Lake Sakakawea Trip Advice

My friend and I are planning a trip to fish either Oahae or Sakakawea next summer. This would be new to us so we’d appreciate any advice or directions from the members. Our trip would take place in July / August time period and we’d have our own boat.
What lake & areas offer the best fishing during the July or August time period? I’d also appreciate suggestions on where to stay.
We would get a guide for the first day.
Thanks in advance for your responses!

For Sakakawea, the West side/VanHook definitely has more consistent fishing than the east end that time of year.

For Oahe, Bushes Landing area in July can be good. West Prairie Resort or Sunset Resort are good places to stay.

Not familiar with Sakakawea , for Oahe we always stayed at the state campground below the dam . Have to reserve a spot in advance . Spacious spots to park your boat next to the camp sight and good clean bathrooms . Was always nice to have a river to fish if Oahe was windy as it can get rough . Oahe also has a few salmon to play with if you get bored .

btyreprich wrote:

My friend and I are planning a trip to fish either Oahae or Sakakawea next summer. This would be new to us so we’d appreciate any advice or directions from the members. Our trip would take place in July / August time period and we’d have our own boat.
What lake & areas offer the best fishing during the July or August time period? I’d also appreciate suggestions on where to stay.
We would get a guide for the first day.
Thanks in advance for your responses!

For Oahe you’d probably want to be on the SD side, although I’m not real familiar with the details.

For Sak, as mentioned, Van Hook area is probably the most consistent, although the whole lake is pretty decent at that time (Van Hook arm warms up the fastest and usually is the first part of the lake to get good in late May/early June but by July the whole lake has warmed sufficiently, generally speaking). The fish get fairly deep by late July though, expect to find most fish in 30-50.’ If you have a boat and are experienced walleye fishermen there’s probably not much need to get a guide. Trusting electronics is a big one on such a big lake and the fish tend to move around quite a bit.

Someone else just asked about Sak as well: https://www.in-depthoutdoors.com/community/forums/topic/lake-sakakawea-july-2024/

I was there once in college with a buddy and fished with him in a 20′ Ranger.

My only recollection of specifics were that when the wind picked up out of the West, you needed a plan of action. Those waves were no joke even in a relatively large boat.

Trip is se for late July / first few days in August. We will focus on the Van Hook section of the lake. We are thinking of spending another day up there – this day fishing below the Garrison Dam.
y guess is that’s always fish below a power dam feeding on small fish who went through the power turbines.
Has anyone fished below the dam at this time of the year?
Thanks

btyreprich wrote:

Trip is se for late July / first few days in August. We will focus on the Van Hook section of the lake. We are thinking of spending another day up there – this day fishing below the Garrison Dam.
y guess is that’s always fish below a power dam feeding on small fish who went through the power turbines.
Has anyone fished below the dam at this time of the year?
Thanks

Locals call it the tailrace. I’ve tried it a few times and have never done much. Some guys swear by it. Most guys fish it at sunset and through the night. Drive up to line that tells you how close you can get to the dam, drop 3 way rig, float down a couple hundred yards, repeat.

btyreprich wrote:

Trip is se for late July / first few days in August. We will focus on the Van Hook section of the lake. We are thinking of spending another day up there – this day fishing below the Garrison Dam.
y guess is that’s always fish below a power dam feeding on small fish who went through the power turbines.
Has anyone fished below the dam at this time of the year?
Thanks

I’ve only fished it once in the fall. There’s always some kind of fish in there (catfish, suckers, etc.). If you’re using your boat my only advice is to see what other people are doing. The current is very fast coming out of the pump house and so spot lock will do you no good and don’t even think about anchoring.
Most people boat up towards the pump house and drift with the current while jigging beneath the boat.

Other than that, Van Hook will do you well.

Thanks Greenhorn!
What size jig heads for the tailrace?

That time of year can be gangbusters in the tailrace…but it can also be very busy if you fish Fri or Sat night….a little less busy during the week. If you want to hit it at the best time…go for an early AM bite (like dump the boat in at 4am and head straight up the shoot towards the dam). It is safe running from the boat ramp up into the shoot….if you go south of the ramp, things change fast. Take a spotlight with you if its your first time to help you get your bearings at the ramp…once your up in the chute, there is nothing to worry about hitting other than other boats…there is quite a bit of light up that way from the dam.

Take a long handle bait net with you (like a bait net on a 8ft broom handle). It is legal to dip the stunned smelt off of the surface an use them for bait there. Have a 3-way rig tied with a 1/2 or 3/4 sinker on one end (most of the time 3/4oz is best for staying vertical but can depend on releases) and a #2 or #4 plain hook on other. Tie the weight onto the 3-way with very light lb test (4 or 6)…if you snag up, will just lose weight then. I say go early before sun-up because you can get the smelt off the surface up below the dam before the birds can see them and move in for the day.

There are big orange markers on both sides of the chute (rocked area that runs up to dam) that tell you how close you can get to the dam. Pull up to those…put your motor in neutral and let the current start to drift you. Run that 3 way straight down and try to stay vertical…if you feel bottom, reel up and stay a foot or 2 off bottom. If you dont have smelt, can use crawlers, smelt colored plastics or Rapala F-11s…they all work but the stunned smelt will out fish everything. The drifts will be fast and have always caught most fish in the first 1/2 of the drift….when you get the the end of the rocks, can fire the motor back up and run up and repeat. You can fish jigheads too…1/2 to 1 oz….just have to figure out the drift based on the release at the time…it will change while your there too. Like was previously stated…DO NOT Anchor in the chute…bad idea. Saw a boat do this one time and when the rope tightened up, they had problems….not to mention the other boats drifting past them at mach 5.

Fun part about that time of year is you do not know what you have when you set the hook. Lots of catfish but also have a legit shot at some monsters. Walleyes can be hit and miss…when its good, its insane. Best part is, you have the chance at the big Rainbows and Browns… have pulled a 14lb rainbow, 16lb brown and 7lb cutthroat form there and those are not near as big as they get. Plus, can get bonus Salmon, ling, and just about everything else that swims in the system. Its just fun fishing.

If you have to fish evening…just going straight south of the ramp on the sandbar flat and anchoring up in 4 to 7ft and tossing floating cranks in the evening is great too…used to spend my summers driving up there with my waders and fishing there in the evenings. Can fish the evening in the chute too but it will be busy in there if the bite is on…can get a little hectic with all the boat wake…wear your life-vest.