The 2025 South Dakota Governor’s Cup will take off from Spring Creek Recreation Area north of Pierre onto Lake Oahe on Saturday, July 19 and Sunday, July 20. This event is run by The Fishing Crew and will also include the 2nd Annual Lieutenant Governor’s Cup, which will take place Saturday, July 19 from 9:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. at Spring Creek Marina.
This week’s fishing report focuses on the upcoming event, detailing what to expect from the weights, big fish, and overall fishing. We’ll also dive into top strategies on Lake Oahe, and share the latest bites we’ve been fishing the last month on the reservoir. We put it all together in this week’s report!
Breaking Down Lake Oahe Walleye Tactics
Overall, three main strategies are going to present themselves: live scoping, trolling crankbaits, and bottom bouncing. All three of these options are going to produce fish, and are producing fish, the key is going to be putting the right system together and getting some luck as well.
Throughout the last few weeks we’ve taken a deep dive into bottom bouncing on Lake Oahe. This is a top strategy particularly in the early summer, when fish are holding shallow on structural elements. Bottom bouncing aggressively with larger Colorado blades is a top tactic and you can learn more about this type of bite in Bottom Bouncing Aggressively for Early Summer Walleyes on Lake Oahe!
“Generally speaking, June is when the bottom bouncing on Lake Oahe is best,” said Nick Harrington, Owner of Lip Ripper Fishing. “As summer fishing conditions begin to really take off in July, bottom bouncing still has a role, but you have to put a pretty solid pattern put together.”
This pattern often includes targeting main lake points, where fish will be holding anywhere between 8-20 feet depending on where the forage is. Harrington took a deep dive into this in Patterning Summer Walleye on Lake Oahe.
Main lake structure becomes the name of the game, particularly by the time launch begins on Gov Cup morning, and that means live scoping with front facing sonar is going to be a play. Live scoping is a great way to target the biggest fish in the system, particularly when they are holding in deeper, main lake structure, and both of these are ample in Lake Oahe!
“Live scoping has really changed the game when it comes to tournament fishing these last four years,” continued Harrington. “There’s several anglers that are extremely skilled at this, and they’re always a chance to win with this technique.”
Lake Oahe features numerous points, drop-offs, humps, islands, and sunken timber. All of these set up ideal spots to live scope, and the abundance of 8-12 pound fish in the system present high priority targets for anglers looking at their sonar. This is a huge reason we can expect to see big fish, and big weights, come across the scales.
Fishing vertically along deep structure has always been a tactic, front facing sonar has just made it even more effective. Whether it’s casting jigs and crawlers, Berkley Finishers, or big slab spoons this is a great way to put fish, and big fish, in the boat.
The third element is trolling crankbaits, which can produce both good numbers of fish and good quality fish too. Large pieces of structure makes trolling crankbaits an ideal way to get your bait infront of as many big fish as possible.
“Trolling crankbaits is my personal best way to get big walleyes on Lake Oahe,” detailed Harrington. “I set my baits based on what I’m seeing from the forage and then I just start covering water until I run into one that decides to go.”
Large flats, shorelines, and submerged trees present the best opportunity to catch fish trolling crankbaits. This is also an effective way to approach tournaments such as the Governor’s Cup, because you can catch both good slot fish and overs doing it in the same spots at the same time, making for an efficient pattern.
Breaking Down the Caliber of Fish in Lake Oahe
We took a deep dive into Lake Oahe this winter in our Lake Oahe Status and Forecast, and the major take away was there is a great number of fish in the 15-20 inch range in the system with plenty of bigger fish present as well. As we head into the South Dakota Governor’s Cup, we’re seeing that all play out as accurate.
South Dakota does not allow culling for walleyes, which means once a fish goes in your box it is yours. To make this event more stringent, when fishing the South Dakota Governor’s Cup all fish must be tagged immediately after they are caught if they are going to be kept, and they can only be kept on ice. Once you’re out of tags and have your limit, you can’t keep any more.
This makes these in the moment decisions critical. Selecting which fish to keep, and which fish to put back, is the strategy within the event. Playing it conservative and boxing six smaller fish means if you do get a big one you’ll be in great shape, but a true mega-bag will need both perfect “slots” and “overs.”
There is a strong crop of fish between 15-17 inches, which have really been present the last several weeks bottom bouncing. These are the classic “eater” caliber fish and make for a great day on the water and even better fish fry after, but when it comes time for the Governor’s Cup these fish aren’t going to help much unless there’s a true giant in your bag. The Fishing Crew sets a 15-inch minimum for the event, but to have a chance you’re likely going to need a 17-inch minimum!
The next class of fish is 17-19 inches, and these are where the tough decisions are going to begin. Overall, these fish are in excellent condition and will be a big help towards a solid bag. These are going to be the most important fish to catch, because even with a giant there are so many nice fish in the system you are going to need a strong supporting cast. This is where these fish come in!
Now, it’s time to discuss the coveted “overs” that will play a major role in this event. South Dakota allows one fish greater than 20 inches per angler per day, which means two of the fish in the bag can be these “over” 20 inchers. Of course, this is going to be critical for any team that wants to have a chance to win the Governor’s Cup.
“There are a ton of 20-22 inch fish in Lake Oahe right now,” elaborated Harrington. “Last year we saw a ton of 18-19 inchers, well now those will be presenting some tough decisions for anglers this year!”
These fish are also in excellent condition, and will help build a very strong bag, but they likely aren’t going to be in the winning bag. Releasing an over is a difficult task on Lake Oahe, but an over less than 22 inches probably has to go back if you want a legitimate chance to win.
Fortunately, there appears to be a pretty good number of fish between 24-26 inches as well. This is when you start getting into the caliber of fish that is going to move the needle when it comes to jumping up the leaderboard. Anglers who are able to bring their four (two each day) overs greater than 24 inches, assuming they have those good 18-19 slots, are going to have a chance!
There’s also some giant walleye in Lake Oahe, and we saw it just this week at the Tom and Matt Hill Memorial Tournament that launched out of West Whitlock Recreation Area on Saturday, July 12. Darrell, Kyra, and Kadence Peters brought in a 14 pound 8 ounce Lake Oahe giant, which produced a six-fish 30 pound bag. These are true game-changing fish, and they can flip a tournament upside down with one bite!
This leads to the predictions for this event, which has the makings to showcase the best of everything Lake Oahe has to offer!
Nick Harrington Predictions:
Winning Two-Day Bag: 44 pounds 10 ounces
Big Fish: 12 pounds
Big One-Day Bag: 27 pounds 4 ounces
You can stay tuned in all week by following Nick Harrington on Instagram, mrwalleyesd, and checking out The Fishing Crew on Facebook for all pre-tournament interviews, on the water coverage, weigh-ins, and final results! We’ll also wrap it all up in next week’s fishing report!
