November 10th to 17th Lake Oahe and Lake Sharpe, Pierre SD Fishing Report

[Hutch]

I just will be doing these reports now weekly as the season for the open water fishing here on Oahe winds down .I guided for the outpost customers Rich Rouse and Dan Cooper from Emmetsburg Iowa for one day of pheasant hunting with them shooting there limits and then on a really nice Indian summer day fished the Cheyenne river arm of the lake to there limits of walleye in around the 18 inch range, some smallmouth bass and a small northern pike. A couple of real nice guys and they had a great time both hunting and fishing. We caught most of the walleye on jig/minnow's in 15 to 20 fow and had a slow bite early but a great bite after lunch. Maybe because we got on active fish or maybe because the water warmed up a little later in the day. Was down on Sharpe earlier in the week as well as some of the other guides I work with and the bite there is still spotty and it also seems later in the day. You can get limits most days but if the corps doesn't run the right amount of water it can be harder to come by limits. Jig/minnows seem to be the best baits there also. Water temps on Oahe are in the high 40's now and around that on Sharpe. Oahe is still very good fishing especially for those anglers that know the lake and the late season bite continues to be excellent when the weather is excellent. One little tip about cold water fishing that I think is a key to catching more fish. Get your baits away from the boat. The water is cleaner and colder and the fish are more spooky. I also try to never fish in an area with other boats for this reason. If a boat comes into an area you are fishing is is almost better from my viewpoint to just move on as most of the fish well anyway. Many have been fished all year and just won't take a lot of pressure. The boats sitting in the community spots catch a few fish but if you want the really nice catches of bigger numbers and bigger fish try to fish by yourself, cast a long ways away from the boat or drag jigs way back. Most of the best anglers know this and usually are the ones coming in with nicer stringer's of walleye really year around but especially in colder clearer water.

Hutch's Guide Service

Hutch