Great South Dakota Spring Fishing!!

The last few days there has been a buzz in the South Dakota fishing world. Talk about a huge fish caught at Fort Thompson on Sunday March 21. Ron Klucas (Pierre) was fishing with Jeff Danburg (Pierre) and Charlie Peterman (Miller) on Lake Francis Case. “We were anchored and pitching jigs “just like I have done thousands of times before.” Klucas stated. Then he set the hook on what he called “A good fish”. 

“I couldn’t get it to move off of the bottom.” he recalls “I knew it was big, I just thought it was going to be a catfish or something.”  After about a ten minute struggle the three fishermen saw the giant walleye.  Danburg grabbed the net. “When I tried to net her, because of her size, she somehow ended up laying across the top of the net.”  Time stood still for a few moments as she nearly slipped back in. The big fish tried to flop one last time and with some fancy netting she landed head first in the net.

“We didn’t have a ruler long enough to measure the length.” Danburg said “The scale we had said about fifteen pounds but we weren’t sure how reliable it was.”  Klucas being the conservation minded sportsman said “Well guys, let’s get her back in the water!”  He was quickly informed that there was a better chance of him going in the water than that fish! “We called a friend back in Pierre that would know where a certified scale was and by the time we made it back home the news had beat us there!” said Danburg “Within a couple of hours we were told that the story was already being told in Afghanistan.” He laughed

Back in Pierre with a group of friends and fisherman gathered around admiring the trophy Klucas recalled someone saying “That is a fish if a lifetime!” Another friend quickly corrected “That is the fish of a thousand life times!”  “That’s when it started to sink in how big the fish really was.” Klucas said.

“What can I say?” He stated modestly “I had a great guide with Charlie running the boat and Jeff did a great job netting the fish, I just reeled it in.”  The walleye officially weighed 15 pounds 8 ounces and was 33 inches long. It is believed to be the second biggest walleye ever caught in South Dakota waters.

Klucas, being close to retirement was asked “How he was going to top this when he retired.” With a grin he replied “Smallmouth, I’ll have to catch a giant smallmouth!”