NE South Dakota

[Muskeez]

Any good websites to view on recent fishing reports for NE SD? I Have found N.Amer. fishing reports.com and Glacial Lakes and Prairies Sites. Heading out for holiday weekend, staying in Webster. Also looking for a lake with good #'s of decent Northern pike, 8 year old loves to cast.

[ifishsd]

check out my web site. I have a bunch of links to fishing reports in South dakota. If you want northerns I would say go to Bitter lake or Waubay lake. Waubay has been producing alot of walleyes also. Check on the link below for my web site.

http://www.angelfire.com/sd2/ifishsd2

[JRwIA]

We fished mostly Waubay and Minnewashta for several days a week ago. Walleyes was the focus but encountered good numbers of pike on washta. It is about 4 miles northwest of blue dog and the town of waubay. We had planned on hitting Bitter for pike but didn't have the time. My local friends up there I have spoke with since then said we missed out. 6-9 lb. pike have been going nuts on Bitter and you can expect a couple 10-15 lb. fish each day. The north bay (weed beds) along the east shore off the fish camp thing (weedbeds) and further south along the east shore (flooded timber and weed beds) have been hot. Trolling a bottom bouncer with a spinner / minnow will catch pike and walleye but bite offs will be a problem. You can cast or troll plugs and spoons but the trebles catch weeds and trees. I prefer to use bass type spinnerbaits. I remove the rubber skirts and replace with the largest white or chartruese twister tail I can find, 4-6 inches. I like a 1/2 - 3/4 ounce bait for casting. and have some homemade 1 ounce spinners for trolling. when trolling I back troll with the gas and work the edges of weedbeds or timber at a moderate speed. It is important to slowly pump the spinnerbait. the falling bait triggers bites. when you fill the hit on the drop, even the fish some rod tip (pause for 2-3 seconds) then set the hook. another dressing variation is using chubs verses the twister tail on the bait. We catch a mess of creek chubs (5-7") here in Iowa before leaving and freeze them while alive yet in baggies. Cheaper and work better then the brown sucker things they sell up there. 5-6 to a bag. hook them through the head just like a jig and minnow. you have to cast them more gently as they will eventually tear off but if you are on fish they won't be on long. with the chub, depending upon size, the pause before hook set is more important. Also the heavier spinnerbaits usually have larger colorado blades which won't allow the bait to get very deep when trolling. replace with smaller blades, even a small indiana blade will work. chrome or copper blades work better then painted. I also use a steel leader on the baits... homemade bare wire leaders that are attached directly to the bait verses a snap. twist on with a forceps. or use a heavy spiderwire leader. last year on Waubay, we had large pike swallow even large 1 ounce baits and we lost some big fish. But generally they will be lip hooked and much easier to remove then trebles. Antelope lake has also been good for medium size pike. Waubay has some really big fish but lower numbers. good luck.

[Muskeez]

Wow, Thanks Guys. We will try Bitter for sure (is it pea soup yet and does that matter?) and probably Waubay for some perch action since we're taking all three kids. So many lakes and so little time.

[JRwIA]

On Waubay, we found our largest perch around the island just south of school bus point. The east end of it has dead trees standing. work around the edge of the trees in about 10 - 12 ft. of water until you find the perch and then tie up to a tree or anchor. vertical jig a bare 1/8 or 1/16oz. jig tipped with about 1/3 of a crawler. jig just off the bottom. they are feeding on the freshwater shrimp around the trees. so anything small and dark colored would probally work. small kastmasters tipped w/ a minnow head also worked. lots of 13-15 inch walleyes all around the trees also. they are easier to release with the jig and crawler vs a snelled rig or some other small hook bait.

The flooded trees a 1/2 mi. south or so of buckshots also had perch and walleyes, (the northwest edge of the refuge). the flooded north - south roadbed, on the very north edge of the refuge had lots of walleyes along it and west of it on the flat and some perch. You have to go east through the necked down area south of buckshot to get in there (follow the boats). most of the major points also were holding eyes and perch, but in deeper water.

You may want to check out the Mercury warning on Bitter. You
may want to go catch and release or for sure limit your amount
you eat.

Good Luck
Bronco

[Muskeez]

Thanks for the help guys. I thought I should let you know the results. In general walleyes are being caught all over. Our group caught fish on Bitter, Lynn, Enemy Swim, and Dry.Didn't make it to Waubay but talked with some guys that did and they had a lot of fish that were 1/2" too short. We didn't have any big fish but a few 16-19" each day and many that were just 1/2" too short. Also heard good reports from Swan and Blue Dog. Also caught some big crappies on Enemy and Lynn. Didn't get to try for pike on Bitter as the wind was 25-30mph and too rough to be standing up casting.