Pierre area fishing report for Lake Oahe/Lake Sharpe April 25, 26, 27, 2013

[Hutch]

Spring maybe has sprung. (FINALLY) Was on the water in beautiful weather ( 70 to 80 degrees) and the fishing is great. I fished a couple friends of mine Gary Howe of Outdoor productions and Larry Myer with The Sioux City Journal Friday and Saturday. We fished down at West Bend on Sharpe day one and caught limits of 16 to 18 inch male spawning walleye/ We used both jigs with Berkley gulp or bttm/bouncer minnow rigs and had no trouble catching fish. The fish were caught in around 10 fow to 15 fow. The bite on Sharpe is very good from the dam to the Stony point area also but it is very crowded. West Bend had boat traffic but not as bad as bridges to dam. Day two we fished the Cheyenne river arm of Oahe and again caught even more fish of maybe a little nicer avg. size however since they raised the limits giving 4 extra walleye under 15 inches per angler we failed to limit as we just couldn't find the little guys. We caught 17 inch average size male walleye all day long but since you can still only keep 4 each over 15 inches we just had to catch and release a bunch after we kept our 12 fish, We finally got one just a little under 15 inch but gave up on the rest of the small fish. They will show up in time but right now the year class fish around the spawning area's are just mostly over the 15 inch mark We caught most of the fish in around 10 to 17 fow and used jigs/gulp or bouncer/minnows. The spawn is going strong on both lakes and I think if the weather stays decent it should be peaking next week. Northern fishing is peaking also on dead smelt rigs. I am not sure about salmon but will try to see if any of the other guides have been fishing for them Stocked rainbow trout fishing around the marina below the dam is excellent. I will start posting regular reports now as I will be on the water just about every day. I might also mention all the fish we caught both places were very healthy but since we were catching all males we will have to wait and see what the bigger females look like when they come on bite after the spawn. The ones that are being caught have been in good shape from what I have heard.

Hutch's Guide Service

Hutch