Northeast South Dakota Walleyes

[Bob Jensen]

Just returned from a quick trip to Northeast South Dakota. Fished the Roy Lake area with Clay Norris from Berkley and local guide Joe Honer. Wind, drizzle, overcast conditions, but the walleyes bit big-time. Lots of 16-23 inchers.

We fished Gulp! Minnow Grubs in yellow and Gulp! Shaky Shad in Smelt, three inch sizes, on 1/4th ounce Mimic Minnow jigheads. We were fishing in timber, depths from 4-12 feet. Good number of snags, we were able to pull most jigs free through the use of 14/6 FireLine Crystal or 10 lb. Maxx Trilene.

Good lakes to employ this pattern include Bitter and Catskill lakes.

Great bite, great area. Stayed at Roy Lake Resort, excellent place for an angler to stay. Had a nice visit with Tony Dean, Paul LePisto, and Dennis Kassube, who were also fishing the area and staying at Roy Lake Resort.

If you would like to get in on this action, try joeguidesyou.com

Best Fishes,

[zpeters73]

Not to split hairs, but I believe you said your tactics worked well on Catskill Lake - was it Cattail Lake you were referring to?

Also, were you anchored up pitching into the timber or was it more of a vertical presentation? No live bait at all?

[zpeters73]

Well, Bob, you never got back to me so I went and tried for myself, although not on Bitter or Cattail, but in the area. Without question, pitching into the timber with light jigs and minnows is a killer this time of year. Fish seemed to occupy every stretch of the lake where there was some flooded trees.

[Bob Jensen]

Very sorry about not getting back to you, I didn't see your post for some reason.

Yes, it must have been Cattail. Jigs/soft bait in the wood is good.

Again, very sorry for not getting back, please accept my apologies, and thanks for your posts.

Best Fishes,

[Bob Jensen]

Besides being slow to reply, I also forgot to reply to part of your question. We were pitching into the timber, no live bait at all. Didn't even have any in the boat with us. We were throwing 3" Gulp! Minnow Grubs, yellow color was best, on quarter ounce Mimic Minnow Heads. We swam the baits back to the boat, didn't let them get to the bottom.

Best Fishes,

[zpeters73]

Just bustin your chops a little bit, Bob - thanks for the reply.

I'll have to give Gulp a try. I'm finally starting to gain confidence in plastic. My brother had good luck on a 4" Berkley Power Minnow in the glow color on an 1/8 oz. jig, especially right before dark. At that point, I am pretty sure we could have baited a jig with fried chicken and caught fish, because they were on an absolute tear.

Glad you like NE SD. I watched your show on perch fishing Waubay last year. It's truly a neat area full of outdoor possibilities, and I am fortunate to live within an hour drive.