PIERRE, S.D. – On a productive day with a traffic jam of weights in the double digits, pro Frank Christianson of Blomkest, Minn., and co-angler Peggy Severson of Fort Pierre, S.D., jumped out to the early lead in the Wal-Mart RCL Walleye Tour event on Lake Oahe with a 17-pound, 2-ounce limit.
Among the quality limits topping the leader board in the teens were several trollers who deciphered a pattern that, at least for a day, pinned down migratory smelt and their accompanying schools of walleyes to put them in good shape heading into the second day of competition, when the field will be cut from 145 to the top 20. A prime example is Lund pro Bobby Crow of Paterson, Wash., who wrapped up opening day in fifth place with 15 pounds, 14 ounces. He opted not to run the monster 
distances far up the reservoir in favor of staying 20 miles from the launch, where the fish had progressed in their migrations since the weekend.
“I wasn’t going to make a big, humongous run,” Crow says. “Our fish had died up there. We were planning on running about 70 miles until we came down here two days ago and got the fish going again.”
Crow says the walleyes are in the company of smelt, a transplanted sea species introduced decades ago to provide a food source that are notorious wanderers and consequently cue walleye movements. Catching a five-fish limit by 10 a.m., including a 20- and a 24-incher, Crow stayed in the vicinity of schools of smelt spotted on electronics.
If the pattern holds for Crow and a number of other trollers, they’ll be in good shape to make the top-20 cut at the end of competition Thursday. Even so, 10 pounds was good for 85th place and 14 pounds for 20th place, indicating that one good bag could help close the gap when the qualifying round wraps in the campaign for the semifinals.
Troll your own
Oahe’s loosely knit packs of walleyes are particularly itinerant, a hallmark of the Missouri River reservoirs. Despite the daily progress, Ranger pro Duane Ten Cate of Sioux Falls, S.D., encountered pockets of fish and spells of downtime when action slowed and he was forced to troll over deeper and closer to bottom, where Ten Cate pulled 15 pounds, 4 ounces to take eighth.
“We were leadcore trolling,” Ten Cate says. “We’d get a few and wait, wait, wait. Our area should get more fish in there, but it’s a matter of catching them.”
Catching them, of course, depends on their presence. Oahe walleyes, however, are notoriously flighty, heading downriver from up near productive practice areas around the Highway 212 bridge in a rush that appeared to cover 50 miles over no more than three or four days.
“When they move, they move,” Crow says. “They fly down here. When the water warmed, the smelt started moving. The walleye follow them right down.”
A key Thursday for both bait fishermen and the trollers will be to find the holding areas where the fish pause for a bit in their downriver progression. How the weather pans out will also play a role in the next day of competition, since steady rain starting in late morning slowed the action for many.
Perhaps more important, though, is to be able to relocate the fish flying down the reservoir, a noticeable trend as the tournament approached with walleyes spotted under the surface when coasting downriver toward summering areas closer to the Oahe Dam. Several hot days in the practice period also seemed to spur the downstream movements, which hampered a roistering bite that had been occurring 50 miles and more from the launch at Spring Creek Resort.
Competition resumes at 7 a.m. Central Thursday with the launch from Spring Creek Resort, about 10 miles north of Oahe Dam on Highway 1804.