glenn and Coledon Eimers with 17.17 pounds on Day One and 13.19 pounds on Day Two, totaling 30.36 pounds to capture 1st place.
Anchored by two consistent days, 14.83 and 13.7 pounds, were Dalton and Harry Decker who secured second place with 28.53 pounds. Two similar bags, 13.62 and 13.11 pounds, scored third place for Ryan Thompson and Matt Lyon with 26.73 pounds. Closing out the Top Five were Brock and Alex Jackson with 25.86 pounds and Eric Lindemann and Travis Sanger with 24.74 pounds.
Lake Francis Case also produced a trophy caliber walleye, with an 8.51 pound walleye capturing big fish and bringing home a 7th place finish for Tanner Thompson-Moad and Derek Meschke!
For Nick Harrington and Tom Sieburg, the spawn hit their target area just a bit too early.
“We had focused on an area of warmer water that was holding quality females that were staging to spawn,” said Nick Harrington, Owner of Lip Ripper Fishing. “These fish were going to spawn at any time, and the hope was that we could get five bites before they did. Unfortunately, we were only able to get four on Saturday and it was over by Sunday.”
Fishing out of Tom Sieburg’s YarCraft, which featured a 400 horsepower Mercury V10, they had the advantage of speed and took full advantage of it.
“This was my first time in a YarCraft and I was impressed not only in the speed we were able to utilize on Day One, but the rideability in rough water on Day Two,” continued Harrington. “We were right at 77 mph top speed, and I felt more uncomfortable going that fast in the calm than I did in the 4 footers!”
This speed and boat advantage made it possible to run towards the southern boundary, Highway 44 bridge, and fish areas that wouldn’t quite be in range of the tiller.
“I really enjoyed fishing with Tom, this was our first time fishing together and it was a great change of pace” stated Harrington. “Tom and I’s mentalities complement each other well, and I learned a lot from him in regard to how he approaches both trolling and live scoping. He’s a tremendous angler and it’s easy to see how he’s had the success he has in the tournament circuit!”
While the results didn’t show it this tournament, bringing 10.35 pounds to the scales, the blueprints of success are certainly present.
“This was our first time fishing together, we didn’t have much time to pre-fish, and this is essentially an away game for both of us,” concluded Harrington. “That said, we didn’t make excuses, fished hard, and had a bunch of fun. We’re going to find success fishing together, and I think it could be as soon as Sharpe Showdown in two weeks!”
The third annual Sharpe Showdown, hosted by the Pierre Area Chamber, is set for April 26-27, 2025. This event launches out of Downs Marina onto Lake Sharpe, complete information and registration is available on TheFishingCrew.com.
We’ll have more fishing reports, tournament reports, and updates to come. The season is underway, spawn is in full swing, and we’re looking forward to continuing to improve these reports, articles, and stories! In the meantime, good fishing!
Cedar Shore Resort Walleye Tournament Top 10:
- 1st Place: Glenn Eimers/Coledon Eimers
- 2nd Place: Harry Decker/Dalton Decker
- 3rd Place: Ryan Thompson/Matt Lyon
- 4th Place: Brock Jackson/Alex Jackson
- 5th Place: Eric Lindemann/Travis Sanger
- 6th Place: Randy Hummel/Don Hansen
- 7th Place: Tanner Thompson-Moad/Derek Meshke
- 8th Place: Brian Bashore/Scott Ulrich
- 9th Place: Kenny Edgmon/Steve Fahey
- 10th Place: James Trimble/Will Graves
