Friday, September 30, 2016

Bitter Lake + Waubay

Gander Mountain

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After a good nights sleep, we were ready to hit it bright and early.  This time my wife, Pam, was up before I was because she wanted to get onto Bitter and catch a plethora of walleye.  The folks at Sportsman Cove had told us we would catch a lot of fish before we caught a keeper for us.  Apparently the state of South Dakota had removed the minimum on the lake and you can keep what you catch.  That is good and bad.  Anything smaller that 15 inches in our minds is not worth keeping.  You just don't get much meat out of fish that small.

 We were at Casey's quick stop by 6:30 a.m. for coffee and a breakfast sandwich, the next stop was Bitter Lake.  We used the access at the southeast end of the lake which is a fine ramp and dock the state has put in. The bad news according to the people at Sportsman Cove, was the lake was low and of course the state does not mark the boulders and partially submerged reefs.  Get a good topo map if you are going to fish this lake is imperative.  I do not have one.



There are two levels parking and when we got there, the bottom level was already full by 7:30 a.m.  So after launching the boat I had to park on the upper level.  People are so excited about having to wait a little as if they will miss out on something really big.  We took the advice of Sportsman Cove and started working down the south shore in 15+ feet of water pulling spinners as we trolled along.  Getting to an area of a sunken point, there must have been 30 boats in an area about twice the size of a football field.  This must be the place.  As I glassed the area, periodically I would see someone pick up a fish that was hardly worth bringing into the boat.  I had been told the state had stocked nine million fingerling a couple of years ago.  At the rate I saw people hauling in puny little fish, it won't take long for this lake to be fished out.  There is a certain amount of natural kill that will take place, plus the small fish are subject to bigger predators. 

I have added a couple of X's on the map to see where we went.  A number of years a go I had fished the northeast corner of the lake and had picked up some really nice northern.  The water is really clear and if the lake doesn't get fished out this will be a real producer.

Pam was periodically getting her wish and would score a little fish which was promptly thrown back. With the boat traffic, I basically spent most of my time watching out for other boats and never caught a fish.  This was not fun for either of us.  The next thing we knew, the lake went flat and there was not a breath of fresh air.  A sun beating down on a flat body of water is not good walleye water and we weaved our way back to the boat ramp.  We still had to wait in line to get the boat out and wait our turn to get it on the trailer.  Pam said, "Let's go back to Waubay.  We do not have all this kind of competition on that lake."

In northern South Dakota the sky is a brilliant blue and the fluffy clouds just look whiter.  There is very low humidity.  The lake was flatter than a pancake.  We still launched at Kanago and moved to the south end of the lake.  Along some points that stick out from the shore in years past, we have had good luck. Not today.  We boated over to the first island off of Kanago access and worked all around it.  We did pick up a small perch.  We stayed close to the area, but that must have been an orphan.  All around the island, we caught nothing and did not have a strike.  The sun was getting a little hot and I had forgotten to put sunscreen in the boat.


Moving the boat again, we headed to duck island and worked it for an hour.  Nothing happened.  Next stop was school bus point.  The bus has been gone for years, but I can remember when there would be 15 to 20 boats working the area and all catching nice size fish.  We stayed for 45 minutes, then called it quits.

The next stop was straight out of the Grenville access.  There is a U shaped area with a reserve on the south of the U.  There are usually fish inside the U between 10 to 20 feet and I have always picked up a walleye.  Sure enough, I caught two, and they were keepers.  It was 5 p.m. and we were both burned up from the sun and the flat lake.  It was time to throw it in.

Now I have fished this lake for 20 years.  Boating back to Kanago access, we went by way of duck island and Breski bay.  That would put me at the north side of the access. If you stay along the edge of the south shore you can miss all the reefs.  I should have gone south and then using the houses as landmarks on the shore turn west, then northwest to the landing.  This time I went down the north shoreline.  I thought we were deep enough.  Bang!!. I hit a sunken reef with the motor and we were in about 1 foot of water.  Taking a gaff, I pushed the boat off the reef where we could get the motor down. Fortunately, I was going somewhat slowly.  Out of the lake we could see as we spun the prop, and the prop shaft was bent and the prop was all chewed up.

Insurance will cover it, and I have an appointment with a dealer to check it all out and see the extent of the damage, and get it fixed.  My friends, there are rocks around Kanago access.  If I had been going at a good rate of speed, I could have done some real damage.  Just the same it was four numbers worth of damage.  I may have said some discouraging words, but mainly thought them to myself.  I do not have a stainless steel prop, so that saves some money.

Good hunting, good fishing and good luck.  Be sure to stay off the rocks.  Hank




 

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Wednesday, September 14, 2016

Back to the Glacial Lakes

We studied the weather patterns for two weeks waiting for another opportunity to travel north to Webster, SD and fish the glacial lakes.  With numerous lakes within a 30 mile radius of the town, we can always find good fishing on one of the lakes if we are patient enough and the weather cooperates.  The first item is something I have trouble with, and the second item is totally out of my control.

While we were burning up in the Omaha/Council Bluffs area, the temps in northern South Dakota were in the low 60s in the evening and middle 70s during the day.  This is good weather and it means the lakes will not be warming up too much.  Now, I just needed to pick a three day pattern that looked good with not the usual South Dakota blow that bends over the trees and whips up the lakes.


We found it the third week of June and the storm patterns had moved east.  For a three day period it looked really good.  The winds were forecast in a southerly pattern and the temperatures were stable.  With no frontal activity this would be a good time to hit it.  My wife and I hooked up the boat, loaded up with snacks and took off.

I need to touch on the motel situation.  The old Holiday Motel is now Boomers and the rooms have been totally remodeled.  In addition, they have built a new building right next to the highway, and it looks like it will be really nice.  Fish cleaning was to be done down behind Perebooms restaurant in the fish house they have there.  I would call for rates, as there is wide variance between the three place I stay.  Circle Pines is the cheapest, with Boomers (the old Holiday) next.  Then the Galley is the highest, but really nice and they have a great fish house with freezer.


Up I-29 the next morning we made the trip in the normal 5.5 hours, checked in at the motel, and then down to Sportsman Cove for some advice and bait.  Bait is also sold across the highway at the station next to the A & W.  The prices here are a little cheaper, but there is no advice given or recommendations.  We pay the extra just to get the advice.

The advice today was to go to Bitter, but also Waubay was recommended.  We decided to go to Bitter tomorrow and so it was off to Waubay and Kanago lake access.  Wind was out of the north and a good chop was on the lake.  We headed south out of the access and then east to avoid the the hidden reef.  (The next blog will have a lot more on the hidden reef.)  We headed to the first island and started fishing on the northwest side in about 10 to 15 feet pulling chartreuse spinners each tipped with a minnow or crawler.  We picked up little fish and they were promptly thrown back.  Moving out to 15 to 20 feet, a couple of keepers were landed in the 15 and 16 inch range.  The fish were not smacking like feeding fish, but all of a sudden, our lines got heavy almost like our lures had run aground.  Waiting at least 10 to 20 seconds, then doing a hook set would produce results.  Sometimes we pulled up a bunch of weed or moss.   We also picked up a large mouth bass and some small mouth bass.  I am really disappointed that South Dakota put bass of any kind in this lake.  My experience is that when the bass move in, the walleye move out and your walleye fishing diminishes.  Fishing today is not like it was 20 years ago when I first started coming up to the glacial lakes.


We fished over closer to Breski Bay and picked up a couple of walleye after about 60 minutes of working the area.  Keeping only fish that are 15 inches or greater we would catch some hungry walleye and we had to do a lot of sorting.

You will need a magnifying glass to see all the spots I have marked on the map.

A couple of weeks ago, we had worked around Duck Island and had really hammered some nice fish.  The plus side was we caught a mess of nice size white bass the eat really well when you skim off the red meat before you cook it.

These are a little small, but we caught a lot of them.  White bass seem to be plentiful on Waubay.  Skim off the red meat after filleting and you have a good tasting fish.


We started in the 10 foot to 15 foot range around the island, but caught nothing and did not even have a strike.  Moving out to the 15 to 20 foot level was really productive, and the fish seemed to be hitting the lure instead of mouthing it.  We also added either Power Bait or Bait Alive in the spray bottle.  That seemed to help and the hits were strong. Trying to stay in the depth range, we tried to stay within 50 - 75 yards from the island as we moved around it.  We went through a time period where we were picking up a fish about every 10 to 15 minutes and culling out the smaller ones.  Finally we had a limit for the day of four walleye apiece and it was only 6 p.m.  That would put us off the lake by 7 p.m., fish cleaned and packed by 8 p.m., and then dinner at the Galley Steak house.

This was really a good day, and we were looking forward to hitting Bitter Lake tomorrow.

Good fishing, good hunting, and good luck.  Hank



 

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