Lake Oahe South Dakota Smallmouth Bass Report

Lake Oahe is well known as one of the best walleye fisheries on the planet, and rightly so. But Lake Oahe also boast a very healthy population of bronzebacks, and those are the fish we were after on this weeks trip. Joining me on this 2-day adventure was my good buddy, Bob Mings of Onawa, Iowa. Bob and I have fished the Missouri River together in the past, but neither of us have ever set eyes on beautiful lake Oahe. We were both excited to test our skills on an unfamiliar body of water, and we were not disappointed in the results.

With water temperatures quite cold, a mere 47 degrees on Oahe, Bob and I decided that the warmer bays would be the best places to start looking for fish. The bite was slow at first, but heated up as the bright sun began to warm the water and by mid-afternoon we had a decent pattern figured out. Oahe is very high right now, and one can easily find the newly submerged brush, trees, and rocks that would have been on dry land a year ago. It was this newly submerged structure, along with rock and gravel in secondary bays that were our primary targets.

Bob and I threw a lot of different baits over two days. Bass were taken on Tubes, Beavers, Lipless Cranks, Chatterbaits, and Stickworms, but the most effective baits were the Tubes, Beavers and Chatterbaits. The best colors for plastics were again the darker natural colors; greens, browns, and blacks. Bob even managed to entice an incredibly strong-willed salmon into hitting a Sweet Beaver. This brute of a fish made four runs before Bob and I could get her in the boat! What an incredible fish!

On day two, the wind got way out of hand, pushing near 40 miles and hour at times. It was problematic enough that bob and I loaded the boat and relocated about 45 miles southeast to Lake Sharpe, another Missouri River Reservoir with a great reputation as both a walleye lake, and a smallie lake. Both and I tucked out of the wind and found some very cooperative smallies. The numbers were great, but we did not find the quality of fish that we found the day before on Oahe.

Whether you prefer to chase walleye or smallies, you might want to consider putting both of these Missouri River destinations on your summer "to do" list. You won’t be disappointed!

Next week, the plan is to spend some time chasing those toothy fish with the white spot on their tales on Lewis and Clark Lake, another Missouri River Reservoir. I hope the have a decent report after the holiday. Have a great week everyone!

All bass were carefully released. Please practice catch and release. It works!