By Steve Weisman

For the past month I had heard the stories of the great walleye fishing taking place on the Missouri River impoundments in South Dakota. From Akaska (far north) and several locations on Lake Oahe and Lake Sharpe (Pierre to Ft. Thompson), the walleye bite has been on fire. Several Iowa Great Lakes Fishing Club members have made the trip with great success. I couldn’t stand it. So, I made plans with my son to take a three-day trip out to the river.

The most fishing pressure has occurred on Lake Oahe, where special regulations have been put in place to help get the walleye size in better balance. Following the flood of a couple of years ago, forage fish numbers are down causing problems with both length and weight. To address this, anglers can now catch 4 smaller walleyes below the 15” minimum size limit along with the regular 4-fish limit of 15” or larger with one over 20”.

Will it work? Fisheries biologists believe so, because this plan has been utilized before with success. Most likely it will only be a one or two year adjustment.

However, our plan was not to travel all the way to Lake Oahe. Instead, we chose to headquarter out of Chamberlain and fish Lake Sharpe (above the dam at Ft. Thompson). For one thing, Chamberlain is less than a four-hour trip, and we would be taking my wife, Darial and my son’s girlfriend, Kris. Knowing that they would want more than just a motel room in which to stay, I had the perfect spot.

Cedar Shore Resort

Located across the bridge from Chamberlain on the west side of Lake Francis Case, Cedar Shore Resort is a full service facility nestled along the edge of the picturesque bluffs of the Missouri River. With 99 rooms including riverside, hillside, poolside rooms and suites, guests have a variety of options from which to choose. In addition, a full service restaurant and lounge, waterfront grill and tiki bar, indoor pool and gift shop make Cedar Shore a one-stop destination.

In addition, Cedar Shore offers a conference center featuring 11 meeting rooms with the ability to accommodate up to 1290 people.

Want to camp? Cedar Shore offers a 39-site campground located along the banks of the Missouri River offering full hookups including water, sewer, electricity and cable television. A public boat ramp is near the property and ties in to the 120 slip full service marina. From fuel to bait and tackle and fishing licenses, the marina completes the amenities of Cedar Shore Resort. The resort also has a huge green space that is perfect for youngsters to play at their leisure.

With second floor riverside rooms with a deck for viewing the river in the evening shade, we could all see why Trip Advisor named Cedar Shore Resort the winner of the 2012 Certificate of Excellence.

That’s all fine, but what would the gals do while Curt and I were fishing? Well, leave it to my wife. If anybody can find those little “gem” shopping spots, she can. Both she and Kris spent several hours each day discovering those gems: The Picket Fence (home décor and furniture), Spotted Horse (local art, jewelry and clothing) Quilt Shop (jewelry, beading supplies and fabric) and Al’s Oasis (restaurant, bakery, clothing shop and gift shop).

Fishing

Curt and I knew going into this that the bite on Lake Francis Case around Chamberlain was mostly small sub-15” fish. So, we knew we would trailer the boat north to Lake Sharpe. We visited with Garry Allen of Allen’s Guide Service to learn some of the specifics. Bottom bouncers, chartreuse or gold spinners tipped with a nightcrawler, leech or minnow were the baits of choice. Curt also tried a Berkley Power Minnow with pretty good success. A quick two-hour trip (with the gals along on a mild, calm afternoon) included five 15-17” fish along with another 15 sub-legal fish. Good enough for a specially cooked meal at Charley’s Restaurant, where you bring in your fish and the chef will cook it for you.

The next day Curt and I headed to Lower Brule at the North Iron Nation Recreation Area. It still meant a 10-mile run up river to a series of flats, humps and drop-offs that we learned were holding lots of walleyes. Four hours of fishing brought us an 8-fish limit of 15 ½“ to 17½” walleyes and a total of over 60 walleyes both sub-legal and legal size. The toughest part for this day was contending with the 20-30 mph northwest wind that caused 3-4 foot swells that we had to maneuver through.

Saturday’s forecast was for more northwest winds, so we decided to be on the water by 7 a.m. Instead of heading to Lower Brule, we went to North Shore Recreation Area with hopes of being able to make the 15-mile run back to the same area we had been on Friday. The one-foot waves on the way up soon became 3-4 footers. However, the bite remained similar to the previous day. I would guess on average one of us had a fish on every 5 minutes or so. By noon, we had had enough of the waves and headed back to the ramp.

This time, however, we went half way back and stopped at the area we had fished with the gals on Thursday afternoon. Just being able to take a break from the pounding for a half hour or so made the return much easier.

Curt and I always enjoy a trip to the river, but what about the gals? Well, they are already working on plans to get the “whole” gang of family members to make the trip next summer. That’s 20 people…that’s quite an invasion!

(photo by Steve Weisman) Author’s son, Curt plays a nice 17-inch walleye to the top.