Fishing in SD

Looking for some ideas for fishing SD late Jan/early Feb. Never fished there.

Thanks

Feast or famine. What species are you after? What part of SD?

I live near SD and love to get out there as much as I can. I’ll tell you, the perch fishing is overrated and walleye fishing is underrated (compared to what most hear about SD from the outside, in my opinion).

Late January/early February can be a tough time to fish anywhere. But, I’ve had good luck on Bitter that time of year. Find a good looking inside turn away from others.

Avoid the “herd” mentality. This is typically associated with a perch bite; often on lakes with higher numbers of 8″-10″ fish. Most guys think a bucket of 9’s is “jumbos.” Nothing wrong with 9″ perch, but word gets exaggerated and suddenly you’ll see reports on out of state fishing pages like “bitter is kicking out buckets of 12’s.”
Just my personal feelings, but I’d rather catch a half dozen walleye and a few nice perch on a lake with nobody else on it vs listen to augers and guys yelling at their dogs all day on a lake with 250 people in the same area.

The SD GFP website has some great tools that you can use to start looking at potential lakes to fish this winter. start there, and come up with 3-5 lakes to try. Use google earth, lake maps, etc. to get an idea of where structure is on some of the lakes you’re interested in. You can get a feel for a lake long before setting foot on or in it with the resources we have at our disposal nowdays.

I have been wanting to try this also. I also hate crowds and try to stay away from others. Is there a town to stay in that would work well as a base camp to try out a few lakes around that wouldn’t be crowded with people? Basically what town would be a good place to start/good area? Do a lot of the pothole lakes hold fish? Around here and small lake with fish gets overfished until it is only left with small ones. Thanks

onestout wrote:

I have been wanting to try this also. I also hate crowds and try to stay away from others. Is there a town to stay in that would work well as a base camp to try out a few lakes around that wouldn’t be crowded with people? Basically what town would be a good place to start/good area? Do a lot of the pothole lakes hold fish? Around here and small lake with fish gets overfished until it is only left with small ones. Thanks

Webster is good with several lodging options, however it can get to be a little crowded at times especially when Waubay, Bitter are fishing well. Lots of pothole lakes in that area though. Could give a call to Sportsman Cove bait shop – Doug is as nice and straight a shooter as you’ll find and can give you recommendations (605) 345-2468.

Like you, when I want to avoid the crowds, I stay near Eden, SD – lots of lakes in that area too and you can still get to Webster within a half hour if you want. If you can afford $100/night – Hidden Hill Lodge is best place to stay in the 100 mile radius and you can eat there or drive 5 minutes to Cafe/Club Eden which has best wings in the state IMO.

Good input Fry, I will look into it. Thanks.

I’m looking to fish Waubay Lake more this year – especially early ice before the zoo crews arrive. Heck I live 45 minutes away and just never seem to get up there. Coming from the East I think Buckshots access is my best bet to shorten the drive. Anyone use that access. Is it public or a pay to access? How is it for winter walk out??

I think we are going to stay in Waubay and fish bitter. Any ideas where to begin?