Located in the Glacial Lakes region of South Dakota, Brookings offers a perfect location for a fishing or hunting trip. Large enough to offer an abundance of hotels, restaurants, and retailers yet small enough to keep you close to the action, the Brookings area is an excellent location to focus on when planning your trip to some of the best fisheries in eastern South Dakota.
Anglers in the Brookings area can find spectacular walleye, yellow perch, northern pike, smallmouth bass, and crappie fishing within 40 minutes from town. Larger fisheries such as Lake Poinsett and Lake Thompson provide ample opportunities, while lesser-known waterbodies such as 81 Ponds, Lake Sinai, and Lake Whitewood offer terrific fishing as well.
A college-town atmosphere, many students at South Dakota State University take advantage of the outdoor recreation opportunities the area has to provide. In fact, many students in the fields of agriculture and natural resource management choose the school for the very reason!
In addition to the variety of fishing opportunities, Brookings offers excellent waterfowl hunting and quietly good pheasant hunting. Away from areas such as Pierre, Chamberlain, Aberdeen, Winner, Redfield, Platte, and other well-known pheasant hunting locations Brookings can offer sneakily good pheasant hunting. The Big Sioux River Watershed Conservation Reserve Enhancement Program (CREP), which opened for enrollment November 2022, is also greatly increasing and enhancing pheasant, waterfowl, and deer hunting along the I-29 corridor.
Whether you’re looking to ice fish, slough hop in the boat, or enjoy a blast and cast the Brookings area has everything you are looking for while providing excellent lodging, dining, and shopping for last minute gear!
Local Waterbodies
Brookings sits along the Glacial Lakes region of South Dakota. Large waterbodies such as Lake Poinsett and Lake Thompson can steal the show, but other waterbodies such as Lake Sinai, 81 Ponds, Lake Whitewood, Brush Lake, and Oakwood Lakes can all produce excellent fishing!
Lake Poinsett
Lake Poinsett is a large, fishbowl shaped lake. A fairly deep lake for the area, the majority of the lake is between 14-18ft and spots reaching as deep as 20 feet are present. The water is quite clear, which allows for deep weed beds to be present even through winter. Walleye are exceptionally abundant and yellow perch are also a popular target, particularly among ice anglers. Northern pike, black crappie and smallmouth bass also offer a nice bonus for anglers and can be caught throughout the entire year.
Lake Thompson
Lake Thompson is another large, bowl shaped lake. This can make finding fish difficult, but when fish are located, they are often extremely nice fish. The lake has phenomenal crappie fishing and many 12-15 inch fish can be caught in a day. This results in some terrific bags with good populations of both eater and trophy class walleye as well as yellow perch, northern pike, and white bass.
Lake Whitewood
Lake Whitewood is a very boring lake to fish: however, it can offer some excellent fishing. Whitewood is a large, shallow bowl with very little structure. There is a railroad grade that creates a little bay, aside from that there is not much for features.
Whitewood has a terrific yellow perch population and both numbers and size can come out of this lake. There also are some very large walleye in the system with fish 22-26 inches a possibly every time you are on the water with good numbers of eater class walleye present as well. Northern pike are also present and can be caught by anglers as well. Due to the nature of the lake it is predominately fished by ice anglers, but trolling crankbaits from a boat or casting with waders can produce good fishing as well.
Lake Sinai
Expanding water has made Lake Sinai a very unique waterbody. Sinai has expanded to nearly twice the size it originally was, with the original lakebed extremely present as it drops off quickly to deep water. The expansion has flooded farmland, equipment, and buildings as well as road beds and shelterbelts making the area outside the original lakebed extremely unique. This also makes Sinai the deepest lake in the area with spots reaching as deep as 30-37 feet.
81 Ponds
81 Ponds is an interesting complex. The complex itself is a group of waterbodies that used to be shallow sloughs and have expanded creating a large system of ponds/lakes. This makes the structure present very interesting as flooded fields, roads, timber, fence lines, and culverts are present all across the lake. While one area may get only as deep as 6 feet, a mile down the road may reach 12-13 feet deep and back from that can reach 22-24 feet deep. This combination makes for a very unique area to fish.
This complex is also known for producing 8-10 pound walleye with fish bigger certainly present. By the numbers, 81 is one of the best places to catch a 25 inch plus walleye. Jumbo yellow perch are also present as well as trophy caliber northern pike and a fishable population of muskies with fish reaching 50 inches or bigger present in the system as well. The system can also produce some trophy smallmouth bass fishing as well as a tremendous white bass fishery.
Other Waterbodies to Explore
There are a wide variety of fisheries around the Brookings area and other fisheries to explore include Brush Lake, Oakwood Lakes, Lake Albert, Lake Campbell, and along the Big Sioux River as well. You can find all the waterbodies in the area by exploring the South Dakota Game, Fish and Parks (GFP) Public Fishing Access Map!
Recommended Lodging
Several local state parks in the area offer a wide variety of lodging opportunities including campsites, camping cabins, and more modern facilities. Check out Oakwood Lakes State Park, Lake Poinsett Recreation Area, and Lake Thompson Recreation Area for more information.
Lake Thompson Recreation Area in particular provides a large modern lodge that can be an excellent location for larger groups and families. The Lake Thompson Lodge can be explored on the GFP website.
Brookings also offers a wide range of hotels, with the Holiday Inn, Country Inn and Suites, Hampton Inn and Suites, and Super 8 among some of the top options.
Family Activities
The Brookings area also makes for an excellent destination for the whole family. When not on the water or in the field, a variety of opportunities in Brookings mean there will be something for everyone in the family to enjoy!
Dakota Nature Park
The Dakota Nature Park offers a variety of ponds that can provide excellent urban fishing opportunities for both new and experienced anglers. Bluegill, crappie, yellow perch, and largemouth bass are all present as are stocked rainbow trout. A complex of trails also makes Dakota Nature Park an excellent place to enjoy a hike and get some exercise!
Outdoor Adventure Center
The Brookings County Outdoor Adventure Center also offers an excellent outdoor opportunity especially should the weather turn negative. The Outdoor Adventure Center also offers a decoy loaner trailer that can be checked out free of charge for new and inexperienced waterfowl hunters looking to hit the field!
McCrory Gardens
One of the most beautiful locations in Brookings, McCrory Gardens offers an excellent trail system with abundant beautiful wildflowers. Hiking, birdwatching, and simply experiencing nature are all present at McCrory Gardens meaning there is something for everyone!
Learn More About the Brookings Area
Are you looking to learn more about the Brookings area? Check out the Visit Brookings Tourism page to find out everything else you’ll need to make your trip a success!
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Chris Seylar, Mason Propst, and Nick Harrington all attended South Dakota State University and know the outdoor resources in the Brookings area well! Allie Ellingson Photography + Design also is constantly sharing awesome photos from the Brookings area as well! Stay up to date with everything going on in the Brookings area by following on Facebook and Instagram!
Webpage Photo Credit
All images courtesy of Brookings Photographer, Allie Ellingson Photography + Design!
