Guys that come over to SD from the east tend to struggle on walleyes their first few trips. Not to mention this year has been goofy from the start of early ice.
A few general tips:
There’s always walleyes shallow.
Bite windows can be short, and can later in the morning and earlier in the afternoon that one might think is the case, even in clear water. Drill your holes early and let the area quiet down for 20 minutes.
Run big baits. You’ve got 4 lines to use, make sure 2 of them have chubs, suckers, shiners, etc. Can’t tell you how many 16″ eyes I’ve caught on tip-ups intended for pike.
Noise is your enemy.
If you didnt mark fish on a given piece of structure at dawn, fish something different at sundown.
Don’t anchor yourself to one spot for 4 days. Can be frustrating if you’re in a rental, but communicate with the outfitter and see about moving to a fresh spot, or at least bring a hub with and set it up on a different hump, inside turn, flooded road, point, etc. to see if there are active fish in another area.
Also, Waubay, Bitter, & Poinsett are great fisheries. But do yourselves a favor and go explore. Just because there’s 250 trucks at the ramps, doesn’t mean that the bite is so good you need to be there too. That may mean pick a different part of that lake, or move on to another less pressured lake.
We have in SD what we refer to as “the herd.” As soon as word gets out, mainly regarding a perch bite, it seems like the same guys show up to that lake. Whether they are chasing internet reports, bait shop reports, or what have you, they never seem to go off and find their own bites. The number of people on the lake should not be considered a measure of fish activity. If you’re in Wisconsin and hear that Bitter Lake is kicking out 13″ perch, 1. Assume the average size is 9″, and 2. Assume it will be a zoo when you get there.
