This is my first blog post! This blog is about hunting and fishing in the great outdoors of South Dakota. Pretty simple stuff. Or is it? With the outrageous number of hunting and fishing opportunities in this fine state, sometimes you have to choose between activities you love. Right now I’m going back and forth between goose hunting and ice fishing for bluegills and bass. Life is full of tough choices, right? Since the geese hate me and laugh hysterically while they fly by my decoys, let’s kick it off with some ice fishing.
While the ice conditions haven’t been so hot this year with the ridiculously warm weather, the fishing has been great. In the Pierre area I’ve been having good luck on the stock ponds for bluegills (see picture) and bass (see other picture) when the ice is thick enough. That hasn’t been all that often, though, with temps hitting 70 degrees F here a few weeks ago. We had good ice for the first few weeks, then it all went to hell, and now the good ice is back with the recent cold snap. Hallelujah! I will be getting back at it in between unsuccessful goose hunts and will report back here with pics, videos, and stories.
The really hot fishing this year is in the northeast glacial lakes. This isn’t anything new when it comes to ice fishing in Sodak, but even with the sketchy ice this year has been better than most. High water levels the last several years have led to high numbers of baitfish and excellent year classes of perch and walleyes. Catches of mammoth perch, with 13″ and 14″ fish beginning to seem common, have been coming out of many lakes and sloughs. There has been plenty of talk of a hot bite on Bitter Lake, both for jumbo perch and nice walleyes, with some big ‘eyes being reported. A word of caution is in order, though. Stay away from the more southerly lakes and use your head. A man lost his life on Lake Poinsett recently, and if there’s one thing that’s always true, it is that a fish is not worth a life.
I will be fishing the northeast this weekend and will report back. The amount of detail in the report will depend on how well we do, with more fish meaning less details. You know how it is. And while I may not tell you exactly where the fish were caught, I will share how they were caught and why I think the fish were there. You can take this information and add it to your own toolbox of fishing experiences, and hopefully you will share some of your tips with me in the comments section. There are no free lunches in fishing, though, and we all have to find those honey holes for ourselves.
But let’s get back to fish that have already been caught, shall we? I learned some valuable lessons earlier this winter about bass location in stock ponds. These lessons may not apply to later in the ice fishing season, but they were consistent for me on early ice. In stock ponds with relatively clear water where you can see your jig down for at least a few feet, weed lines form on the top and edges of the drop off into the deep basin of the pond. Most of the larger panfish will typically congregate in the deepest parts of the pond, but these are not the fish (droids?) we’re looking for. Star wars references aside, some of the smaller and less educated panfish will stray into the shallower weed edges. This is a fatal mistake for a bluegill and a free lunch for a big largemouth. Targeting these weedy edges has produced a number of nice bass for me this year, with the 19 1/4″ pictured above being the biggest so far. I’ve never chased largemouths through the ice very much, nor have I done much open water fishing for largemouths, but if a fish is there, why not catch it, right? Marking one of those giant red blotches on the flasher is enough to keep me going, and having one of these pond monsters take the bait means you’re in for a wild ride. And just a tip, make sure your drag is working and you have fresh line, because these babies can really battle. Those of us unlucky enough to not be blessed with the ice fishing of the northeast, which I typically refer to as “God’s Country”, have to find other ways and other fish to occupy our fishing crazed minds. For me the largemouth bass fills this role admirably. But like most Sodakers, for me the walleye is king with the giant perch right behind it, and I hope I have some success stories to share with you after the coming weekend.
hunt fish sodak 