Northerly flow and stable conditions produced some excellent fishing. Studying the weather for the last week and my wife and I decided to head north to Webster, South Dakota and fish a few of the many lakes in the region. Checking in with Sportsman Cove we got the recomendations and what to use for bait. We had a different idea in mind for bait and it wasn't live as I wanted to see if the success at Pierre could be duplicated.
We wanted to drive up Friday evening and hit it really hard Saturday morning, but Webster was having it's yearly all school reunion and the motels were all totally booked. So, we stayed at Watertown about 50 miles south at the Hampton Inn just off I-29. Watertown must have been having some form of re-union because we took the last room and we would have had more sleep in the truck next to the interstate. I have never heard of so much ruckus in my life. Either someone had just won a big lottery ticket or inherited a lot of money because they were really having a party in the whole hotel. Next time we will ask what is going on if we have to stay there.
Sportsman Cove said to use crawlers or leeches, and so we added some to the boat just in case the Flicker Shad was not successful. I steered toward the south shore of Lake Waubay to start and we pulled plugs in then 10 feet of water. The lure will not go down much deeper than that unless you add an in line sinker to the line to take it down. All we picked up was some medium size white bass and we moved over to the island right straight to the north of us.
We started fishing the northwest corner in fifteen feet of water and right away Pam picked up a really nice walleye. Trying to stay within a tight circle around the area she picked it up in about fifteen feet. Staying tight to the area did not produce and we expanded the area. There was constant white bass activity and as I have said before, take off the red meat and the white bass are really tasty.
We continued staying in the general area as Pam kept picking up some smaller walleye. I need to point out the Flicker Shad she was using. I had immediately shared all the valuable experience gained at Pierre and recommended the Blue Tiger. However, the lure she picked was the Racy Shad, and this was done based on the fact that it was better looking than the others. How can a person argue with that logic when they are catching fish, and you are catching nothing. We stayed in this location about two hours until we just plain failed to get any hits. By that time Pam had a limit of keeper walleye. I was able to contribute a couple of keeper white bass and they were marginal.
We went to a location called school bus point on Waubay Lake. The school bus is no longer there but the point still produces some excellent fishing. We caught nothing, and the wind had moved more to the east southeast. Across from the point is a tree line and out to the edge of the lake we both picked up some really nice White Bass. It was 2 PM, time to clean fish, have some lunch, and take a nap. It just can't get any better that this.
After being refreshed with a little food, some sleep, and getting all the work done, we decided to head south to Antelope Lake. This is one of my favorites in the area. Full of nice size northern and 18 to 20 inch walleye, it is not fished much except by the locals. We were the only boat on the water. The lake has weed beds on the shoreline that go out to about four feet of water. After that from six feet on out there is bottom weed. The lake has to be one of the clearest in the area and you can see your lure clearly down to about five feet.
We stayed till 9 PM and then decided to throw in the towel. I caught one really small northern and that was all on this lake. Another boat put in right before we pulled out and I could see he was a local fisherman. It stays daylight right up until 10 PM being 300 miles north. We had a great day.
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We wanted to drive up Friday evening and hit it really hard Saturday morning, but Webster was having it's yearly all school reunion and the motels were all totally booked. So, we stayed at Watertown about 50 miles south at the Hampton Inn just off I-29. Watertown must have been having some form of re-union because we took the last room and we would have had more sleep in the truck next to the interstate. I have never heard of so much ruckus in my life. Either someone had just won a big lottery ticket or inherited a lot of money because they were really having a party in the whole hotel. Next time we will ask what is going on if we have to stay there.
Sportsman Cove said to use crawlers or leeches, and so we added some to the boat just in case the Flicker Shad was not successful. I steered toward the south shore of Lake Waubay to start and we pulled plugs in then 10 feet of water. The lure will not go down much deeper than that unless you add an in line sinker to the line to take it down. All we picked up was some medium size white bass and we moved over to the island right straight to the north of us.
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| We fished this point initially but did not pull up any walleye. Notice the calm water that is not good for walleye, but it is overcast. |
We started fishing the northwest corner in fifteen feet of water and right away Pam picked up a really nice walleye. Trying to stay within a tight circle around the area she picked it up in about fifteen feet. Staying tight to the area did not produce and we expanded the area. There was constant white bass activity and as I have said before, take off the red meat and the white bass are really tasty.
 |
| She picked up three more just like this one plus several white bass. Notice the nice chop on the water and the sky had cleared. |
We continued staying in the general area as Pam kept picking up some smaller walleye. I need to point out the Flicker Shad she was using. I had immediately shared all the valuable experience gained at Pierre and recommended the Blue Tiger. However, the lure she picked was the Racy Shad, and this was done based on the fact that it was better looking than the others. How can a person argue with that logic when they are catching fish, and you are catching nothing. We stayed in this location about two hours until we just plain failed to get any hits. By that time Pam had a limit of keeper walleye. I was able to contribute a couple of keeper white bass and they were marginal.
 |
| There it is, the Racy Shad Flicker Shad that brought in the majority of the fish. |
We went to a location called school bus point on Waubay Lake. The school bus is no longer there but the point still produces some excellent fishing. We caught nothing, and the wind had moved more to the east southeast. Across from the point is a tree line and out to the edge of the lake we both picked up some really nice White Bass. It was 2 PM, time to clean fish, have some lunch, and take a nap. It just can't get any better that this.
 |
| Pam caught some really nice fish. This was the biggest of the bunch. |
After being refreshed with a little food, some sleep, and getting all the work done, we decided to head south to Antelope Lake. This is one of my favorites in the area. Full of nice size northern and 18 to 20 inch walleye, it is not fished much except by the locals. We were the only boat on the water. The lake has weed beds on the shoreline that go out to about four feet of water. After that from six feet on out there is bottom weed. The lake has to be one of the clearest in the area and you can see your lure clearly down to about five feet.
We stayed till 9 PM and then decided to throw in the towel. I caught one really small northern and that was all on this lake. Another boat put in right before we pulled out and I could see he was a local fisherman. It stays daylight right up until 10 PM being 300 miles north. We had a great day.
Good hunting, good fishing, and good luck. Hank
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