Headed to lake preston area of South Dakota this week… whitewood lake lake Thompson and some others are near by… any suggestions or reports of action in the area? We’ll target whatever is hot! Like to find a large pike while we’re there for a rookie ice fisherman.
Be careful!!!! Lots of reports of people going through the ice right now. By this weekend it could be ok again for walking but I wouldn’t go out with any vehicle.
Whitewood has been producing decent fish but its been a tough bite, lot of marks and few takers, hop around till you find a fish or two thats willing to bite and then start moving again. Thompson will always produce if you can find fish, its a larger fishery so it can be a daunting task finding active fish. Dry is still producing but like Whitewood its a game of moving, don’t expect to put your shack up and have fish there all day, its not gonna happen. Pointsett is hit or miss, I did really well out there a few years ago and haven’t done worth a damn since.
East of Lake Preston is Brush (along the south side of highway 14), did okay out there on Thanksgiving weekend, caught a few nice fish but there were a LOT of 6-7 inch perch, last I heard things have really slowed down on that lake. Lake Sinai is just southeast of there, it can be an incredible fishery if you hit it right, don’t ask me when “right” is because I haven’t figured it out yet. If you do go out there do NOT drive the ice on that lake can be very squirrely and if you don’t know where the weak spots historically are you will go through.
South of highway 14 along highway 81 is the 81 ponds. These can and do produce some great fish year after year but the fishing can be tough, very clear water, lots of bait fish. The east side of the road will produce good perch and eater sized walleyes if and when you find them. The west side of the road will produce good perch and the potential for great walleyes, again IF you find them.
was out on Whitewood last weekend, nothing! Buddy of mine and some friends were out there yesterday and did well on both perch and some walleyes. Tried Brush also last weekend and only caught one jumbo. These are hit an miss, as mentioned prior. There was one truck slowly driving on Whitewood. On the south end there was a report of a wheeler going through a couple of weeks ago, but this cold snap should firm things up and speed along the process of getting consistent ice.
Welcome to IDO Ryan! Glad to see that you signed up!
Scott
I have been playing very close attention to the temp in this area… seems to have been consistently below 0 now for almost 2 days straight… hopefully that helps… The guide outfit I am going through has me set up with a large sleeper so must be half way decent I am hoping!
My father in law was there the week before Xmas said he had lost of lookers and when they hooked up they were fat perch. They did catch limits but wasn’t fast action. 11 to 12 inch range fatties is what he said. That was on whitewood.
The bite at Whitewood is tough. The lake has very minimal cover or topography changes. I caught every single fish on a long slender “willow” jig in yellow or green. I hooked a small minnow through the dorsal and let it sit an inch or two off the bottom. They come in schools every half hour 45 min. It also was a really soft bite. Spring bobber or a noddle rod is a must! They are pigs though. I kept thinking I’d pack it up and then another jumbo decided to hit. We kept 20 over the two days I was there and they were all 12-14″ and one that hit 14 1/2″ It was a rush!! I also caught my first carp through the ice here. It was a great fight on my ultra light with 2lb Nanofil!
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