waubay area lakes

[walleyefey]

I am headed up this thursday for the weekend. I will be sleeping on the lake over night and I am wondering if anyone has a report. I have heard of some pearch action and walleye as well. I hope someone has some information for me. Lures, location, bait, depth, anything would help.

Thank you!

[walleyefey]

Has anybody been up there lately?
Can you drive across the whole lake or are there spots that I should be aware of?

[fishing4fun]

Has anyone heard how the perch, crappies, and gills are doing on the area lakes? I'm heading there for the weekend and would like some advice. I'll post on Monday what I find out over the weekend.

[stickbait]

Fishing4fun,
let us know how it goes this weekend. I was thinking of going up in early Feb. I have a brand new Lowrance I want to try up in the deeper lakes. It isn't working like I thought it would. I'm thinking it has something to do with only fishing 8'-10' shallow water lakes, but if it acts the same up there, I'm going to try to bring it back. As for the fishing, the only thing I have really heard is that the northern bite on blue dog is good. Tip-up and either smelt or a minnow, depending on how the northerns feel that day.

[fishing4fun]

Stickbait,
That's my reason for going this weekend. I just bought a new Lowrance and the lakes around here (s.w. mn) are a max of 10'. I have a bunch of buddies going with and they all have other brands. So I should be able to see the differences.

What really matters is the fish! Will they bite!!!!!

[stickbait]

I hope no one has an L-3, you will all have to fish away from him, just for the sake of dominant interferance.
Hope they bite for you, just keep moving until they do.

[Rick]

stickbait,
that is not true about the MarCum LX3.

I fish next to Vexilar FL18s and 8s all the time. There is no IR issue caused by the MarCum LX3 with the units I've fished next to.

As for the Lowrance I have heard mixed reports that their IR needs work no matter what they are next to. I don't know that first hand though, so take it with a grain of salt.

[mefish #2]

Fished Thursday afternoon,Fri. afternoon and Sat. morning.Caught our limits of perch and walleye on Thurs. and Sat. We struggled on Fri.(4 perch 2 walleye) All perch were over 9 1/2", but had to sort through a lot of 13" walleye for a limit.
We had the best luck fishing away from the crowds.We bounced around until we located active fish.Lures and presentation.......get them going, then drop something subtle.

J. Whittle......Find that buck behind Pollock's yet?!?!?!

[fishing4fun]

Just got back from Waubay, and the fishing was at maybe O/K at best. Saturday did fairly well on both perch and walleyes. Sunday though it was pretty pathetic. I think for 6 of us we ended up with 8 keeper walleyes and 1 perch. Then the wind and snow picked up and we had to get off the lake. That was interesting in it self. I'm glad we had a perminant house on the lake our this post would be naadda fish. Thanks Roger.....

[poorbiker]

I also had very good luck on Waubay. Was fishing north end. The kid and I started Friday about 4pm and by 8pm we caught a total of 36 eyes and a 13 3/4" perch. Took home (2) 20inch (1)19inch and (2) 18 inch eyes. Didnt go Sat but we went Sunday from noon until 4pm and caught 13 perch and 11 eyes. All where keepers about the 15 inch range. All the perch where keepers.

[walk on water]

Waubay, Pound it hard and pound it fast. Because with fishing like this it won't last. A year from now everyone will be saying where are the fish? Everyone taking "limits" home and talking about coming back soon. The lake just can't sustain that kind of pressure. Thank God GFP lowered the limits or it would even be worse. Too bad we can't close our spring season like the land of ten thousand lakes. It seems like most peoples attitudes are RAPE and PILLAGE and then onto the next "hotspot". What ever happened to take enough home to eat, put some back.

[This message has been edited by walk on water (edited 01-26-2004).]

[Guest]

I guess I am wondering how Poorbiker and his kid could take 5 walleyes over 16" home in what appears to be two days of fishing. Or perhaps I misunderstand his post?

[ifishsd]

They can take home 8 fish in two days of fishing by law. 2 fish per person per day. Possesion limit of 4 per person. 14 inch size limit with one over 20 inches.

[walleyefey]

I fished waubay thursday through sunday. Had excellent fishing every single night from 5pm till 9am. Fished along the ice heave by "the farm" friday and had very little luck for pearch. Moved away from the crowds and hammered the walleyes all day long. We talked to many individuals with tough luck and really dont understand why. We were primarily after walleyes. All together we probably brought in over 150 walleyes 3 pearch and 1 northern. Fishing was as good here as anywhere I have been this year. I will go back as soon as I have another chance.

Good luck!

[poorbiker]

I brought home a total of (5) eyes between both days. I could of brought home (8) but we didn't. Out of the total of 47 eyes caught only (3) where under 14". Most where right around the 15" mark except for the ones we brought home. Out of the 14 perch caught we brought home (5). They where all keeper size. Brought home what we could eat.
About 70% of the eyes we caught where with a red hook and chub. Perch caught on a green jig head tipped with a small minnow. Didnt seem to want to bite on a bigger minnow.

[walleyefey]

Poorbiker, I am curious if you are aware of the slot and possession rule? Your daily limit is of course two. If you are fishing with a minor under a co/license your limit then is still only two. If you fish two days and possess your 2 previous fish from day one, then you no longer can keep any more. Therefor, your possession and catch limit is the same no matter if you are there one day or ten days. If you didnt clean and eat your fish - you can NOT keep anymore fish. I fished with a buddy of mine for three days and three nights. We caught tons of fish and only brought home two walleyes and one pearch.

Good luck fishing!!!

[walleyefey]

I have to change my reply and wonder what rule book I read. I had the understanding that you can only keep 14-16 inch walleyes and walleyes over 20 inches(one). I did not know that you could possess 8 fish. The perch limit is of course ten each.
Could somebody please help me out here. I was in a sleeper all weekend, so if I would have possessed 8 fish how would the GFP be able to distinguish the catch/possess rate.
Either way, I am glad I only kept the two walleyes that I did. We need this fishery to stay alive with great fishing for future generations.

Good luck fishing!

[poorbiker]

My understanding that my boy who is 11, can catch his two eyes along with my eyes. This is what I did.

Brought home (1) 20 inch and (1) 18 inch on Friday along with (1) 13 3/4" perch. All other fish went back into lake.

Sunday brought home (1) 19 inch walleye and (2) 18 inch walleyes along with (4) perch. All other fish went back into lake.

My understanding is that each day OUR limit of eyes would be as followed.

(2) eyes 20" or longer or a total of (4) eyes between 14" and 19"

and OUR daily limit of perch would be 20.

Went home friday nite cleaned fish and ate them Saturday for lunch. Went back Sunday and caught the other fish.

Handbook says this.

Exception 2-
Waubay lake will have the same daily limit of 2, but will have a minimum length of 14" and no more than one 20" or longer may be taken. Daily possession is 2 with a statewide possession of 8.

If I am wrong please correct me.

[Guest]

I just wanted to chime in. I did'nt see anyting in the rule book about cleaning fish on the ice. In MN it is illeagal to clean/eat fish on a lake that has a slot or speacial reg. Just something to consider.

I will be spending this weekend in my buddies sleeper house on Waubay. I already planned to buy groceries. The main reason is we don't eat fish that often. I have seen way too many people butcher up those 22"-27". It almost makes me sick.So I throw back nearly all the fish I catch. Espeacially if they are over 20" Keep a few small fish for the pan and throw the rest back.
I very seldom have fish in my freezer. The only time is when I have company coming to visit and they want a fish fry. The other time is in the fall, when I give a farmer a few fillets for letting me hunt their land. I feel this makes up for all the fish I catch and throw back that I could have kept and eaten.
Out of the 150+ days I spent on the water last year I only kept about 20 Crappies, and possibly 25 walleyes.
Now, I am not bragging that I only practice catch and release, because I don't all the time. Do I care if someone wants to keep a limet of fish? (no) Do I care if our valuble resource of fish is depleated?(yes and I think most people do.)
The probem is not everyone realizes this. It does not take long for a lake to have only small fish in it, or very few fish at all.
I guess this is just a long way of asking people to be aware of the future.
Just my .02
mw

[fishin5]

OK guys here it goes.
Assuming you are from South Dakota, each licensed angler could have 2 walleye and 10 perch a day.Resident anglers under the age of 16 can have their own daily limits as well.
If you are non-residents your daily limit is the same , BUT non-residents under the age of 16 CONNOT catch their own limt unless they buy a non-resident license. So the two of you could only keep 10 perch and 2 walleye
Your possesion limit is 2 daily limits (here comes the kicker) if you leave the water. It is illegal to posses more than 1 daily limit while engaged in fishing. So if you are staying in a sleeper house for example and you catch a limit on day 1, at 1 minet after midnight you are over your limit if you keep one fish.
When we stay on the ice, we will ask a baitshop owner if they will keep our previous days fish, and most will. Put your name and license info with it and let them know where you are staying so there is no confusion if the DNR does get suspicious.
Hope this helps

[walleyefey]

fishin5, thank you for the info. I am a walleye enthusiast in every fashion and form - it is all I do. When I arrived at Waubay I had the understanding from a fisherman that I could only catch and posses two fish between 14 and 16 inches. Therefor, all weekend I obeyed these strict limitations and threw everything back. So POORBIKER, please dont think that I was jumping all over you and your catch/possession. I think it is great that we have so many people that enjoy walleye fishing. Sometimes it just gets confusing on the rules and laws. I guess from now on I will just fish in my sleeper, invite you all along and we can have a heck of a good time. Eating fish is great, but cathing fish is AWESOME. Lets protect the future!

Good luck fishing!