Hazelton Lake

[cold one sd]

Anyone know anything about Hazelton at this time. Is it fished out or are there still a few left in it? I haven't been there yet, and I hear it is tough to even get close.

[treble]

I was wondering when this was going to come up. I didnt want to bring it up originally because I figured there would be tons of boats from all over going up there to fish. I have not fished it, I wanted to but it was way to (Contact Us Please) hot the weekend it opened. I did hear that there were tons of boats on it that first week anyway and there were a lot of walleyes caught, and that now it is tougher to catch the wallys. This is just what I have heard though and I think that if I lived a little closer that I would still go out there and give it a try.

[rundrave]

from last sundays argus leader:

Excitement levels ran high and "Hazeldon Lake" was the buzz word for weeks. July 15 arrived and it was all it had promised to be - a good old-fashioned South Dakota walleye opener.

There have been several low-key rearing pond "openers" in recent years in northeast counties, but not since 1980 has there been a truly exciting "opening season."

"This was like the good old days," said legendary muskie fisherman Jim Harr of Aberdeen. "It was really fun."

Hazeldon Lake is near Roslyn in northeast glacial lake country. It was formerly a popular waterfowl hunting slough and I hunted swans there many times before the "big water" of the 1990s created the lake. But Hazeldon had been closed to fishing since 2000 because Game, Fish and Parks used it as a source for walleye eggs. The results were disappointing, however, as only five percent of the eggs hatched.

"We decided that because of the poor egg quality, the lake should be opened to fishing," said Brian Blackwell, fisheries biologist at the Webster GF&P office. "We wanted to allow anglers the opportunity to enjoy the resource."

Walleyes were first stocked into Hazeldon Lake in 1999, followed by subsequent stockings in 2000, 2001 and 2006. Approximately 8,500 walleyes were estimated to inhabit the lake and anglers were told to expect a wide range of walleye sizes between seven and 25 inches.

That information was enough to make anglers grin in anticipation. Some fishermen told me they planned on fishing at 12:01 a.m. on July 15.

Harr and I drove to Hazeldon from Pickerel Lake to assess the situation on Saturday morning, planning on waiting until mid-week to fish. With only one ramp on the 800-acre lake, we expected to see a chaotic mess of pickups, boats and anglers.

Although the ramp was narrow and short for the shallow water, we found a very well designed and organized method of traffic. There were not hordes of people. We figured the forecast of soaring temperatures had kept some anglers home so there was room for us to wet our lines.

We went back to Pickerel and picked up Harr's boat and neighbor fisherman Terry Helms of Aberdeen. We packed bait and water and headed for Hazeldon.

We only had to wait about 20 minutes in line to unload the boat at the ramp.

"We'll troll with plugs first," Harr said. "We'll fish through the middle and then hit some points." Helms nodded OK and suddenly jerked his line. He had hooked the first walleye and we'd only been on the lake five minutes. It was a beautiful 17-inch walleye.

The walleye bite was rather soft and some were barely hooked, but it was tremendous fun reeling them in. When action slowed, we changed to chartreuse spinners and leeches. The hot stiff south wind helped us drift between two points and we picked up most of our walleyes in about 15 feet of water. Sizes averaged 17 to 18 inches. I was thrilled to pull in a 19-incher. We later heard reports of many 22- to 25-inch walleyes caught.

Although it took us, and many others, about three hours to fill our limit of four walleyes each, some boats finished in less than an hour. Anglers greeted each other on the lake and everyone was happy to be catching such wonderful big healthy fish.

There was also an opportunity to win some prize money.

"Over 900 adult walleyes were tagged so we can monitor this walleye population that has not previously had angling pressure," Blackwell told us at the ramp. "One hundred of the green-tagged walleyes have a $20 reward for its return to us."

As of Thursday morning, GF&P has received 25 green tags.

GF&P personnel checked the walleyes for tags after each boat was in and loaded. Measurements were not needed as there are no length regulations except the statewide regulation of only one fish per day over 20 inches.

We wanted a repeat of Saturday's performance on Sunday, so Harr brought his son-in-law, Joel Jensen, of Red Wing, Minn., with us. We were blown away by what we saw at the ramp. There had been about 30 vehicles in the grassy parking lot on Saturday, mostly locals. On Sunday, there were over 100.

Vehicles pulling boats were lined up a quarter of a mile from the ramp. We had no choice but to join them. When surveying the grassy parking lot, we found vehicles from Nebraska, Minnesota, Iowa and North Dakota. Word had spread like wildfire. There were old boats, new boats, big ones and small ones. There was a kayak with rod holders attached and a local fisherman towed in a small boat with his ATV.

We waited in line for 11/4 hours before unloading our boat. We were told it had been that way since 6 a.m. Visiting with GFP personnel, they told us there were 65 boats on the small lake at that time. They figured over 1,000 walleyes were taken on Saturday and expected at least that to be taken on Sunday.

A carnival atmosphere prevailed. The unloading-loading procession went smoothly; anglers displayed patience and were in a party mood. Two happy Fremont, Neb., anglers were on the dock helping people with boats, and everyone else was courteous.

One lady angler marched up from the ramp with a big smile on her face, arms gesturing and the words, "there are more people here today than the day after Christmas at Wal-Mart."

There were more than just anglers on site. People from all over drove in to "see what was going on." We thought some food vendors and souvenir stands would have been appropriate and vowed to think of that for the next opener.

We finally hit the water after our long wait in line and started pulling Hot 'N Tots. Jensen was in the process of dropping his line in the water when an 18-incher grabbed hold. Again, it took us three hours to get our limits, but what a great time and opportunity. Jensen, a novice fisherman, bagged the largest fish in the boat - a 22-inch walleye.

The fishing future on the lake is anybody's guess.

"On Saturday, I predicted this would last for two or three weeks," Harr said. "Now, on Sunday, from what I have seen, I predict two or three days."

Day County Conservation Officer Robert Losco said about 20 percent of the walleyes were harvested over last weekend.

"Monday and Tuesday it was a little less," he said. "Anglers did not do quite as well, but I was there on Tuesday and 50 percent of the anglers had their limit. Everyone had at least one fish. There were still people coming in at 5 p.m. on Tuesday. Now, probably 35 to 40 percent of the walleyes have been caught.

"Walleyes are still definitely on the bite. For whatever reason, they are super aggressive and not used to seeing plugs and other presentations. I expect it to be good through this weekend. Then, it has to start slowing down."

When numbers are reduced, fishing will be tougher and anglers will have to be more creative with presentations.

But the wild opener was fun while it lasted.

[cold one sd]

DT, I knew the word was out and I wanted to find out what kind of a circus it has been. I'm from Aberdeen too and I thought it would be a good place to stay away from as I don't like fishing in crowds. Thanks rundave for the answer. Glad I stayed home.

[webbs]

according to surveys, it's about 75% fished out. I live in webster and have fished it a couple times. When the walleyes are on the bite it's a lot of fun. But if you have a bigger boat, you risk some pretty good damage on the trailer because the ramp sucks. It also seemed to be a pretty good lake to wreck a prop or a lower unit. I would stick with the other main lakes around here.

[walleyejim]

Hey Webbs, you're who I think you are, right?

[webbs]

Maybe, do you know any other guys with the nickname webbs from Webster, SD?

[walleyejim]

Good point- How's the ice out there? We've got around 4 inches over here around Mankato. I might get out this weekend, but Finals are coming up so I gotta wait till next weekend I think.

[webbs]

we got 8-12 inches....I know people that are driving on some private sloughs that I took you by....I went yesterday to one and had 10 in an hour. When you gonna come up?

[cold one sd]

If we could get our dept of GF&P to shut the f up, we might actually get to fish some of these places. Why the he** do they always have to put it in the paper?

[webbs]

I don't know...I just can't understand the reports I heard on a watertown radio station saying the perch were biting on a couple of the sloughs around here. Which is really strage because they are pretty private and you need to know someone to get on them.

[webbs]

hey "walleyejim", are you having any luck in minnesota? I was thinking about taking a little vacation and head your way. I took a couple gaurd rails out with the ranger so I gotta wait until that gets fixed, but ya....How much does a non resident Mn licence even cost, I haven't bought a licence since I moved out of MN in 02.

[walleyejim]

Hey Webbs I'm thinking early January. I'll get back to you on that in a couple of weeks.

[walleyejim]

You are more than welcome to come over anytime. Theres only one problem, you'll probably have to wait until the new year because our ice isn't worth a darn over here. Most of the lakes are opening up again. I called it quits this week until they freeze up some more. A non resident license for 1 year is $35. There are other options. Heres a link http://www.dnr.state.mn.us/licenses/fishing/index.html?type=fishing What is a nonresident 1 yr license in SD?

[webbs]

I think it's like $62. I haven't had to buy one in a few years so i'm not sure. That would be for a year. If you think your gonna make it to sodak more then once, that would be the way to go. I'm not gonna be able to make it over there anytime soon. But we'll see, you never know about me. The perch are on the bite on a few of the sloughs, my grandpa goes out everyday, I only make it out like 3-4 times a week. You better get up here.