I’m not Scott but I fish the lake regularly, and I’ll share what I know.
Waubay has basically 4 fisheries, walleye, perch, pike, and an upcoming crappie fishery. There’s also some nice smallies, but they’re not real common.
The walleye population has a large number of fish between 20 and 25 inches, and fish under 16 inches, due to the slot, but keeper slot fish are catchable. Last I heard, about a year ago, nearly half of the adult walleye population was over 20 inches in length. At a tournament I fished there last summer, a buddy caught over 30 walleyes over the 20 inch slot, so there’s lots of nice fish to catch. Waubay has one of the highest densities of adult walleyes (fish per acre) in SD. I don’t remember the exact number, but I remember reading somewhere that it was higher than some of the better walleye lakes in MN, as a comparison.
The perch population is coming back good from some overharvest a few years ago. There’s lots of 10-12 inch fish, and loads of smaller perch to catch. limits (10 perch) of 12 inch fish are not difficult to catch if you get on them. Perch are usually best in the fall and winter.
The pike are everywhere, good numbers, and good size. In spring it’s not tough to catch quite a few in the 7-10 pound range if you’re looking for them (and sometimes even if you’re not ). 17 pound plus fish are not uncommon.
The crappies reallly took off last spring in the grenville area. If I recall correctly, april was the best month for crappies, and some into may.
If I had to pick one month for walleyes, it’d be May. but april and june are also very good typically, and thought I haven’t fished it much in October, I hear that it’s excellent.
If you’re making a trip, I’d suggest stopping in or calling the Sportsman’s cove in Webster before you hit the water, they always give me good reports when I stop there.
Hope this helps. Feel free to email me if I can help further.
Eyez
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