Good evening IDO
I figured I was about due to drop a new report here. Saturday, a good friend and I headed out to Lake Francis Case, a reservoir on the Missouri River here in South Dakota. Like most rivers in the upper Midwest, flows are a little low compared to a normal year. This has affected the amount of fish running up the reservoir to their normal spawning grounds. That being said, it’s still a very good bite, and probably on of the most consistent prespawn-postspawn walleye bites in the nation.
Fish from the lower regions of the reservoir migrate north starting in late February and all of March to stage for the spawn. From Chamberlain on north, is plumb full of prime spawning habitat. Once that water hits 44-50 degrees, the spawn comes into full swing. Larger hens are tough to come across right now, but the sheer numbers of males to be caught is incredible. Right now, these fish are in the heat of the spawn, as evidenced by the awful mess they like to leave all over my boat 
I fish multiple ways to catch these fish. One is pulling cranks on flats adjacent to the main river channel. The walleyes in the river use the channel as a “highway” and this is the place to target some of the larger pre-spawn females that are still making their way up river. I’m looking for long flats that drop off into the channel. The fish I’m finding now are in 13-15′ of water. These flats consist of silt and rubble. Look for fish on your electronics before putting lines down. You can eliminate a lot of unproductive water by making a couple quick passes, scanning your graph for fish. If you don’t see much activity, those fish probably aren’t there. River fish tend to be here today – gone tomorrow.
#5 Rapala Shad Raps are my staple crank this time of year. I’m using Sufix Lead Core with about 25′ of fluorocarbon leader. Downstream pulls, I like to stay around 1.9-2.1 mph. When returning upstream, I slow my gps speed to 1.5-1.7 mph to compensate for the current.
The bite is very good right now. If you are getting anxious to fish eyeballs and your season is closed, a trip west on I-90 is sure to cure your walleye fever. The spawn will be wrapped up in a couple weeks but this bite should run for the next month or better.
Chamberlain is a very special to me. My wife and I got married out there. It’s where I spent many, many summer days growing up fishing with my dad and brother, and it’s a place I take my 3 year old daughter fishing as often as I can. If you’ve never been there, it’s quite a scenic fishing experience.
Tight lines,
Andy
Some pics from Sat:
Getting there!
These were the hot colors, all #5’s
The result. A quick limit by noon
