April 29,30th, Chamberlain, SD.Was the first stop to kick off the National Walleye Tours 2021 season. Local guide and Pro Angler Brian Bashore came in on day 1 with a 15.79lb bag putting him in 7th place going into day 2. With changing conditions a much tougher bite due to South wind slowing the current down and a lot of boat traffic in the area he was fishing Brian scratch together a 12.18lb bag for day two slipping into 10th place. "I wasn't even sure if I had 10lb, as I had to box a 16" and a skinny 18" at the end of the day to fill out my limit. I tossed back some bigger fish in the morning and had one get knocked off with the net that was a solid keeper, so things were very stressful as the bite wasn't near as good as day 1 where I boated over 50 keeper fish" stated Brian. On day one Bashore boated 3 solid fish on his first 3 casts of the morning just as he told his co-angler to be ready on his first cast. To said he had the bite dialed in might be an understatement.
Bashore was pitching 1/8 jigs with 3" Berkley Gulp while dragging 1/4oz Northland Tackle stand-up jigs as well as lindy rigging with two deadsticks. The pitching bite put almost all of the fish in the boat on day 1 but he credits the deadsticks for his over on day 2. "Patience and knowing what caliber of fish this area held was key to holding out for perfect slots and once I got those I chose to grind it out for my overs (20'+). I fished the same area all day on day 1 and moved shallower throughout the day as other anglers moved to deeper water, and mimicked the same pattern on the second day with some minor adjustments" said, Brian.
His top 10 finish earned him some great points to qualify for the Championship in September and a check for over 8k. Teammates and fellow guide Scott Ulrich finished 27th just making the cut for a check and long-time teammate Randy Hummel finished in 14th earning these guys a good payday.
