Well this last weekend mother nature dealt us a pretty rash card with the wind deciding to blow up to 40 mph pretty consistently from Friday all the way through Sunday. This made fishing in the boat rather tough, and at times very frustrating. After getting out in the boat and seeing what a headache it was we decided to opt our for some shore fishing. We were able to contact fish right from the get go. Jigs with black plastics seemed to work the best along with tipping it with a minnow.
We caught numerous fish from 16 inches all the way up to 28 inches being the biggest for the day. As the day wore on we switched around from X-raps to swim baits and then eventually came back to jig. With colder temps and the huge wind it seemed these fish wanted the slow hop of a jig fished closer to the bottom.
We caught a pile of fish and had a great time doing it, just a reminder that there are plenty of options in South Dakota even if you cannot get on with the boat. Towards dark we switched lakes and found a good number of eater size fish in shallow 3-4 fow that were eager to take our offerings. These fish made for a great fish fry with some good friends. Hope you all have a chance to get out and do some fishing. Good luck and be safe – Quintin
Looks like the decision to fish SD was a good one. Very nice fish and from shore to boot. Can a guy fish a bunch a lakes from shore or only a select few?
Pretty much every lake in this region has a shore bite at one time or another. The eater fish were biting well right towards dark in very shallow water. Right now alot of the shore anglers are doing better than the boat anglers. We only fished 2 lakes this time out, but I can think of 10-12 lakes at the present moment that have a shore bite going the last hours of the day.
Looks like you guys have been doing alright for yourselves! keep up the good work guys…
Nice fish
I bet with a 40 mph wind at your back, you could cast a jig or crankbait a long ways out too. Looks like fun.
great fish man……cant wait to get out there one of these days….gotta love that area of the country……
Charles
Quintin:
Shore fishing, it’s not just for bullheads anymore. Love it! Just more proof that it doesn’t always have to be complex.
This is still interesting to me however, as I’m sure what you’re doing has more folds and twists to it than it seems. Are you looking for heavy cover, warmer water, deeper water? Anything tipping you off to these locations?
Thanks!
Joel
Good question Joel, right now we are targeting moving water and warmer water. Warmer water which is found in back bays off the main water basin. I am also looking for moving water in the form of culvurts. Most anytime a road runs between water the highway department will install a culvert to keep the water levels a a desirable hight around the road. Usually the culvurt will create some current which concentrates fish. In a lake that has no current, current becomes a large attractant, just like a river or creek flowing into an inland lake. If I have to shorefish, which has been the case lately (boat repairs) I also like to be fishing after a good hard rain. Rain will cause runoff in the lakes out here in the dakotas as many of the shorelines are simply farm fields or dirt or gravel areas. The runoff concentrates baitfish and can even form a small mudline at times. Hope this helps and everyone has a chance to get out and fish. Boat is back on line and I will be out in the morning.
-Quintin
I was in Lake Sharpe the following your trip. Fishing was very good. We couldn’t find any big fish, but we able to get our limits of 16-18 inch fish. The smallies were going nuts while we were there and so after the walleyes were in the box we chased the smallies around and had a great time. Going back soon, I have family in Sioux Falls and so it makes it a short trip for me. Nice Fish…..