Missouri River Walley?

I am looking for information on the walleye fishing between Lewis and Clark and the Niobrara river. I have duck hunted this area for years. I typically spend 15 to 25 days on the river each fall, but have never walleye fished here. I have family in Yankton and Avon, SD and will be in the area around the first of April and would like to know if there is a bite going yet or when the walleye bite gets going out there. I have a pretty good knowledge of the rivers and the marsh and am anxious to get after some sauger/walley.

Thanks for any help,

Old Coot

NOT FAMILIER WITH LEWIS & CLARK LAKE BUT I HAD A COUPLE OF UNCLES FROM GREGORY S.D THAT FLOATED PARTS OF THE NIOBRARA FOR SMALL MOUTHBASS. THEY HAD EXCELLENT FISHING BUT THAT WAS SOME YEARS BACK.

GUNDY

I spent alot of time out there last summer and fall practicing and fishing a tournament for bass. I did run into guys that were fishing alot for walleye though. I seemed to see them mostly at the head of the lake and in both the nebraska and south dakota channels up to where they meet. Not much up towards the Niobrara though. Real tough navigating the sand bars up there unless you use your Gps to track as you figure it out.

Old Coot, the latest In-Fisherman magazine has an article about Sauger fishing in that area. It’s very good and gives away some nice “secrets”. It’s worth a read.

I saw the In Fisherman article and wasn’t surprised at what they had found. When we have been duck hunting I have seen a handfull of guys fishing for eyes in some of the places incicated in the article. I talked to a couple old boys this last November and they were hammering them. They were also in an area in the backwaters that was difficult to get to and unless you have spent some serious time on that water would have never found it. Like I mentioned earlier, I have spent a bunch of time hunting the area and have been from the lake to above Jones Island and know my way around better than most. Again, I am anxious for any first hand information on fishing this area in the about 3 to 4 weeks. Will the same techniques we use on pool 4 work out there? If there is a good bite out there, I could see this being a location to beet the crowds that come with the early spring bite.