2016 SD ice fishing reports

[rundrave]

well pheasant season is in the books, due to the weather I regret not getting in a good old fashion SD cast and blast in this year but now that the guns are put away I am breaking out the ice gear. Have yet to drill in a hole in the ice yet this year.

Initial reports say some lakes are getting hard to travel on due to deep snow. if you have a sled your probably ok but I dont know if the ice is that great yet for even sleds in some parts of the state.

any fishing reports or ice reports from any one yet this year?

 

[carpshooterdeluxe]

The fishing has been good.  Poinsett has attracted most of the herd so far, which has left other well producing bites relatively quiet, which is fine by me.  I have not encountered any issues with snow on the lakes I've fished, other than with minimum maintenance roads being drifted in at certain lakes.  8-12" depending on the lakes.  Bitter had trucks on the north end on saturday.  Saw trucks on a few sloughs up there too.  Haven't measured any ice thicker than 10" south of US 212 yet, but that should change after this weekend.

[rundrave]

thanks for the report good news for Poinsett is "most" of the herd isnt catching anything hehe. was a lot of boats there all open water season too. amazing the pressure that lake saw this year.

i still havent got out yet and dont think I will brave the cold temps this weekend, although today and tomorrow before the temp drops should be good fishing for those that can make it out

should have some good ice in most areas after the weekend cold spell. my first trip out will probably be for gills as I have a few summer spots I hope will still have some nice fish.

[carpshooterdeluxe]

On 1/7/2016 at 3:16 PM, rundrave said:

thanks for the report good news for Poinsett is "most" of the herd isnt catching anything hehe. was a lot of boats there all open water season too. amazing the pressure that lake saw this year.

i still havent got out yet and dont think I will brave the cold temps this weekend, although today and tomorrow before the temp drops should be good fishing for those that can make it out

should have some good ice in most areas after the weekend cold spell. my first trip out will probably be for gills as I have a few summer spots I hope will still have some nice fish.

Other than Enemy Swim, and maybe one other lake that I'll refrain from naming, it seems like bluegills are very "underutilized" fish in SD.  Almost an afterthought as I know very few people who actively target them in the winter. 

[rundrave]

got into a decent perch and walleye bite yesterday surprisingly had more luck during the day and late afternoon than I did at sundown and evening.

couldn't get any walleye over 15" but lots in 13"'-14"'er's that I put back. Saw the big ones on the camera they would come in for a sniff but were pretty tight lipped and would spook any time I jigged aggressively

perch were the same but manage to bring home a few keepers

was a great day weather wise on the ice

anyone else getting out in SD?

[rundrave]

Also dont forget to renew your fishing licenses for 2016  before you head out this week/weekend as the previous licenses expired on 01/31/2016

 

[btupy]

I was out on Bitter this past weekend. Didn't do very well. Only a couple 15" ers over night. Anyone else been on Bitter with a report?

[slurpie]

Going to South Dakota this weekend. What depth should you look for perch in, or just look for the transiston? I plan on drilling a lot of holes not afraid to work for them. Will the perch bite during the day or is it more of a prime time bite? If someone wants to pm me that would be great. 

Thamk you. 

[rundrave]

last weekend on saturday we had to run and gun, found fish moving in all depths. It seemed like during the day they bit more and we found them moving over the top of humps. it was really windy and when the wind picked up we caught fish and when it went down we didnt catch much and it got really slow. we moved all around and didnt have much luck but then last hour or so before sundown we starting getting into fish. we just had to keep moving.

you can sit and wait for them to come through but I prefer to run and gun

we had mixed results, with waxies, whole minnows and just minnow heads just had to experiment. some times they would only commit on the drop other times we had to jig. if your marking fish and they arent biting best to have another rod and presentation ready to go quick

 

[rundrave]

anybody got an recent ice condition reports?

I fished for gills on Saturday and fish were pretty tight lipped, ice is going bad near shore but we were able to walk out.

Any guesses if any lakes north of hwy 14 will be safe for ATV travel yet later this week?

[rundrave]

fished poinsett on friday couldnt believe the traffic on the lake. I tried all my spots in the weeds, next to weeds, deep, shallow and run and gunned all day and couldnt manage any keepers and lots of dinks. I was anticipating the barometer to start dropping with the weather coming in but it never did. I should have went saturday instead

big group of shacks on the south end of the lake, I stayed out in the middle and tried fishing humps and weedlines to the north and just didnt pay off for me like it has in the past.

lots of people were driving on, but shoreline was pretty rough coming off after dark on friday. I have no idea what happened to the ice after the heat wave on saturday