The weather has gotten warmer, the walleye spawn is on, and boat docks are being pushed into the water across the state. It’s safe to say fishing is picking up across the state of South Dakota! Find out everything you need to know right now about the latest news from the water and what to look forward to this season!
Walleye Spawning
The South Dakota Game, Fish and Parks (GFP) has been working hard to complete their annual walleye spawning across the state. In the last few days, GFP wrapped up a quick walleye spawn in northeast South Dakota. After a long winter, spawning operations in the northeast went fast this year and fish were ready to go right away as the ice came off in the Glacial Lakes region of South Dakota!
GFP had already wrapped up walleye spawning efforts in southeast South Dakota. The only remaining spawning operations taking place across the state is on Lake Oahe, as GFP biologists are still spawning walleyes near Mobridge.
When fishing across the state, expect to find classic post-spawn fish in southeast South Dakota and recently post-spawn fish in northeast South Dakota. Fishing along the Missouri River, expect many fish to be entering post-spawn conditions but there is still spawning taking place on the Missouri River reservoirs as well.
Image Courtesy: South Dakota Game, Fish and Parks Facebook page
Winterkill Update
The low water entering the winter, cold temperatures, and heavy snow cover set up many winterkill situations across southeast South Dakota. While there were several fisheries that experienced various degrees of winterkill, there is quite a few things to consider when it comes to analyzing winterkill in the lakes.
Winterkill can be a good thing, as it can remove significant numbers of undesirable fish such as common carp, bullhead, channel catfish, and other species from these waterbodies. This can greatly help gamefish populations and essentially hit “reset” on these fisheries should it be a complete kill.
Winterkill lakes also often experience excellent results from spring stockings. These waterbodies are highly productive and the reduced amount of months in the waterbody means the stocked fry will often have excellent survival rates. There is also often rising water levels and flooding shoreline vegetation, which sets up excellent spawning and survival conditions for remaining gamefish or those stocked fry. Trap and transport efforts are also often successful in these fisheries as well.
It is also important to remember this is a dynamic of the fisheries in eastern South Dakota. These waterbodies are highly productive, grow fish extremely fast, and the fish often “live fast and die young.” The reason these lakes winterkilled is the same reason they are such great fisheries in the first place. Shallow and fertile waterbodies grow fish quickly, plain and simple.
If you’re looking to learn more about winterkill, stocking, and fisheries management check out the GFP Podcast and Blast where Chris Hull and Nick Harrington visited with Dave Lucchesi, Southeast South Dakota Area Fisheries Supervisor, to discuss everything regarding winterkill.
Waterbodies that experienced some degree of winterkill include:
- Lake Byron
- Lake Campbell
- Lake Goldsmith
- Interstate Pond
- East Oakwood
- West Oakwood
- Lake Herman
- Clear Lake (Minnehaha County)
- Diamond Lake
- Loss Lake
- Family Park (Sioux Falls)
- Swan Lake (Turner County)
Notable waterbodies that did not experience winterkill include:
- Lake Albert
- Lake Whitewood
- Lake Thompson
- Lake Henry
- 81 Ponds
- Lake Madison
- North Island
- South Island
You can stay in the loop on stocking efforts for the impacted waterbodies, as well as general stocking across the state, through the GFP website. On the “Fish” page, visit the “Fish Stockings in the Last 14 Days” to find an up to the date stocking report from all species and waterbodies across the state.
Boat Ramp and Fish Cleaning Station Updates
It was a busy week across South Dakota State Parks as docks were pushed into the water, fish cleaning stations were opened, and comfort stations in campgrounds became operational as well. This is not a complete list, but below you can find a list of facilities that were opened recently!
Northeast South Dakota
- Roy Lake-Dock In
- Roy Lake-Dump/Fill Stations Open
- Lake Poinsett Recreation Area-Dock In
- Sorensen Access Lake Poinsett-Dock In
- Saaranen Access Lake Poinsett-Dock In
- Prestrude Access Lake Poinsett-Dock In
- Lake Norden-Dock In
- Big Stone Lake-Docks In
- Lake Traverse-Docks In
- Hartford Beach State Park Dump Station and Comfort Stations-Open
Missouri River
- Indian Creek West Ramp-Dock In
- Indian Creek East Ramp-Dock In
- West Pollock Main Ramp-Dock In
- Walth Bay-Dock In
- West Whitlock-Dock In
- East Whitlock-Dock In
- Swan Creek-Dock In
- Bob’s Landing-Dock In
- Sutton Bay-Dock In
- Bush’s Landing-Dock In
- Little Bend-Dock In
- West Whitlock Recreation Area-Dump/Fill Station and South Comfort Station Open
- Cow Creek Comfort Station-Open
- Oahe Downstream Fishing Cleaning Station-Open
- Oahe Downstream Comfort Stations-Open
- West Bend Fish Cleaning Station-Open
You can find a complete list of boat ramp accesses and their status on the GFP Public Fishing Access Map!
Free Fishing Opportunities in South Dakota
As summer progresses, now is a great time to make plans to hit the water and take advantage of the five free fishing days that exist across the state in South Dakota!
Free fishing days include:
- Mother’s Day, May 14
- Open House Weekend, May 19-21
- Father’s Day, June 18
Learn more about these free fishing opportunities, how to learn more about fishing, and find new angler resources in Free Fishing Opportunities in South Dakota!
