This 16-pound, 8-ounce walleye is a new South Dakota state record according to the South Dakota Game Fish and Parks Department Facebook page. The fish, caught by angler Aaron Schuck, of Bismarck, North Dakota, beat an existing record that has stood for more than two decades.
Schuck was trolling crankbaits on Lake Oahe, a long impoundment of the Missouri River that stretches from North Dakota down through northern-central South Dakota to Pierre. He was fishing the riverine upper section of the lake near the town Akaska when the 33-inch-long walleye hit.
“It took a while to get in,” Schuck told KELOLAND News. “I had like 187 feet a line out there. So it took quite a while and then when I got close to the boat, it was pretty much straight down.”
The previous state record was also caught from the Missouri River, but further south, down in the tailrace below Fort Randall near the Nebraska border. That fish was caught in 2022 by angler Georgine Chytka. It weighed 16 pounds, 2 ounces. The IGFA all tackle world record for walleye weighed 25 pounds. It was caught at Tennessee’s Old Hickory Lake by Mabry Harper back in 1960.
According to KELOLAND News, Schuck had the fish weighed on certified scales at Oahe Sunset Lodge and Steakhouse up near the North Dakota border in Pollock. The fat fish had a 21-inch girth. Schuck says he plans to have his record fish mounted.