Gavins Point dam
 

Has anyone been fishing below the dam I am thinking about heading up there this weekend or next weekend. I dont know how much longer i can wait to get the boat out it has been a long winter.

I haven't been, but the fishing is good below all the ****s right now.

A friend was up there Sunday, they caught 15 sauger.

Just an F.Y.I. All boat trafic is closed from the fishing dock to the gates. The corps removed their lines that stretch across the basin because of fear of them freezing and being destroyed over the winter. One gate (mostly the middle one) has been kept open all winter and that keeps the boaters out of the basin.

Can anyone give me some advice on where to launch and start. You dont have to give me all of your secrets but some general information would be great I am new to the area and have not been up there yet.

[quote=thunderbayeye;1397573]Can anyone give me some advice on where to launch and start. You dont have to give me all of your secrets but some general information would be great I am new to the area and have not been up there yet.[/quote]


wait til the weather warms up, and follow the crowds.

im interested to see what the river is like after all of the water has carved new channels. should be interesting for the first few months

as far as ramps, i believe there WAS a nice ramp on the south dakota side of the river, downstream a little ways. otherwise there is a nice ramp just above the dam on the sd side as well. not sure what they look like after the flooding this last year

The ramp on the Nebraska side is still there and in use ... But ...

Check out the ramp at Riverside Park.
There is / was interresting structure and flats around and just north of the Hwy81 New bridge that should produce without the crowds.
On the north side there was a wing dam built above the water treatment plant 2 years ago to enable replacement of the water intake. Also there are / were holes on the south side of the bridge where the barges held floating platforms during pillar construction causing wash outs.

The Riverside Park area has always been productive for trolling the south shore edges ....
Of course all this can be changed ... who knows what the river looks like now.

Morton

I was planning to go below the dam at Yankton last weekend. I called Capt'n Norms, the local bait shop there. When I asked him how the fishing was, he told me that the fish were biting below the dam at Pickstown. So, even this dumb farmboy can pick-up on that message. We went to Pickstown and did real well. Bait shop there call Abbys can provide all the info you need.

pickstown has been good in the bay, theres alot of smaller ones to be fished through but it deffinately can be done

Ok.
 

So can you elaborate on Pickstown. Was this from the shore or boat? Looks like a cold snap but warming again later on. 6" of snow in Sioux Falls.

Bill