Summer is here, and it’s arrived with some heat! As the weather warms up, we’re hoping the fishing warms up soon too! While numerous massive walleye crossed the scales at the National Walleye Tour event this past week, fishing is still trying to pick up on the big reservoir. All of that and more in this week’s fishing report!
Lake Oahe Fishing Report
The most common report from Lake Oahe is tough fishing, and there’s no other way to put it. Whether it’s anglers who fished the National Walleye Tour event in Mobridge or at the dock at Spring Creek Recreation Area, anglers are struggling to make fish bite, and put fish in the boat.
There’s three key factors that are going into this, which are an abundance of forage, cool water temperatures, and the seasonal movements of reservoir fish. We’ll have a deep dive into all three of these and how anglers can maximize their chances to get bites.
Forage
Forage is by far the biggest factor into the difficult bite on Lake Oahe right now. There is forage everywhere, and fish have absolutely no reason to eat. They’re very well fed, which means that anglers’ baits are competing with the millions of other options in the system and fish are also exhibiting short bite windows because of the ease in finding a meal.
The predominant forage in the system is smelt, which is providing a food source for fish of all sizes in the system. Ciscoe, while in decreased numbers compared to previous years, provides a steak dinner food source for the larger caliber walleyes. The smelt are so abundant on Lake Oahe, smelt that have been entrained through the Lake Oahe dam are even impacting fishing on the upper end of Lake Sharpe!
Gizzard shad will also be presenting a forage option relatively shortly, with other young-of-the-year warm water species such as freshwater drum, crappie, and yellow perch to follow. It’s worth noting that this wide range of forage options will hold fish in a wide range of areas as well.
This abundance of forage is the reason the fish are in such excellent condition, growing so quickly, and reaching 17 inches by age-3 and 15 inches by age-2. While it’s great for a healthy fishery, it makes for tough fishing!
Water Temperatures
The next factor for the slower fishing on Lake Oahe is water temperature. Water temperatures are still between 50-55 degrees along the reservoir, which means we’re still waiting for summer fishing to take off.
Fish are ectothermic, which means their metabolism is determined by the environment in which they live. The cooler water temperatures means their metabolism is not yet cranking, and that desire/need to eat is not what it will be in the coming weeks. As the water begins to warm, expect the bite to heat up as well.
Seasonal Movements
The third component of this tough fishing is the seasonal movements of reservoir walleye. While a portion of the walleye will spawn in the larger creeks within the fisheries, the bulk of the spawning activity takes place in the three large rivers – the Grand, Moreau, and Cheyenne.
Both the Grand and the Moreau rivers are in the Mobridge and Akaska areas respectively, which represents Upper Lake Oahe within South Dakota. A number of fish will also spawn at the upper end of Lake Oahe in Bismarck, as well as Beaver Creek in North Dakota, but for the majority of fish on the South Dakota section of the river the largest number will be in these two large tributaries.
This means that until the early part of May, the bulk of the fish are in the upper stretch of the system within the state. However, many of these fish will move down river for the summer, and will filter their way through the Whitlock area before getting to the Bushes Landing area, where they’ll convene with fish from the Cheyenne River as the lower end of the reservoir picks in through June and July as well as into August.
Many of the fish are still in the Mobridge and Akaska areas, but they are on the move and they’re moving quickly. Fish are moving literally miles a day at this time of the season, which sets up for a “here today, gone tomorrow” for anglers that are fortunate to find them. Sometimes, it’s here this hour and gone in the next hour.
Putting it All Together
What this means for the fishing on Oahe is that it’s going to get better! The forage is going to be a storyline throughout the season, just as it was last year, but this means that when fish do bite they are going to be in fantastic shape. Anglers should also not expect as many smaller fish, as even those two year old fish are reaching 15 inches!
The biggest factor in this is going to be the warming water temperatures, which is going to have fish eating more. As the water warms the fish’s metabolism is going to increase, and thus their desire for food is going to increase as well. While more forage will be entering the system throughout the summer, the bite windows should extend and provide additional opportunity for anglers.
The fish are going to continue to move their way down the reservoir, and the progression should go through the Akaska area before heading to the Whitlock area before heading down towards Bushes Landing and the Cheyenne River. Also at this time the lower end of the reservoir should begin to take-off as well.
In the meantime, anglers can increase their odds of getting bites by focusing on putting their baits directly in the face of fish. Bottom bouncing is an excellent way to do this, and anglers trolling crankbaits should focus their baits exactly at where the fish are holding in the water column. Anglers should not expect fish to come up and attack their baits like they may do other times of the year.
Lake Sharpe Fishing Report
The fishing on Lake Sharpe remains consistent from the previous weeks. The fishing near Pierre is focused either near Antelope Island or Hipple Lake within Farm Island Recreation Area, while the West Bend area continues to provide the best fishing on the reservoir if not on the entire Missouri River.
Fishing just north of Antelope Island remains the most productive, and really the only productive, stretch on the upper end of the reservoir. Anglers are finding success trolling crankbaits, bottom bouncing, and dragging jigs.
Hipple Lake, which is consistent but relatively slow, is the next best bet. Trolling crankbaits is the most effective, as that allows anglers to cover the maximum amount of water and contact the most active fish.
West Bend Recreation Area remains the most popular spot on the fishery, with over 125 trailers reported on Saturday morning. Anglers should make a plan for traffic and crowds, but by all accounts the fishing is fantastic and worth the effort.
Similar to Lake Oahe, anglers should plan for gizzard shad to enter the system soon. These shad will likely show up a bit sooner, as Hipple Lake has been above 55 degrees for a longer duration than most of Lake Oahe, which is the temperature gizzard shad spawn at.
National Walleye Tour Results from Lake Oahe
The National Walleye Tour anglers reported tough fishing, an up and down pre-fish, and they faced strong South Dakota winds both days of the event, but that didn’t stop some massive fish from crossing the scales! Congratulations to Jason Stahl on the victory, edging out numerous 20 pound bags across the two-day event!
