September 30th to October 4th Oahe/Sharpe Fishing Report

[Hutch]

September has gone for 2011 and it was as good both on Sharpe in the Pierre area and on the lower end of Lake Oahe as I can remember for numbers of fish. I can remember times the avg. size of the walleye was around 4 lbs. with these kind of numbers but we will probably never see those days again due to the amount of fishing pressure now compared to back 30 years ago. I think the rest of this fall will be every bit as good. Weather will start to be more of a factor for those of you traveling to Pierre but the fish are here and biting. I fished with Rich Smith and Greg Goodenow from Ida Grove Iowa for two days. We spent one day on Sharpe and one day on Oahe catching limits of walleye both places and they easily caught over 100 walleye in their stay here. We were selective on Sharpe and kept only fish over 18 inches also catching all of our over 20 inch fish and throwing back at least 4 more over's. We caught smaller avg. size fish on Oahe keeping around a 17 inch average for limits. The key to catching bigger average size fish is (especially on Sharpe) avoiding community spots and finding areas that have had very little recent boat traffic. This is easier to do on Oahe but can be done on Sharpe if you are willing to travel a little to get away from the crowded spots. We caught most fish in 10 fow or less using spinner/ bouncer/crawler rigs or plain hook/ bouncer rigs but minnows working too. Some guides trolling plugs and catching fish also. We saw maybe three other boats in the area's we fished both on Sharpe and on Oahe both days. Every one that has experience on Sharpe or Oahe coming in with Limits for the most part. I have heard reports of some Salmon being caught in Whitlock Bay area and also an occasional one below Dam. There are a lot of fish in both of these reservoirs and I think next year should be way above average for walleye fishing barring any unforeseen circumstances. Watch the sand bars on Sharpe.
Hutch