I have never fished the Missouri River system and am considering a trip the second week of June to Francis Case.
I am thinking about fishing 4-5 days and using a guide the first day to learn the program and the lay of the land.
At this point I am looking for guide references and suggestions for wife friendly cabin accommodations. Also, are there any good forums to follow regarding fishing that area?
I can help you.. drop me a message sometime I gotta run right now
No guide needed. LFC is fairly simple to fish with any reasonable amount of walleye knowledge.
A map chip for your GPS would do you well, not only to show structure, but also to help with navigation. There are many hazards down by the White River area as well as from the town of Chamberlain up to the damn (trees, sandbars, etc)
A map chip for your GPS would do you well, not only to show structure, but also to help with navigation. There are many hazards down by the White River area as well as from the town of Chamberlain up to the damn (trees, sandbars, etc)
I’m running older Lowrance products. LMS-522 and LCX-27. Are Navionics products my only choice?
Francis Case (platte, Chamberlain) isnt on Navionics CHIPs… Only lakemaster Dakota..
Francis case is on Navionics Hotmaps Platinum.
It’s also on the smartphone app.
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Platinum wont run on your older lowrances FRAN.. Maybe the smartphone route would work for you?
Or maybe a buddy has a Humminbird Portable ICE unit you could borrow for a week.
I was looking into this area as well but in April
Don’t want to steal the post but what advise can you give for April fishing this as well would be appreciated
April is a very magical time on Lake Francis Case.
The river around the city of Chamberlain is lined with miles upon miles of rip rap, the kind of rip rap that these walleyes love to spawn around. Pitching small jigs/plastics up tight to these rocky shores can yield big numbers on the right day. Most of the fish are males in the 14-18″ range (15″ min) and are very aggressive. Even though the rocks themselves are good structure, look for something that stands out such as a tree stump, larger boulders, or other small features that differ that area from others. It takes a lot of patience to get this right, and you’ll lose a ton of jigs to the rocks. Stick with it and good number days are not uncommon. I like to fish 1/16-1/8 oz heads and no heavier.
If you like to troll cranks on leadcore, April can still yield some pre-spawn females by following the deeper channel edges adjacent to these spawning areas. The area between the city bridge and interstate bridge can be very good, and the contours are easy to follow.
The area down south near the White River becomes flat and fairly shallow (under 15′) and is a popular spot to troll cranks as well. Good numbers can be had down this way, mostly eaters but some bigger fish can be mixed in.
There is a big flat with isolated wood north of Chamberlain called Kiowa. You’ll see the boats. This is a popular spot to pull cranks as well as lindy rigging or even vertical jigging.
North of that yet is Crow Creek. Lots of structure to fish up here. Be careful navigating and stay in the old river channel while motoring as there are lots of dead heads and old trees. You can rig or crank up here, and there are a few deeper pools where guys do very well vertical jigging a minnow.
If you continue north, you’ll eventually be at the dam. You can fish the fast water with heavy jigs, blades, and 3-way rigging a stick bait. There is also a big shallow flat between the fast water and spillway basin that loads up with fish every spring. This area can be like bumper boats but if you can deal with that, you’ll catch fish. Cranking can be tough because maneuvering with 100 other boats around is frustrating. I like to rig or vertical jig this part of the river. Mostly eaters with some big catfish and pike as bonus fish. Every spring, several 40-45″ pike are caught up shallow by the dam.
This should put a guy in the right spots to boat some fish. Obviously there are hundreds of other spots, but these are the known spots that produce fish every spring. If you have any specific questions, send me a message. I’m out there about every weekend March-May. If any IDOers head out that way, let me know.
Andy
Andy mentioned most of the decent spots there. I lived in Chamberlain for a couple years and fished it pretty regularly then, still go back about 2x a year now. Weather permitting, in April you will have a fishing experience that you may remember for a long time! I say weather permitting because in mid April 2013 I fished in a blizzard and caught 2 walleye, the next weekend it was mid 70s we caught non-stop walleye all day and had no problem getting a 5 man limit, and quite a few fat females.
That time of the year you can start by pitching jigs towards shore in the rocks around Chamberlain. The east side between the 2 bridges works pretty good. Then move up north and work some of the ledges along the bluffs or submerged trees. I never ended up fishing south towards White River, so I can’t help you there.
Great info, guys.
Going back to the early June time frame, it sounds like Sharpe might be a better choice with West Bend being the area I’d want to fish. Am I correct on this?
West Bend is very good at that time as well, but early June should still be pretty good on LFC.
Can’t go wrong with either spot, early June I think you’ll get a little better numbers and size on Sharpe. Give them both a try if you’re there for a few days!
Very detailed explanation Andy. Nice job sharing some knowledge. 
Francis,
If you venture to WEST BEND. Be very careful up there because there are TONS of submerged trees, some exposed and alot just under the water level. It also is very good fishing. Was up there for Memorial holiday and fishing was really good. Also it is one of the best places in the state for SMALLMOUTH BASS… Some really nice ones up there.
It would be a must to have a chip for this area if youve never been on that body of water. Even trees stick out in the main channel here.But I have seen even avid west bend folks loose there lower unit.
Also there is a beautiful camp ground, which is about your only option for an extended stay realistically… its way off the grid!
in mid May to middle June your options on Francis Case are more open, the larger creeks will still hold some fish on the shoreline structure, the main lake will be good 18 fow or less, sometimes way less. I’m pretty good on some spots around Platte Creek and Snake Creek, need to mark up a paper map for many years to have an good amount of spots to try. The State Park at Snake is really nice, the one at Platte Creek is less crowded, but make reservations early. A couple years back when opener on Mille Lacs was not going to happen we went into Platte Creek and had a blast with the 18-21 inch SM bass and more 22 plus inch walleye than we can ever remember catching in all summers prior. The year of the flood was pretty amazing also. Good info Andy, I have many friends who head up there and have 50-100 fish per boat days, and the next day is 3.
Huge amount of knowledge given here by you guys.
Greatly appreciated 
I’ll be fishing Francis Case on May 2nd weekend. Planning that trip out the last week with some friends has got me really excited for open water fishing! Some (most) days I wish I still lived out there and would probably be open water fishing every week here starting pretty soon!
Thank you everyone for the great information.
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