Off the wall ?? for SD Local residents/People in the know

[prov1900]

If you had enough money for a lake cabin, specifically for the NE lakes, i.e. Thompson, Poinsett, Waubay, etc, where would you buy/build. The reason I ask is that I am wrestling the idea of buying some land for a lake cabin getaway or buying a new house where I currently am required to live. I am not wealthy by any means, therefore I could only possibly do one or the other (maybe). My ?? or concerns would be with rising/falling water levels and fishing quality for the future versus future land prices and all that non essential stuff. For those of you who live there (I dont) I am curious as to your thoughts. Just dreaming of a lake home. I really like the Thompson area. What do you guys who live there/fish there think of the future of that lake? Plus, $$ wise, where is the most economical spot to fulfill that dream?

[Robbi]

I guess I would look at the webster area. There is so many lakes in the area one of them is bound to be giving up fish. As to living right on the lake I wouldnt bother, build a house or buy an existing and buy a boat, the on-water rv. That way you can fish where-ever the fish are active and wont be penalized by high taxes on lake-shore property. My parents have a lake cabin on bigstone lake and the taxes have tripled in the last few years. The county originally valued the cabin at 85000 and its up to 115000 in two years. We built it ourselves doing almost all the work. Taxes are now 3300 dollars a year.

[Tyler Holm]

Ask any local fisherman that regularly fishes Waubay, Bitter and all the other NE SoDak lakes and you will find that Bitter lake produces the most quality fish in the area. Waubay gets hammered by out of staters and it has a lot of hype. Bitter Lake is nearly as big as Waybay and have all the structure necessary to make it every bit as good as Waubay. The average walleye is 3-4" bigger than those taken at Waubay and the last several State Record perch were taken from Bitter.

I've never really seen lake front residential property on Bitter, but it might be possible. There might be a few houses of the very North end, but that's about all I recall.

If you looking for lake front property, I'd look at Pickeral, Clear, BlueDog, or Roy. Each lake has good fishing for those who are up to the challange. I've seen serveral walleye over 10lbs come out of Roy and the smallie on both Roy and Clear are awesome. Pickeral is great for slab crappies. BlueDog (parts of it) is one of the GFP's largest fish hachery in the state.

[Mike Walerak]

My personal choice would be right in Arlington. We are smack inbetween all the lakes Thompson, Poinsett and Sinai. We also have the 81 ponds and Brush as well as many sloughs lake just minutes away. The waubay area is also only an hour away as I do daytrips quite often.

If I had to choose a lake to live on it would be Lake Sinai simply for location and great fishing. If you are looking for some night life to go along with the fishing Poinsett would be a better option. Real estate has really skyrocketed on that lake though. I am in construction and we have been working in the area quite a bite over the last year.

Thompson would be a good choice but it is a little off the beaten path.

mw

[greebs]

I'd be a little worried about Thompson right now with the water levels receding so much. have to wonder if it's eventually going to go back to being a much smaller body of water like it was prior to the 80's.

[prov1900]

Thanks everyone for the info. It is a tough decision to make that money cant always do for you. I guess I am surprised at the lakefront values/taxes. But I guess there will always be people willing to pay for the getaway. Spending a week or two at Okoboji a year is an eye opener that only the very rich (not me)can afford. With South Dakota being fortunate to have a remoteness to it, I thought it would be significantly less expensive. It's Powerball for me this week. Thanks again.

[Rost]

You are correct. One would think that SD lake front property would be inexpensive....Until you check into it. Little shacks around Lake Madison go for 150k.

I would definately do some research and make sure the lake you pick is established and will be around for years to come. There is no guarentee that many of these lakes will even be here in 10 years. I would look lakes like Poinsett or Big Stone. It will cost you a lot more money up front, but it would be a safe investment.