good eyes?

[goodyy7]

Anybody getting any good eyes? saw your post Alan on the bunch of dinks and was wondering if anyone is getting anything decent for walleyes. Got a bunch of dinks last weekend on 12Mile, always catch a ton on Big Creek, and today did ok on 3Mile (19 eyes, 15" 17" 19" and a bunch of 13"ers. Headed elsewhere in search of hungry big eyes tomorrow!

goody

[WALLEYE_HUNTER]

hey goody

you could of come up here to brusy ive heard they are getting nice ones there

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"If it doesn't have teeth and a white spot on it's tail, I don't want it in my boat"

[jr712]

For daytime fishing, Storm, Black Hawk and Brushy have been giving up the best ratio for fish over 20" during the last 2 weeks based on the baitshops and anglers around the state I talk to each week. Some nice fish are coming from West Oko. and Spirit but sounds like exclusively a night bite.

Some of the places I fish in S. Dakota are hot right now.

One thing I am hearing again this year like most May - June periods, nicer fish are coming much shallower than most people are fishing, whether it be in Dakota or here, in lakes like Brushy, 3Mile, 12Mile etc. The 8 or so, 20" plus eyes we have gotten from Black hawk the last two weeks were all hooked in 2-4' of water. people fishing the 8 - 10' dredge areas are getting very few of these fish... but more numbers of smaller fish. Black Hawk being dark water is more of the extreme shallow bite. Storm lake is a bit of an exception with it's typical stronger basin bite, even in May & June.

Red Rock is just hard to pattern. I had a friend that taught at Simpson in the late 80's and he did get some very good days in late May casting cranks around crappie spawning beds.... but wasn't a consistant bite. Variable from year to year, maybe had something to do with shad population flucuations.... And I have heard some people claim that the walleyes follow juv. white bass migrating up the des moines river in late spring... but don't know how reliable those claims are. I have got nice eyes with 4-5" white bass inside, in the upper end of Francis Case, below the Big Bend dam, in late May. (2-3 lb. whites are going nuts there right now... almost every cast during evening and early morning). Heading out there Monday for them and some lake sharpe eyes.

Good Luck, Woody. (JRwIA)

[goodyy7]

Thanks for the input! You been getting out much yet? How is the SD bite going? Yeah, I hate fishing flood control waters like saylorville and red rock because the eyes are just so hard to track down and pattern...maybe that is what keeps drawing me back to them!

goody

[jr712]

Have only ever fished red rock a couple times from a boat. Used to fish saylorville some years ago, always alone. But I agree with you Goody... always enjoyed the hunt there and found that catching 1-2 decent fish there is as rewarding as going to dakota and having a 50 - 100 fish day. Of course, there is a difference between rewarding and having lots of fun... you can figure out which day is which, lol. Seldom have the opportunity to fish alone anymore..... or with somebody who enjoys the hunt as much as the catch. Everybody I fish with wants lots of action, lol. My 10 y.o. son has caught more eyes the last 3 years in dakota then I caught the first 15 years I fished for them in Iowa... and some years I fished 80 - 100 times a year.

Haven't fished in Dakota since late April but looks like I will get 10 - 12 days... some only half days, during the next month.

Only iowa fishing I have been doing is at black hawk the last couple weeks for eyes, 1-2 hrs some evenings. And some crappie / bass fishing around here. Been too busy with work and kids stuff. not counting killing some spare time shore casting while traveling around the state on business...

My weekends are usually busy but sometime when you're weekday fishing we should try to meet someplace...

[goodyy7]

Too bad you havent been getting out as much as you like, but thats what being a working and family man is all about isnt it! Good to hear you are finding a little time here and there though. Yeah, gotta love the chase...think that is why I love 'eye fishing so much...the challenge. When I get stumped on a day of walleye fishing it frustrates me, but more than that it gets me to double check weather patterns, old logs from that lake, my maps, etc. to find out what I did wrong or how to get them the next time I am there. Been fishing around 20times so far this year and Red Rock was the first time I was without at least one 'eye. Most people would go back to easier waters, but it really drove me to get back over there and try it more! Anyway, take care and dont work yourself too hard!

goody