August 9th & 10th Lakes Oahe/Sharpe, Pierre SD Fishing Report

[fishinghutch]

I guided Jeff Dewey and friend from down around Firth NE to there limits of walleye with a real nice over 20 inch fish along with 3 northern pike to maybe 12 to 14 lbs. I stayed spinner/bouncer/nightcrawler fishing in around 30 fow. It was a real nice day and we caught and released many smaller walleye but recently I have had a lot harder time getting 18 to 19 inch fish in the boat and the over 20 inch fish aren't as numerous as they have been. I think part of the reason is the fact that the corps has been dropping the lake considerably so many of the fish and bait are moving deeper and in many cases suspending. This makes them a lot harder to find and probably might be a reason to start thinking about lead core line/inline weights and trolling plugs deeper especially for the big fish. The plus side of the lake dropping is the fact that the corps is releasing a lot of water below the dam making the fall movement of walleye in Sharpe better. I talked with some of the other guides that fished on Sharpe the last three days and they did very well limiting with nice 17 inch average fish and some over's so if the bite on Oahe stays harder for the bigger fish I will probably start fishing Sharpe in the Pierre area more. If the bite there gets even half as good as it was last year it well be way above average fishing. Oahe is still very good fishing and you can expect to catch limits but probably most anglers are going to have to work harder to come in with the real quality bags. It is not all bad to go out and catch eating size limits and just about everyone that knows the lake is doing that. Remember that dropping water grows big boulders in spots they weren't last week. Three lower units over the last 30 years makes me well qualified to offer that advice.

Hutch