Lewis and Clark Lake, located on the Nebraska and South Dakota border continues to produce a steady bite of eater-sized walleye, and a few a little too large for the pan. Plans for Father’s Day weekend included a brief stint in the Yankton, South Dakota area with my wife and daughter, as well as my mother- and father-in-law. A family trip like this calls for trolling cranks because everyone can get in on the action and it’s a very relaxing, low-stress way to nab a few eaters for the Father’s Day fish fry!
We primarily targeted walleye on the flats and on shoreline breaks. Most of our fish came out on the flats. Using my GPS and digital lake map I kept the boat on the edge of the flat. We trolled anywhere from 8 to 13 feet of water, and all depths produced fish, depending on the cloud cover and the wind. Using the electronics to stay on the edge of the flat and to replicate trolling runs was a key to our success this weekend.
Electronics also came in handy in our effort to control and maintain an ideal speed. This weekend, it was important to keep the boat moving between 2.3 and 2.5 MPH on the GPS. If we deviated from that speed, we were much less likely to get bit. A line counter reel is also key to successfully troll crankbaits on the flats. We were running shad style cranks (Flicker Shad, Shad Raps, Wally Divers etc.) anywhere from 80 feet back to 160 feet back, depending on the bait we were running and the depth. Keeping the bait in the strike zone without a line counter reel is very, very difficult.
We used a variety of colors over the weekend as the weather was not very stable at all. We had sun, then clouds, then rain, then sun, then wind, then calm… You get the picture. So, we had to adjust to the conditions, and to the walleye’s whims. The best colors were firetiger, black/gold, blue tiger, and Hollywood. At the end of it all we got plenty of eaters for the fish fry, and put a good number back in the lake to be caught again another day.
I hope everyone had an enjoyable Father’s Day. Until next time, have a great week!
Dang nice fish bro! And the scenery looks spectacular. I love the Dakota reports… keep ’em coming.
One more pic to share… My daughter, Carinsa was pretty happy to get some smallie action. She’s not much of a troller, so we made a little time for the chuck-n-wind and it paid dividends for her. This smallie tried to beat her, but it had no chance and finally gave up the fight.
Thanks James! I intend to. And Lewis and Clark is an absolutely beautiful body of water. If you ever get down this way, give me a holler and we’ll go take a peek.
How far of a tow is it from your place?
About one hour drive, James.
Wow. I had no idea you were so close! How’s the late summer / fall fishing out there?
It can be awfully good. It will continue to be a crank bite into the fall. If the lake slows down, one can head up the river as well.
Nice report Wade and great job getting the whole family involved!
Nice report-L&C can be tricky to fish, I will have an Oahe report the first week of August. SD birds and walleyes are UNREAL. I love p4, but my two favorite weeks of the year are in SD!!!
Nice report Wade! Great looking fish and really cool scenery!
Now tell me, Where does a guy go about finding a Walleye pointing Dog???
Pete
Wade,
I think you have stumbled onto something. With your daughter as the poster child you could start a campaign—–Bass are for GIRLS
I haven’t made it out on Oahe fishing yet but maybe over the 4th. It’s hard to beat the scenery of those Dakota lakes!
Maybe I missed it, but how is the cabin coming up “north”?
Nice fish buddy!!
Good job Wade!!! Glad you did get some nibbles but you should know by now there are no fish in that lake.
Nice job on the walleyes Wade.
Definitely a different looking back ground in your photo’s from what we are use to seeing around these parts. Pretty neat actually.
Nebraska, of course!
Rich, buddy, When I get old like you and I can hardly move I’ll probably have to give up the bass fishing and stick with walleye only. But for now, I’m a multi-species angler.
Have fun at Oahe! That is one incredible body of water.
John, I’m not sure if this question was intended for me or for Rich. I know Rich is ready to retire to good ol’ Oahe soon. The cabin my dad and I have been building for the last few years is nearly done. I’ll have to update the old post with some pics soon.
No, Mike. There’s no fish in LC.
Cool, looking forward to seeing them!! BTW, it’s always about you.
Great fish Wade, nice report!
Joel
Great job Wade. Glad to see some walleye were caught somewhere in the state this last weekend.
I wish I had time to make it up there but it looks like it won’t be until late summer or fall. That Oct. leadcore bit up there is AWESOME!!!! Can’t wait!!!
Great report Wade. You could of left that Smallie pic out of it.
Ok Maybe not, but you can tell that kid got her good looks from her mother. 
Man, I miss fishing the Missouri River Bluffs of ND & SD after seeing that report.
great report Wade, it’s a great start to the summer trolling, I may be giving you a call to get some ideas where you were at, but I think we will be driving right past there on our way to Francis Case, might be worth a stop.
Great report Wade & Tamara! It’s amazing how the walleye can differ in color so much… I think the SD walleye have all other states beat!
…but that’s just my 2 cents.
I might be in the area for work soon… Maybe I’ll have to extend my trip to chase a few SD walleye…
Stacie, Tamara and I would welcome you as our guest. Just leave that husband of yours home.
Great stuff, Wade!
Lip, If you’re saying I’m not pretty, that hurts.
Wade, you have the wrong vibe.
I’m not saying that you are not pretty. I’m saying you are one ugly mutha! 