Fishing Reports
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UPDATED: June 21, 2017
Weather Forecast: www.weather.com
For information on the recent changes to the non-meandering waters ruling in the State, please go to:
http://gfp.sd.gov/fishing-boating/courtruling
Book your spring and summer fishing trips now! Check out our resort and bait shop links below for more information. Tell them Glacial Lakes sent you!
Looking to plan your fall South Dakota hunting trip? Check out our membership directory for lodging, guides, resorts, and more!
Grenville Sport Mart
(Courtesy of Grenville Sport Mart and Waubay Lake Lodging, 1-605-486-4641.) We have house rentals available.
June 20, 2017: Fishing on Waubay has still been very consistent. Nice mixed bag of fish coming in, walleye, crappie, big bluegills, assorted bass as well. Still some big Pike lurking around, good quality as well. Still hearing good reports coming from Buffalo and Hazeldon.
Lake Traverse, MN
(Courtesy of Todd Johnson at Wing N Fin Resort, Hotel and Reunion Hall on Lake Traverse, 605-237-8323, www.wingnfintraverse.com, e-mail This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.)
June 20, 2017: Reports excellent fishing. All species are now going: bluegill, bass, catfish, crappie, walleye and northern are all active. Crawlers, cranks, and minnows are all producing.
Bitter Lake:
(Courtesy of Colin Bronson at Bitter Lake Lodge, 605-947-5005)
June 20, 2017: Some nice walleyes caught last week. Many good reports on the fishing tourney held here last week-end.
Waubay Lake, Goose Lake & Opitz areas:
(Courtesy of Doug Johnson at Sportsman's Cove, 605-345-2468)
(Sportsman's Cabin available for up to 7 people. For rental information call 605-380-7590.)
June 20, 2017: Waubay Lake was a little tougher the last few days. Reports on Tuesday have been good with things picking up. Night crawlers are the number one choice of bait as well as minnows and leeches. Bitter Lake has been very good with success in lots of different depths. The east access has improved there. Blue Dog is pretty tough as it's gotten chalky and dirty. Opitz is doing good but the fish are smaller. Bluegill are a good choice on Enemy Swim, Clear and Buffalo Lakes.
Hidden Hill Lodge:
(Courtesy of Lorrie Sanderson at Hidden Hill Lodge, 605-550-0455, www.hiddenhilllodge.com)
June 19, 2017: The fishing continues to be excellent. The walleye fisherman at Hidden Hill Lodge are finding trophy walleyes on our lake. Last week 12 year old Sparky caught a new record walleye during their family reunion here at HHL, it was 29 1/2 inches long. They took pictures and then he released it. The fishermen are going to other close by lakes to catch their limits of 15-18" walleye that are great for frying pan. The pan fish and bass bite continues to be excellent also. Tip of the week: They aren't as deep as you may think!
Northeast South Dakota
(Courtesy of Gary and Scott Gangle at Fish Hunter Guide Service, 605-448-5751 or 605-881-3854, www.fishhunterguideservice.com)
(If you are interested in some good fishing in our Glacial Lakes region, give us a call. Check out the fishing report on our website or our Facebook page)
June 17, 2017: Fishing has been outstanding for the past couple of weeks. All the area lakes have been great for fishing. The walleye bite has been excellent with daily limits. The pike bite just does not get any better. And the panfish bite currently has been very active. Smallmouth bass have been on their spawning beds and are starting that good post spawn activity. The water temp. is 72 degrees. So plan on fishing summer patterns for the walleye. I do expect the bite to slow somewhat if we continue to have 90 degree days.
Lake Poinsett, Lake Albert, Blue Dog & Waubay Lake:
(Presented by Fishermens Net Guide Service LLC, www.fishermensnetsd.com 605-881-3379)
June 13, 2017: We're having a smack down on fish in NE South Dakota. The bite is very good just about all over. I'll cover a few lakes here but others that are not listed are still producing fish.
Lake Poinsett - Some nice fish came in during the Dakota Sportsman walleye tournament last Saturday. I know of 3 walleyes over 8 lbs and I believe it took 19 plus lbs to win it. Spinners and crawlers were the ticket but anglers also caught fish trolling crank baits. I was cleaning fish at the Poinsett cleaning station at 10:30 Monday morning and two anglers came up with their limit of nice crappies. They caught those pitching jigs and curly tail grubs on the east end of the lake next to the weed line.
Lake Albert - Still producing walleyes trolling spinners and crawlers or crank baits.
Waubay - Producing a few walleyes but if you don't mind just catching fish, the White Bass are suicidal. If you get a southeast wind get on the west side of the lake and pull minnows on a plain snell behind a bottom bouncer. The White Bass are shallow, 6 to 8 feet of water. These fish make great table fare! Just keep the back strap and make sure you trim off all the red meat on the back side. Soak the meat in 7-Up before frying and you'll love them.
Blue Dog - Good walleyes and perch are being caught pulling crank baits out in the basin of the lake.
2017 Northeast Glacial Lakes Fishing Forecast - Provided by Fishermens Net Guide Service LLC:
Here is a highlight and some lake survey history on some of the lakes in the region:
For more information on Lake Traverse (SD/MN Border Water), click here.
For more information on Big Stone Lake (SD/MN Border Water), click here.
For more information on Lake Alice (Deuel County), click here.
For more information on Antelope Lake (Day County) and Lake Kampeska (Codington County), click here.
For more information on Lake Poinsett, click here.
Northeast South Dakota:
(Courtesy of Nick Fosness, Northern Lights Inn, Britton, 605-448-2438, www.northernlightsinn.net )
June 12, 2017: Water temp has jumped back up and the fish are on the bite! Roy and Clear excellent for Smallmouth bite in 2-10 foot of water on rocky areas and shallow passes and flats. Occasional walleyes and plenty of northern pike. Opitz is good for walleyes, especially in the early morning and evening. Waubay good for walleyes. Numerous other lakes are worth the effort. Only so many days to fish in a week!
As I type, our non-meandered water is being debated in a special legislative session. Regardless, this is a great time to visit up here, and I would encourage fisherman to please give our lakes a chance, as well as our clean and modern hotel. I saw lots of boats catching some great fish in the last week. There are lots of lakes to explore, which is the fun of fishing!
Lake Poinsett, Lake Whitewood, Brush Lake area:
(Courtesy of Deb Wingle at Arlington Inn, Arlington, 605-983-4609, www.arlingtoninn.net)
June 12, 2017: Fishing went very well this past week-end. Thompson, Poinsett, and Albert all did well. The winds picked up big time on Sunday, however Friday and Saturday were awesome!
Bitter Lake, Blue Dog Lake & Waubay Lake area
(Courtesy of Gary W. Peterson at Circle Pines Motel, 877-324-5161, e-mail This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.)
May 23, 2017: The weather was really rotten over this past free fishing weekend but those that tried to fish did pretty well. Recent guests got some good walleye fishing on Blue Dog Lake, Enemy Swim, and Bitter Lake. Also heard of some good fishing results from Waubay Lake.
Clark Area: Indian Springs
(Courtesy of Cyrus Mahmoodi at Double P Ranch Lodge, 651-357-2764, www.doublepranch.com)
(Make Double P Ranch your fishing headquarters only minutes away from the hot action. We have boat rental and guided fishing.)
March 28, 2017: No report.
Lynn Lake Lodge
(Courtesy of Paul and Karen Johnson at Lynn Lake Lodge, Webster, 605-345-4564 or 605-237-0309, www.lynnlakelodge.com)
(Someone may have gotten lucky...check out our photos on Lynn Lake Lodge's Facebook page. The photos tell it all. Check it out! Have a great week.)
March 13, 2017: No report.
Following Weekly Report provided by South Dakota Game, Fish & Parks: Week of June 20, 2017, click here for the complete report.
Hunting season license deadlines and Applications available on line:
Click here to get a copy of the applications forms from South Dakota's Game, Fish & Parks Department.
