Lake Oahe, South Dakota Fishing Reports

May 10th to May 13th Lakes Oahe/Sharpe, Pierre SD Fishing Report

I guided repeat customer Bill Doc Leonard, son Doug and grandson Cooper from Atlantic Iowa to two great days of fishing on both Lake Sharpe and then on Lake Oahe. The weather was great and the fishing excellent with them catching possession limits of smallmouth bass, walleye and some northern to take home. We caught the fish on Sharpe drifting bttm/bouncer minnows and did the same on Oahe. The walleye on both Lakes are for the most part shallow (15 fow or less) and moving away from spawning grounds making finding them a little more difficult but they are biting so most boats out are doing limits. We are starting to catch a few more of the spawned out female walleye (larger fish) on a more regular basis and I think that bite should be in full swing in the next 10 days. Crawlers are working on lindy or bttm bouncer rigs along with pulling shallow plugs on both Lakes. There have been a few of the boat ramps like Bush's Landing that have had some problems with silt but GF&P have them cleared out now and as far as I know all ramps in the Pierre area are open. Be careful when first going out though as places like the Little Bend ramp have real danger spots when you motor out of the bays. If you are fishing for the first time this spring both Lakes have plenty of new hazards over last year. Guided Bill Corn and his new bride Lucie on Sunday to limits of walleye with them getting both of their over fish and keeping the rest of there limit in the 17 inch range with one nice northern and many throw back fish along with some smallmouth. Caught them bttm/bouncer minnow fishing in the Cheyenne arm of Oahe in around 10 fow. A beautiful spring day in the 70's with no wind so they got lucky as did the Leonards. The bite on Sharpe and Oahe remains excellent and should continue to get even better for the walleye as the bigger female fish recuperate and move into the shallows to feed.

Hutch's Guide Service

Hutch

May 6th to May 9th Lakes Oahe/Sharpe, Pierre SD Fishing Report

I guided Chuck Harkins and his wife from Miller for two days, catching limits of walleye on Sharpe then some catfish and Northern on day two. The May weather didn't favor their trip with high winds dictating the fishing. A real nice couple and we all had a good time. Caught the walleye in around 10 fow and the catfish and northern in less than 5 fow on Oahe in 35 mph wind on dead smelt. I then fished Steve Graycroft and his wife from Gettysburg and his brother and uncle from Kentucky to limits of smallmouth bass and walleye in a little less wind (around 25 mph). Another great bunch and they had three master angler bass (over 18 inches) with wife Sonja catching one over 20 inches. The walleye averaged around 17 inches. Caught these at the big bend area in 10 fow. All of these fish were caught on bttmbouncer/minnows as that was working better in the wind. Early spring fishing is weather related and sometimes you have to work to get limits and these two trips were that way. I then guided repeat customer Tom Main from Rapid City and his 98 year old Dad, (that's right 98) a real trooper, to limits of walleye, some northern and a few crappie on the Cheyenne river on a 75 degree day with very little wind. Caught these fish on bouncer/minnows in around 12 fow. The bite on Oahe is still good with a lot of the fish moving away from the spawning area's so looking for them is a little tougher but most fisherman getting limits.

I was asked a couple of questions one being about the current water level on Oahe. I think the pool is around 1605 with 1620 being full pool. We still have plenty of water but are down around 15 to 20 fow from record pools of last year.

I had a question about baitfish and the health of the fish. Although I feel it is too early to tell I haven't really noticed any unhealthy walleye where I have been fishing. I have noticed some of the smallmouth looked a little stressed at the Bend area on Sharpe. The fish seem easy to catch. I think everyone is concerned and probably it will be further into the months of July and August before there well be any real solid information about the effect of the high releases of last year. You might get more reliable information about this from GF&P as they had a series of meetings and have that filmed on one of there sites. They have a lot more reliable information than I can provide but I well try and update any info I hear. I am marking plenty of bait in the areas I have been fishing but am not sure about what kind. I do not know of any smelt run around my area.

Hutch's Guide Service

Hutch

May 2nd to May 6th Lakes Oahe/Sharpe, Pierre SD Fishing Report

Fishing on both Lake Oahe and Sharpe still going strong around the Pierre area but the spawning walleye males are starting to thin out around the spawning beds and migrate to were the bait fish are on their way to summer areas they use. May weather turned to some wind/rain days so the roads to boat ramps on gravel have been muddy. This has been the main reason I fished Sharpe around Pierre this week guiding repeat customer Troy Swift, his Dad and friend to limits of walleye catching all of these fish on the river bluffs around Pierre A great bunch of guys and we had a real nice trip..Caught the walleye in 10 fow pitching jigs/gulp or dragging bouncer/minnow rigs I then fished a small tournament with Jon Sailer. Both of these trips we caught maybe 30 to 40 walleye a day mostly in the 15 to 17 inch range with an occasional 18/19 inch fish. Plenty of fish still being caught on Oahe with males in the most part starting to move off spawning beds also and you can start looking for them along with the females a little deeper (20 fow) and around warm water flats close to the spawning areas. Minnows still the main bite but I am starting to take crawlers along as that bite should be starting and is going down at the big bend area. Northern fishing still very good on Oahe mostly in shallow water, Cat fishing good but Salmon bite is poor. Trolling plugs is working along with live bait presentations for all species so if that is your style go for it. Remember to keep an eye on depth finders on both lakes as sand bars and lower water have made for some real danger spots from last year.

Hutch's Guide Service

Hutch

Walleye/Northern fishing is excellent on Lake Oahe and also excellent on Lake Sharpe for spawning male walleye. The Northern Pike fishing and cat fishing is also very good on Oahe. Most of the action on Oahe is in the back of creeks with running water and the Cheyenne river. On Sharpe both the downtown area and Big bend area are going strong. I fished friends Gary Howey of Outdoorsmen Adventures TV and Larry Myhre retired Sioux City Iowa Journal sportswriter/Editor the 24th 25th and 26th filming for Gary's Show and some articles for Larry. We had constant action both at West Bend on Sharpe catching walleye and smallmouth all day on Tuesday and also on the Cheyenne River on Oahe on Wednesday. We caught both walleye and northern pike. Probably caught and released a total of well over 50 fish a day on both places with almost all of the walleye 16 to 18 inch males. The northern were from small fish to several in the 15 lb range. Also had some smallmouth bass action. We caught all of these fish shallow in 10 fow up to the bank pitching jigs/gulp and jigs/minnow. We also tried pulling spinner/minnows on Sharpe and that worked too so you can catch the fish a lot of different ways including trolling plugs. We caught very few female walleye and released those. The weather was really nice with 70 degree days and not much wind. Then I fished repeat customer Dave Petroco from Denver for 3 days. We caught limits of walleye daily but did the weather ever change with rain/ wind for 2 days. Spent Friday cat fishing to try and stay out of 40 mph wind/rain and caught some along with two northern but called it a day after sticking it out for 6 hours or so. Spring weather and that pretty well is the way it is in April. Great fishing but cross your fingers on the weather because it can go either way for you I had a great time with all of these guys. We caught a lot of fish and had three great weather days and two nasty ones. Looking for warmer stained water and shale/pebble banks is the key in the spring for the walleye or any area that you know the fish are spawning. Water temps over are 50 degree surface in back of creeks/ river but 40's on main lake. Take your time at first on both Sharpe(new sandbars everywhere) and Oahe (lower water than last year) present plenty of danger spots. No Salmon report other than and a few caught by accident below the dam.

Good Fishing,

Hutch's Guide Service

Hutch

the 15-18 inch  are the main breeders in the walleye species that what the fishing biologist told us up at
belle fourche resivior that why they put the slot limit up there and as far as kurt taking the bigger fish he paid for his licsence