Expanding water has made Lake Sinai a very unique waterbody. In fact, Sinai has expanded to nearly twice the size it originally was. The original lake bed is extremely present as it drops off quickly to very deep water. The expansion has flooded farmland, equipment, and buildings as well as road beds and shelterbelts making the area outside the original lake bed extremely unique. This also makes Sinai the deepest lake in the area with spots reaching as deep as 34-37ft depending on water levels.
Three large, main lake humps are often popular targets of ice anglers as the areas where the lake expanded are often exceptionally dangerous during the ice season. As a general rule of safety: travel away from the area directly in-front of the boat launch is not advised as ice conditions are often sketchy at best.
Fishing Information
Background
Sinai is a very interesting lake to fish. The lake has doubled in size due to increasing water levels so the main lake bed drops quickly to 30-36ft in the basin, but still offers shallow structure such as submerged roads, rocky points as well some submerged timber. This is also the deepest lake in the Brookings area and one of the deeper lakes you will find in eastern South Dakota.
Species
Walleye
This lake has a very nice top end for walleye with fish up to 14lbs in the system, although they are few and far between. There is plenty of the eater class fish though as well, with a good population of 14-18 inch fish. Compared to other local lakes, 81 Ponds is known to produce the most 10lb walleye, but while Sinai’s trophies are significantly fewer, there is that much higher top end potential. Brush Lake also offers fish in this category as well.
Ice
Three main-lake humps can produce some good fishing, though the crowds can turn the fishing off on these small areas. To combat this, the best recipe to find success is to stay past when others leave. While sunset may be the traditional time, the 10-11 p.m. hours of ice season are often when the big walleyes come out to play.
Often times, you may have small crappie on your screen as you are fishing. If these crappie disappear, many times there are large walleye in the area coming onto the humps to feed. Generally, these large walleyes don’t have any exciting preferences.
A plain minnow underneath a bobber is often the most successful. Small jigs with full minnows are often a fantastic option as well. Walleye may even take the baits you are catching crappie on, such as 4 or 5 mm tungsten jigs with small plastics, wax worms or spikes.
Spring and Fall
Sinai can be a tough lake to fish due to the abrupt drop off and lack of main-lake structure, but in the spring and fall fishing along the shoreline in the evening can produce some excellent fishing!
Casting jigs with plastics down the rocky shorelines is most effective. A 1/16oz jig is key to floating above the rocks and boulders as opposed to falling into them. A 4 inch minnow profile plastic is often the best choice. Pearl/white or chartreuse are the top colors, but pink and blue can also catch fish.
Pitching these presentations down the rocks and skipping them back is the top option. Fish mood will vary, some nights they may like aggressive skips or even sharp jerks, but other days they may favor extended pauses on top of the boulders.
Depending on wind conditions, slipbobbers may be another good choice. On calm days, lighted slipbobbers with minnows underneath them can be very successful.
Smallmouth Bass
Sinai has a nice population of smallmouth bass that are popular for anglers. The rocky points, submerged timber and main-lake rock humps can all produce some outstanding smallie fishing for both numbers and size.
Anglers targeting smallies have a variety of options for success. The first option is fishing out deeper in the main lake areas. Vertical jigging with jigs and minnows, plastics or rip jigs like Jigging Raps, Tillys or Shiver Minnows can all produce nice smallmouth. Fishing the humps and deep water points are popular, but fishing the sharp drop off to the old lake bed can be productive as well.
Other anglers find success fishing shallow timber. Flooded trees and shelterbelts can hold plenty of bass as well. Fishing these areas with spinnerbaits, chatterbaits or other swimbaits can produce some good fishing as well.
Black Crappie
The crappie fishing on Sinai is impressive! Through ice, crappie are a popular target for anglers. Population sizes can vary, but generally there is a strong number of 9-13 inch fish that light the screens of anglers up at night.
The same main lake humps draw ice angler’s attention for crappie, just like they do walleye. Generally, as soon the sun goes down the screens light up. If you are on fish, once they arrive they will often stay in the area all night long.
You can easily tell the fish’s mood by where they sit in the column. If you are on top of a hump in 30ft and the fish are 20ft or higher, they are often super aggressive. If they are in the 20-25ft area, they are not extremely active, but can still be caught. Fish 25ft or deeper are often very inactive.
Understanding what your flasher is telling you, you can determine what the best bait is. Generally, a tungsten jig and plastic is going to be your best option. However, if you are seeing fish high in the column you can often get away with fishing a smaller spoon and minnow head. If the fish are consistently on bottom, a jig or plain hook under a bobber is often the best choice.
Fish can also be caught in the spring and fall from the shore with slipbobbers once the sun goes down. A minnow under a lighted slipbobber is the key for this period. This has actually resulted in back-to-back 16 inch fish one cool November night.
Predators
Northern pike are present as well as a muskie population that became established in 2011 through stocking by South Dakota Game, Fish and Parks.
Surrounding Area Information
Nearby Towns: Volga, Arlington, Brookings
Nearby Lakes: 81 Ponds, Brush Lake, Lake Campbell, Lake Thompson
Area Bait Shops: Sioux River Outfitters (Volga), Handi Mart (Arlington), Gas N Mor (Brookings), Runnings (Brookings), Porters Bait Farm (Brookings), Dakota Wholesale Bait (Brookings)
Area Lodging: Arlington Inn (Arlington), Pheasant Motel (Arlington)
Numerous hotels and motels in Brookings.
Area Restaurants: Lucky Dog Bar and Grill (Volga), CC’s Bar and Grill (Volga), Subway (Volga), Valley Restaurant (Volga), 14/81 Grille (Arlington), The Ridge (Bruce)
Numerous restaurants in Brookings.
Related Articles
Nick Harrington details his secret to catching trophy pre-spawn walleye in the early spring. He utilizes over-sized plastics and under-sized jigs to target the biggest fish in the area in Upsizing Plastics for Goliath Spring Walleye.
Nick Harrington discusses two different styles of casting jigs for early spring walleye. The first focuses on targeting trophy fish with bigger baits, while the second focuses on covering water and catching numbers of fish in One-Two Plastic Punch for Spring Walleye.
Plastics have taken the ice fishing industry by storm. This is for good reason, these plastics attract fish and replicate their natural forage. Nick Harrington and Chris Seylar detail the best ways to deploy these baits in Plastics for Ice Panfish.
