Lake Oahe

[brentfrank]

Any reports, now that most of the Major tournaments are over, will we see some more reports?:howdy:

[Hogslammer]

Three of us fished Oahe 2 weekends ago. Caught numerous small 14 1/2 to 15 1/2 " fish on Sat and Sun, with a bonus 10# 13 oz. salmon and 12# 3 oz. northern thrown in. Mon morning caught a 16 1/2 and 23 1/2 walleye. Most all on cranks, with the best crank being the #7 Bleak Shadrap. Largest amount of fish in the Agency area. Salmon and northern caught south of Sutton Bay and the two bigger walleye the last morning were caught north of Twin Bays. Heard the river bite is picking up and I hope the fall bite on Oahe is as good as last year.

[brentfrank]

Thanks Hogslammer. I have 3 trips planned in the next 6 weeks. Figure on starting around the Cheyenne up to the Gettysburg area. Will report back and be looking for reports.

[Hogslammer]

Last fall we did really good in early October across from Bushes to past Splits Creeks with cranks. That was a suprise for that area, but we were fortunate to get into that bite. Best trip of the last year was the 2nd weekend in November fishing out of Swan Creek. Lots of 19' to 23" fish with both cranks and minnows. I'm planning 3 to 4 trips this fall as well. Good luck

[brentfrank]

Well I hope the weather holds out, I don't want the waterfowl to start moving and mess with my walleye fishing, it will be a tough choice. :cheers:

[Traxionunlogged]

Most reports I have gotten over the last week have said fishing was slow on Oahe. Heard of a decent bite way north, Pollock to the state line but that is about it. Things should be picking up shortly though. Kind of a game of where are the shad going to be when you want to fish!

On the bright side the reliable late Sept. bite on Sharpe seems to be going on the upper part of the lake. Haven't heard of much for size though! Probably the best option for the next couple weeks!

[SoDakMac]

Any reports, now that most of the Major tournaments are over, will we see some more reports?:howdy:

I was planning on a trip this weekend but all my contacts (and even a resort or two) said it was a tough bite north of Pierre. Even the guides are getting blanked.

[Hogslammer]

I am leaving tomorrow afternoon to head up to Pierre. Was hoping to hear a more encouraging report. Will probably try one day on the lake and the other day and a half on the river. Would appreciate any advise on what area of the lake that I should try. Next trip up that way is Oct 11.

[Ayeye]

Hogslammer, I had a friend just get back from the Bush's area they had a real tough time around there, the guides were heading for below the dam at Pierre, so they did too and got their limits for the day. Mike

[Hogslammer]

Thanks for the help Mike. Any size to the river fish and is ist fair to assume that they fished the typical spots from Farm Island to Ft. George?

[Ayeye]

Nothing big, 17 to 19 inches, yep sounds like the normal spots, but I wouldn't give up on Oahe, Iwould try around Bush's or even maybe up around Sutton's once. Nice rocks right out of that bay. Mike

[brentfrank]

Keep the reports coming guys, I'll be fishing out of Whitlocks the 26th, 27th and 28th. Will report back. If fishing is decent will be back on the 3rd of October. It sure would be nice for some cooler temps. overnight and some cloud cover during the days to help lower water temps.

[Hogslammer]

Three of just got back from Pierre today. We pulled in Friday night and talked to some fisherman that said the bite was hot on the river, but that there was a 60 boat tournament on Saturday. So we decided to skip the river traffic and went up to Little Bend. We fished Little Bend, Brush Creek, Joe Creek to Charlie, then over to Splits Creek. Kept six 15 - 16" small fish and also caught several nice sized smalleys. Heard the river bite shut off on Sat. but fished from Downs Marina to Ft. George on Sun. Tough bite and the weather was even worse. Kept 6 fish, which included a 17 1/2 and a 22 " fish. The bite was disappointing, but we had fun as usual and the steaks were good at the Cattleman's. That is why they call it fishing and not catching. Next trip is Oct. 11th weather permitting.

[brentfrank]

Thanks Hogslammer, I'll report back next week. I plan on being up there the next 2 weekends.

[brentfrank]

Just got back from Whitlocks. REALLY SLOW bite. Fished out of Suttons Bay on Friday afternoon, nothing. Pulled plugs, live baited nodda. Saturday went north, 1 16" best I heard of 6 fish, 3 people and this was guys that fish there ALL summer. Salmon were hot but didn't fish for any. Oh well give it a try again in a couple of weeks.:sorry:

[kiteman]

Did anybody get out the last couple of weeks? Headed to Whitlocks Friday morning. Looks like more seasonal weather---- colder and wet. Same as same weekend last year. Hope the fish bite as well as last year, too!

[brentfrank]

Heard the fishing is picking up alittle on the lower part of Oahe. Still pretty slow in Whitlocks area, lots of baitfish. I think I'm going goose hunting instead. Good luck and please report back.

[jasontrucks76]

Heard the fishing is picking up alittle on the lower part of Oahe. Still pretty slow in Whitlocks area, lots of baitfish. I think I'm going goose hunting instead. Good luck and please report back.

I just got back from a Thursday to Sunday Oct. 2nd to 5th trip up around Mobridge and it was tough fishing.... there were 24 teams fishing a two day tourney and the final weight for all was 63 pounds... Nothing like this spring. The Walleyes we did get all puked up shad in the live well and were well fed. The small mouth were hitting like mad so we had some action but walleyes were a little hard to find.

There were no real presintations that were hot but pulling plugs did out produce live bait by probably 5 to 1.

Phesants are open in two week though ;-)

[kiteman]

Just got back from Whitlocks. Air temp a constant 41 degrees, water temp 62, cold not too much wind and some rain. Got seven on Friday, 8 by 12:30 Saturday, and 3 more Sunday in steady rain. A couple 17s, 1 over @22 1/2, all the rest 18-19 1/2. Gorgeous fat fish. They're feeding on smelt. Caught them all pulling cranks @ 30-35 fow in the same 1/2 mile stretch as last year.
I did try a wrinkle to pass on. Back in the heyday of the "banana" plugs in the 40's and 50's, one trick was to add a nightcrawler to the front trebles of a Heddon Flatfish. Don't remember where I heard that. Always wanted to try it, and did first thing Saturday. I put half-crawler on the front treble of an eriedescent little ripper. Caught the first fish in 5 minutes, 3 in the first 45, and like I said the last one, the 22 1/2 pig, at 12:30, 6 on that little ripper, the other 2 on a purpledescent deep tail dancer w/ 1/2 crawler, too. Killer presentation. May have to use it all the time.
Salmon were all over the shoreline back in the bay with lots of bank fishermen having decent luck. Older couple next to us in the campground got 2 9#s Sat morn and a guy who has a permanent trailer there got a proud angler (12#+) from the dock at the W. Whitlock boat ramp. We tried Sat afternoon but aren't very adept at the technique. Would probably do best to beach the boat and cast from shore.
Would like to thank every body for their tips and techniques. Had a Cabelas DM 45 spooled up w/ 100 yds 18# leadcore before leaving. I'm a firm believer in leadcore over fireline w/ snap weights now. Worked great and was so easy. Might see if I can get 7 colors on a DM 30 or just get another DM 45. My birthday's coming up next month!!!!!!!
See you on the water

[Carl Carlson fishing]

Kiteman, thanks for your great report, leaving on the 19th to fish 3 days out of Whitlocks trolling cranks, just a couple of questions, looks like you was using 6 colors of lead, on a shallow little ripper right, why do you think the lead worked better than snap weights on fireline. Where you just working a lot of areas or just the 1/2 mile you spoke of?? Hope you get that new reel for your B-Day. Thanks for all your help

[kiteman]

6 colors with a deep little ripper @ 1-1/2-2 mph. It would bounce a little @ 30-32'(depending on which depthfinder. I have a Hummingbird 727 up front and a LMS 350 in back. The 727 seems to always read about 2' shallower.) There's a spot about 1- 1-1/2 miles north of Whitlock bay on the east side we fished last year and did really well. Look for the transformers on the power pole and the irrigation pipe. There's a minor point a couple hundred yards N and another about 1/4 mile S. Just trolled between them. Be sure to cross the points. Got the best one right on top of the N point. We started there Friday and caught fish and didn't have a reason to try anywhere else. We tried two passes at suspended fish @ 40' over 60' with no luck. Then we just contour trolled @ 30'-35' and started getting fish, 4 in the first hour and a half. We really didn't see much on the electronics, but did mark occasional schools of baitfish and a few good arcs. I think there's fish in as far as 20', but didn't try that shallow. Some other guys fish further up and down, but any time we tried it just seems like a waste of time.
We did make one pass down the east side of Whitlock bay from the east boat ramp to a liitle ways west of the corner, following the same contour, with no luck, although a guy we followed caught a salmon and a 20"+ walleye one right after the other.
I had been real stubborn about going to leadcore because I thought I did just fine with snap weights. But the leadcore just seemed easier to use and you don't have to have your buddy take off the snap weight. I've lost fish in the split second you might have some slack after removing the weight. It's one less piece of tackle to snag, and doesn't tangle as bad as fireline. I put a #10 swivel between the lead and 14# mono leader. It goes thru the guides and levelwind with no problems. I did seem to lose sensitivity on the rod and had more angst about whether the lure was working right. We did lose half an hour Sunday after the first pass with a tangle of two leadcores and 1 fireline. The wind made boat control a little more difficult so lots of swerving. After that I pulled the inboard rod and just ran the two outs w/ leadcore. In hindsight, I could have put three oz on the inboard and probably only put out 125-140' with less tangling potential. It was pretty much steady rain until 1 o'clock, and I could hardly make my hands work. We only caught fish going into the wind on Sunday.
Good luck on your trip and be sure to follow up. I'd like to know how you did.

[Carl Carlson fishing]

Kiteman, Thanks again for all your good information, know the area that you was fishing, will post our results, it maybe near the end of the month, going to Baudette Mn when I return from the Whitlocks trip. The reason for the lure question was, always heard that each color of lead would take a lure down an additional 5 feet and was thinking the deep little ripper went about 18 feet, your speed may have been another factor. will give it a try and see what happen, your point about taking off the snap weight is a good one, Sounds like you had a good program going. Thanks Again

[Carl Carlson fishing]

Drove to Whitlocks on the 19th for three days of fishing, the 20th had almost no wind , tried your spot on the East side with no luck , moved to the 212 Bridge and trolled down the North side in 30 FOW with no luck, moved to the Willow's area and caught 8 unders (mostly 18's) and 2 over's a 22 and 24 , all came trolling 2-4 Fireline with snap weights on Shad Raps and Flicker Shaps in 30 FOW using Shad colored lures thinking we were in for a good trip changed on Tuesday with High Winds and rain, took one under that AM and quite at noon, with higher winds in the forecast for Wednesday we packed up and drove home. Sorry for the late report as I just returned from Baudette Mn fishing the Rainey River.