May 22nd to 23rd, Fishing Report

[Hutch]

I fished Randy SR from Rapid and Randy Downing Jr. from Sioux Falls for Northern and catfish in the rain on Sunday and we caught as many catfish as we liked but only had 3 Northern to 15 lbs on smelt. These fish were all caught in 5 ft of water or less. You can catch a lot of these fish in very shallow water now but get as far back in creeks that are running water as you can. Oahe has a lot of big northern pike now so if you are looking for something a little different from walleye fishing it is not a bad choice and you get constant action and also good eating. I use slip bobbers, wire leaders. and smelt and watching those bobbers disappear is just a little different sport.

Fishing on Lake Sharpe is excellent for both smallmouth and walleye at West Bend and also walleye fishing around Pierre very good but boat traffic is high especially on weekends. The year class on Sharpe is good with a lot of 16 to 18 inch fish being caught. Because of Muddy water below bad river most fishing is from Bad River to Dam and jig/minnow, bottom bouncer/minnows bait of choice. I fished Mike and Andy from Omaha for Spring Creek Marina on Monday to nice limits of 12 fish. Key to river fishing  is looking for current breaks as a lot of water being released causing heavy current. Oahe starting to go for all species with most fish being caught in shallow water. Looking for warm water is key to catching right now. Not a lot of boat traffic on Oahe. Watch out for muddy roads going to some of the gravel road ramps as places like Minniconju ramp real bad when rain is recent. You can have some fun with the fishing now.

Hutch