Quick trip in SD

I headed to the Watertown area yesterday early in the AM. Not as early as I had planned, but when I got up at 3AM the weather channel showed less than desirable conditions. So I crawled back in bed for a couple more hours. I arrived about 9:30AM and an old friend and I loaded my stuff in the truck and we headed out to a local hot bite.

We started out fishing the outside of a weed line in 14 feet of water. I marked one fish. Steve got a 12″ fish on a tipup. Our neighbors who were in shallower came over to invite us in as they were leaving. I had watched them ice several nice eyes. So, we moved in and setup in there holes. Steve pulled 3 fish, one nice 16″ keeper. It took me two hours, but I finally got a bite/fish. It was another nice 16″ fish. Then it died and we had a long lull.

We decided to pack it in and head in about 3:30ish since I needed get on the road and the snow was just starting to settle in. One of Steve’s other buddies arrived and he started fishing our holes. Before we were off the ice, he had his 4 fish limit of 16″ walleyes. Typical for me, I can shut a bite down on any lake.

It was a great day, the weatherman missed it again. No wind. Got to spend some quality time with an old friend and caught a fish. I can’t complain too much. Any spoon seemed to work. The fish were very shallow, just 4 feet of water under the ice. You could barely see them on the LX5, but when they showed, they smacked it hard.

I have been hearing good things about the walleye bite around that area. Wish I had more time to fish when I get back to that area, as it is a wonderful area to be a sportsman.

I hear ya Loren. If could find a way to convince my wife to move back here, I would in a heartbeat. So many opportunities. My buddy is still killing loads of geeese out on Oahe, just so much to offer. Just gotta find a way to live on a much smaller income.

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Just gotta find a way to live on a much smaller income.

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You figure that out alone and you wood be rich Thanks for the report!

awesome! Too bad the driving conditions stunk, makes for some sweaty palms. The ice is shaping up, hopefully the March trip we are planning holds up. There is a DU ice tourney the 1st Saturday in Feb. over by Preston, might give that a shot.

If I can get all my work done I plan to hit Waubay on the way home.

if you want a good evening spot on Bitter, let me know. At least we were able to pound a few walleye with the perch around 4pm.

In typical fashion, I wasn’t able to get done early last night. Now I gotta work again tonight. I was hoping to run over to Webster area this afternoon for a few hours. Oh well, I’ll just hit Waubay on the way home tomorrow.

3 inches of fresh snow last night.

I stopped at Waubay on my way back to Mn yesterday. I was on foot, so I didn’t cover as much ground as I had hoped. When I parked the truck, the 20mph north wind was sure blowing up my skirt. I wasn’t sure how long I was willing to tolerate it.

I walked about a mile from the truck just to make sure I wouldn’t allow myself an easy out. Upon arriving at my destination I was really warmed up. I dropped my Snosuit jacket and started punching holes. I was fishing from 32 – 37 foot of water. Exactly as I had been told to do by my buddies. I put out my 3 tip-ups and started hole hopping. It wasn’t long and I needed my jacket back on. The wind was stiff and chilly and I had quickly cooled.

I fished several hole without any signs of life. However, on the outer ring of my first holes, I found some small perch. I got a couple up to the top to confirm what was down there. I was hoping to find some eaters mixed in. As I dropped my spoon with a dropper and wax worm I got smoked. I set the hook and this fish was pulling really nice. I figured a jumbo perch or eater walleye. About half way up, boom, unbuttoned. Right back down, smack. Same fight, same result. &(&%^*^*(*^%*^ and some more (^%&%&%^(*(*##(&. Quick grab a buckshot, send it down. Whack. Same fight, this time a nice 17 incher to the surface. Then the bite died.

I moved around a lot more, always looking for those little perch, assuming the eyes were close behind. Found the perch, but no more eyes jigging. Did get a couple smallish eyes on the tip-ups. I also had a first, got a white bass through the ice. Then I got another on a tip-up later on. All in all, the bite wasn’t great. However, when the wind laid down to nothing, it turned out to be a glorious afternoon out there. As I walked over a mile back to my truck last night I was peeling clothes off left and right. A fat kid could get hurt out there…

At just 3.5 hours from my house, I’m gonna have to do a few more trips out there yet this winter.

either you got really big fingers or that’s a small white bass, I can imagine you were not fishing near anyone either. Did you notice actual depths were much deeper than maps/gps would be telling you? I know on Bitter we needed to add 8-10 feet to the map/gps to get where real-time depths were.

I didn’t take my tablet out on the lake with me to see where I was actually fishing vs what the map says. Also, the area I was fishing isn’t surveyed so I’m not sure how accurate it would end up being.

Kooty….whenever your up for a road trip I am willing. This area of SD is just a fun place to fish.

let me know, like to meet up with you guys. Had a buddy fish the Brookings area this past weekend, not much going on on there. I am looking at somewhere mid March, last week of Feb is our Winni/Leech trip.