“I’ve been fishing here since I was a teenager, and it feels great to get my first National Walleye tour win on this body of water,” said Brookings angler Dustin Kjelden.
"I like that I can just grab my poles and gear and head out here to fish after a day of work and not have to get everything ready like you do for a boat," said Dana Dozark, a Chamberlain area angler who fishes the Missouri River shorelines.
“It was a good day on the river. We mixed it up a bit today,” Austin Earley said of the fishing tactics that he used to reel in five walleye weighing in at a combined 18 pounds.
“These fish are fun to catch. Everything works. That’s the great thing about the Dakotas,” Pro angler Brian Bjorkman said of the Missouri River system.
"We have a fantastic fishery on Lake Francis Case. Anytime you can bring that many fishermen and fisherwomen, they are going to come back," Chamberlain Mayor Chad Mutziger said.
The Midwest pro angler fished his way to become the champion of the first tournament of this year's National Walleye Tour on Friday, taking home a $81,922 check and new fishing boat.
On Thursday and Friday, four longtime Chamberlain fishing guides will have an opportunity to showcase their own angling skills during the National Walleye Tour tournament stop.
“I had nothing else to do but think about how thankful I am,” Eric Storms of Chamberlain, S.D., says. “It really makes you look at life differently. It makes you almost not even worry about the small stuff that used to bother you. It definitely gives me a different outlook on life.”
In 2013, the city of Chamberlain and its volunteer group known as the “Sparkle Committee” decided it needed more flair to go with its white snowflakes that hang on light poles throughout town. “Can you make a tree, Jerry?” he was asked.
