ice fishing Sioux Falls

[landgills]

Hey everyone, I'm new to this forum. I just moved to Sioux Falls last year but was unable to get out much for ice fishing. I'm super pumped about fishing in a few weeks. Just out of curiosity does anyone know about any good spots near Sioux Falls that are good quick spots to get to. I usually fish near the Brookings area which is awesome. I'm just looking for something a little closer that I can go to last minute or before/after work.

[wyoutdoors]

Welcome to the Shanty landgills! Once you have three (3) posts you can access the South Dakota Fishing Reports And Conditions forum. There are plenty of great places to fish near Sioux Falls too! A lot of sloughs and small bodies of water and then of course you are pretty close to Waubay  and Bitter just north of Watertown!

- wyoutdoors 

[thehat]

Believe it or not Family Park on the west side of Sioux Falls can produce plenty of fish through the ice. Last year thats where I spent some of my lunch breaks from work!

[CommyPinko]

I caught and released some really nice northerns at Family Park last winter.

[landgills]

I remember Family Park. I went there once this summer and caught a couple of small northern. I suppose I didn't put in enough time to really try it out. Anyway ill keep that one in mind for a quick couple hour spot. If anyone has any other ideas of good quick spots I would greatly appreciate it.

[smslaby]

I am also fairly new to Sioux Falls.  I was here last ice season too but I didn't make it out more than a few times.  I am looking to hit it way harder this year if possible.  If you ever need someone to hit the ice or split gas if you want to leave the area, shoot me a message.  I usually am out alone and it's way more fun when you have a fellow fisherman to bull crap with and learn some new techniques.

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[smslaby]

I work a few days a month at Dakota Angler on the north side of Sioux Falls and throughout most of the summer I had good reports from Family Park.  I even saw a couple pictures of trout that broke 20"!  I dont think theyre worth a darn to eat but that would be a fun days fishing!  I had a buddy of mine who pulled a couple 12"+ perch and a couple walleye right at dark.
:

[tysontia]

Twin by Huboldt would be good I would think.  A trophy lake so Walleyes are basically off limits (except 28" trophys).  Also Mercury levels are high enough that signs are posted.  Basically, I wouldn't keep anything out of there.......I believe 7oz per week of meat from there is max consumption according to the sign.  I've caught some perch there too, but always put back to be safe. 

[tornadochaser]

Perch don't get high mercury levels like larger predator fish.  They are fine to eat out of twin.

[jordy1380]

Has anyone fished many of the sloughs around Sioux Falls? My gf's brother lives in Hartford and I'm trying to talk her into going fishing for a day when we go visit. We're going to be going there the first week of December so should have plenty of solid ice by then! I think that Scott Lake/slough is the closest to Hartford then there's buffalo to the north. Looking at the fishing forecast from Long Lake north of there looks like there's some nice perch in there! Family Park sounds like it could be promising for a few hour trip as well!

[Luke835]

I'm hoping to go to Scott's Slough next weekend depending on ice conditions. If anyone heads out that way let me know what the ice is like. I'd really like to get on an early perch bite.

[HUNTnFISHSD]

 You can hammer rainbow trout using a tungsten jig and a Minnow and you can catch some panfish too. Any ideas when t will be frozen.

[fosto]

After work trips for ice fishing I like hitting vermillion. Scott's you can catch alot of fish some may be bigger than your bait if your not careful though. Great place to take the kids. Never been a big family park guy mostly small crappie in the winter. As far as long lake I was the first one on the last 2 years last year not as good as the year before but the carp fishing was good last year could not keep them off. So if I go out on the weekends thompson is as far south as I go. Usually up by watertown.

[CommyPinko]

Maybe the perch in Scotts grew this year .. I probably caught 25 or so in one outing last winter and the biggest was about a 5 incher

[jordy1380]

Maybe the perch in Scotts grew this year .. I probably caught 25 or so in one outing last winter and the biggest was about a 5 incher

Lol that's good to hear...a little stunted!?

[Luke835]

Disappointing to hear about Scott's I could've sworn I read good perch reports last year. Anybody got any other locations for an early ice trip close to Sioux falls next weekend.

[jordy1380]

Disappointing to hear about Scott's I could've sworn I read good perch reports last year.

That's kinda what I was thinking...reports looked good!

[howler243]

If you want to hit ice and maybe get some panfish, Alvin outside Harrisburg is good but wait until it gets good ice on it. The other lake that comes to mind is wall lake, not known for a hot bite. Scotts comes and goes seems like it comes when I'm not there and goes as soon as I break out the rods. Beaver is a lake outside of Humbolt. A few years ago it was hot for a small perch bite, great for little kids. Its a bit of a drive from Sioux Falls but last year Schaffers up by Lake Thompson was on fire with crappies. My buddy was one of those "trying to find a hidden gem" types and he spent a lot of time on grass, lost and loss lakes and other smaller bodies of water. He always seemed to do ok but that has been a few years back. I know South Dakota has there stocking reports on there website and its worth checking out.

[landgills]

Wow! I left for the weekend to go deer hunting and didn't have any internet access. I come back and this forum is just lit up with replies and suggestions. Thanks a lot guys i really appreciate all of the help. Ill keep all this in mind. Ill pry start on Family park as it sounds like a safe bet to get started but I love fishing those small sloughs too. ill have to keep an eye out for them.

This weekend I had a small opportunity to step on some ice while I was deer hunting. I didn't walk out too far but it appeared as though there were a few inches of walkable ice. If the weather keeps up the way it has, I don't think there will be any issues with ice fishing on thanksgiving.

[Luke835]

Has anyone on here fished beaver just to the north of humboldt? Gfp stocked the hell out of it in 2013 but mostly just fingerling perch

[fosto]

We hit the beaver last year just after work to kill some time 4 guys for about 4 hours and got 1 northern. I drilled alot of holes in them 4 hours and didn't mark much of anything. Out of around 100 holes you would think you could mark something. Don't forget about the island lakes they have a few good days a year as well.

[SDfishing22]

A few good lakes and sloughs near humbolt.

[eyekeeper]

Seems anything within 50 miles of SF gets hit pretty hard.

[FourEyes]

Seems anything within 50 miles of SF gets hit pretty hard.

+1  I drive at least 60 miles out of town to get to good fishing... problem is most other folks are willing to drive that far also!    The challenge is to find good spots away from crowds - going to try to be more mobile on larger lakes this season. 

[AJH]

That's great