Guide or No Guide in SD

[Royalwapiti]

I am new to ice fishing and so far have gotten equipment, now i need ice time.  We have flipover, camera, flashers, etc.  I am planning a trip to Waubay, SD between Xmas and New Year. 

Never been there but want to go...real bad.   So my son and I are heading up.  We tend to be do it yourselfers, but am not opposed to hiring guides, we did twice in May for soft water walleyes.

I was going to hire a guide for the first day and then chase them on our own after that.  The guide I was looking at is booked the first day I want to go.  He offered to take me the second day.  SO we would be on our own the first day, then go with him a day and then go on our own for day 3. 

Do I need a guide?  It's my first trip there.  I kinda feel like I could be a sheeple and follow the crowd as the school of fish moves.  But also we would have equipment to keep moving and looking as well.  I know for a fact the sheeple thing doesn't always work, I see lots of boats gathered on Spirit Lake in the summer and nobody is catching squat.

The guide is $300 plus tip.   My job allows me to go back up in January so I can tie in days of fishing then too.  Thinking the guide might teach us technique specific to those lakes.

What do you think?

[Agronomist_at_IA]

I am new to ice fishing and so far have gotten equipment, now i need ice time.  We have flipover, camera, flashers, etc.  I am planning a trip to Waubay, SD between Xmas and New Year. 

Never been there but want to go...real bad.   So my son and I are heading up.  We tend to be do it yourselfers, but am not opposed to hiring guides, we did twice in May for soft water walleyes.

I was going to hire a guide for the first day and then chase them on our own after that.  The guide I was looking at is booked the first day I want to go.  He offered to take me the second day.  SO we would be on our own the first day, then go with him a day and then go on our own for day 3. 

Do I need a guide?  It's my first trip there.  I kinda feel like I could be a sheeple and follow the crowd as the school of fish moves.  But also we would have equipment to keep moving and looking as well.  I know for a fact the sheeple thing doesn't always work, I see lots of boats gathered on Spirit Lake in the summer and nobody is catching squat.

The guide is $300 plus tip.   My job allows me to go back up in January so I can tie in days of fishing then too.  Thinking the guide might teach us technique specific to those lakes.

What do you think?

The only reason to get a "guide" is if he is going to take you on Indian waters, or slews in the area that are having a hot bite. A rule of thumb is call up sportsmans cove and listen to the report. Talk to Doug if you go to Webster and visit sportsmans cove. He usually is pretty good at letting people know where fish are active & where the access points are where a guy can get on and off the lake. They also have maps with the area lakes like Bitter, Enemy Swim, Pickeral, Reetz, and others.

I've fished on Waubay and did good on walleye, not much else on Waubay for me. I did pickerel and caught some crappie, nothing great. The better Ice fishing for me is on Bitter getting into the perch & walleye. Bitter lake lodge and the south boat ramp access are about the easiest to get onto Bitter. Then just pretty much follow the heard or wonder off to areas that look perchy. A map at the Waubay gas station will show GPS points and everything. Usually you'll see a heard following the perch around on bitter.

One other thing. It seems like either the fish are bitting, or they are not. It's doctor jekel mr Hyde type stuff. If a lake your on isn't producing bites or fish, go to a different lake in the area. I've been limited out and skunked a number of times on lakes up there and had both happen on the same day before.

It seems intimidating to go all the way up and not know what or where you are going. However, it's not that hard to do. Bitter Lake Lodge & sportsmans cove are your friends. I would suggest that if you are up there for 3 days listen to sportsmans cove report then pick a lake to hit each day to learn about the area. Then if you do a second trip or future trips you learn and figure out the area. Paying someone $300 to guide you IMO is steep that's a new flasher or some nice gear. One other thing, make sure you have a decent place to stay and have it ahead of time. Stuff can fill up pretty fast with all the travelers that go there.

[spoofhoundicefisher]

how new to ice fishing are you?  if you have no experience i would recommend you spend some time on a few smaller local lakes you are familiar with or some farm pond and work out how everything works.  that way if you run into some problems or forget something your needed or figure out you need something else on the ice you are not out much.  just a suggestion. 

[Trump]

I agree to that, to an extent, with agro.  We fished a trip the last 2 seasons up there and the herd on bitter is the best advice I've seen on this site on locating the perch.   The guides will be some of the first to know about less crowded bites on certain lakes but within a week or 2 there will be a crowd at that spot as well.  We had a guide for the first day which was a blessing with 10 below Temps and 35 mpH winds. I would of paid the money again for that wheelhouse no question.  He also gave us some spots to check the next few days we were up and it ended up paying off.  If you have some extra money to spend for the first trip then that choice is up to you,  but remember the guide won't guarantee you fish he will just take you to where they caught them the day before. 

[Agronomist_at_IA]

I agree to that, to an extent, with agro.  We fished a trip the last 2 seasons up there and the herd on bitter is the best advice I've seen on this site on locating the perch.   The guides will be some of the first to know about less crowded bites on certain lakes but within a week or 2 there will be a crowd at that spot as well.  We had a guide for the first day which was a blessing with 10 below Temps and 35 mpH winds. I would of paid the money again for that wheelhouse no question.  He also gave us some spots to check the next few days we were up and it ended up paying off.  If you have some extra money to spend for the first trip then that choice is up to you,  but remember the guide won't guarantee you fish he will just take you to where they caught them the day before.

$300 for a wheel house /guide is way different then just $300 for a guide. Especially if it's a sleeper wheel house, which is basically covering your lodging.

[Royalwapiti]

how new to ice fishing are you?  if you have no experience i would recommend you spend some time on a few smaller local lakes you are familiar with or some farm pond and work out how everything works.  that way if you run into some problems or forget something your needed or figure out you need something else on the ice you are not out much.  just a suggestion.

We did that last year, got involved in January so we fished Des Moines local lakes quite a bit and hit Spirit Lake and Clear Lake each once.    My iPhone is in 20 feet of water in Spirit Lake, let me know if you see it....lol  We got into the crappies and bluegills at the smaller state lakes.

The best time I have had so far was at Spirit when I lost my phone.  When the sun came up I could sight fish in 20 feet of water, still got skunked, even when I watch perch take my jig in their mouth, I couldn't get the hang of when to set the hook.  My camera should help with that this year.   Also learned that my HB depthfinder doesn't show the bottom too well.  I could see 10-12 inch perch sitting on the bottom sucking in my jig and my HB didn't show anything.  Learning curve for the eqmt.

$300 for a wheel house /guide is way different then just $300 for a guide. Especially if it's a sleeper wheel house, which is basically covering your lodging.

   No sleeper, straight fishing, not even sure if it was a wheel house or shantys.  Didn't get that far into it. 

I will take your lead and try it on our own.  When I said Waubay, I meant the Waubay area, not necessarily that lake.  An guy I know who lives in Brookings said he only goes to Lake Poinsett.  But I am game for following the bite.

Thanks guys

[Agronomist_at_IA]

Last year Bitter was good early then was slow. Lake poinsett was pretty hot last year.

 Tip with your sonar. If your in deeper water like 20ft if you narrow the beam it can help with bottom hugging fish.

 

[bmahler]

We visited this are last winter for the first time, went entirely on our own.  Stayed at Lynn Lake Lodge, the folks there are awesome, and always seem to know where the fish were biting.  We had very good luck.  One thing we found particularly useful was that I have a Humminbird Helix 5 DI that use on my boat and for ice fishing, and it has the Navionics chip in it.  We ended up using that GPS and mapping software way more than I ever would have thought, but it really helped.

We are headed up at the end of December also, maybe run into you there!  Good Luck.

[Agronomist_at_IA]

If you have a smart phone navionics app works fine

[tysontia]

Lakes everywhere!  I actually stay away from Waubay and Bitter.  tons of great options west of Brookings and Watertown and of course the Webster area and even north.....endless sloughs.

[chilly-willy]

Depends on target species like eyes go with some one who knows the area you will have a better shot at them same with lake trout if they have then there.. but species like blue gill ,perch, crappie, bass, and pike you should already know how to fish them if not pick the book icefishing secrets up.. it wI'll help greatly.. waleye can be tough cause of finding spots to go same with laker that's why I say guide cause rock piles are hard to see under 2 feet of ice in 30 fow..

[Royalwapiti]

If you have a smart phone navionics app works fine

I bought it for my boat.   Then bought a HB 688 with GPS  so I use that for ice now too.  In process of the inputting all the brushpiles and rock structures for Brushy Creek lake.  I thought I saw somewhere a way to do it on a computer rather than manually.

Depends on target species like eyes go with some one who knows the area you will have a better shot at them same with lake trout if they have then there.. but species like blue gill ,perch, crappie, bass, and pike you should already know how to fish them if not pick the book icefishing secrets up.. it wI'll help greatly.. waleye can be tough cause of finding spots to go same with laker that's why I say guide cause rock piles are hard to see under 2 feet of ice in 30 fow..

A guide would have been good for a day of learning but oh well. 

Thanks

[Agronomist_at_IA]

I bought it for my boat.   Then bought a HB 688 with GPS  so I use that for ice now too.  In process of the inputting all the brushpiles and rock structures for Brushy Creek lake.  I thought I saw somewhere a way to do it on a computer rather than manually.

A guide would have been good for a day of learning but oh well. 

Thanks

I use to have a Garmin etrex GPS with lakemaster maps on it. Kept all my GPS ice fishing points on it. Then my wife's friend needed to use the GPS for driving directions on a trip......why can't she use her smart phone app? Anyway, nobody knows where the Garmin is now and I have a computer full of GPS points all over NE SD, Minn from top to bottom and NW IA.......that I can't use. I really liked the system because you could save and transfer stuff from the GPS to the computer and play with it on the computer to clean stuff up and rename or name it. And transfer the clean data back to the GPS unit.

I do have an old lowrance H2O with a navionics chip that works well, I use it on the 4 wheeler but it is from a time where those lakes in NE SD weren't what they are today. So it useless there but works great on most lakes. I like to mount it with a ram mount on the 4wheeler so I can use it when pulling the otter train around finding spots.

[cropee]

My experience up there is don't follow the crowd.  You have to work to find the fish, they are there. And your not going to find them if you follow the crowd ( think you would see any deer if you followed the crowd ) crowd usually means the fish was there, but augers generators trucks and all the noise produced will scatter them.  I have fished with some of the guides up there and they agree.  Basics is follow contour line corners and keep searching till you find fish, buckshot and slender spoons with blood worms is all you need.  waubay will produce numbers with a lot of sorting for size, bitter will produce size but not much for numbers.  When your on top of things on Waubay you can have your limit in an hour,, thats how good it is, but there is bad days of fishing on the lakes to.  Never enough time, by the time you have it figured out its time to go back home.  Ohh also the weather can be brutal.  If it was me going up there for my first time, and I could afford it, I would go with a guide for 300 its very easy to go the first 2 days and only catch 3 - 5 fish, they will teach you a lot but usually not give out much for lakes or spots to fish.  Sometimes they will negotiate if they don't have to supply equipment, drill holes, or clean fish specially on weekdays.

[Agronomist_at_IA]

My experience up there is don't follow the crowd.  You have to work to find the fish, they are there. And your not going to find them if you follow the crowd ( think you would see any deer if you followed the crowd ) crowd usually means the fish was there, but augers generators trucks and all the noise produced will scatter them.  I have fished with some of the guides up there and they agree.  Basics is follow contour line corners and keep searching till you find fish, buckshot and slender spoons with blood worms is all you need.  waubay will produce numbers with a lot of sorting for size, bitter will produce size but not much for numbers.  When your on top of things on Waubay you can have your limit in an hour,, thats how good it is, but there is bad days of fishing on the lakes to.  Never enough time, by the time you have it figured out its time to go back home.  Ohh also the weather can be brutal.  If it was me going up there for my first time, and I could afford it, I would go with a guide for 300 its very easy to go the first 2 days and only catch 3 - 5 fish, they will teach you a lot but usually not give out much for lakes or spots to fish.  Sometimes they will negotiate if they don't have to supply equipment, drill holes, or clean fish specially on weekdays.

If the OP has a GPS that shows the lake contours, points, and humps and pairs it with the lake map you can buy at the waubay gas station that shows points of interest and areas All he needs to do is check spots to find fish. and be willing to move. Spending $300 on a guide doesn't guarantee good fishing either. With the technology, information sharing, and everyone wanting to make a buck today makes doiing it your self pretty Easy.

[Agronomist_at_IA]

Following the crowd on lakes like Bitter isn't like at the IGL where your nut to butt. Your usually spread out in the basin.



Usually over the day it comes in flurries that add up.


Size is usually good.

[chilly-willy]

If the OP has a GPS that shows the lake contours, points, and humps and pairs it with the lake map you can buy at the waubay gas station that shows points of interest and areas All he needs to do is check spots to find fish. and be willing to move. Spending $300 on a guide doesn't guarantee good fishing either. With the technology, information sharing, and everyone wanting to make a buck today makes doiing it your self pretty Easy.

That's the truth..

[Agronomist_at_IA]

lol nice.

The IGL & NE SD have been known for years, I don't think your going to tell to many people anything new. Besides that I think Lakes Like Bitter Need the Pressure on them. With the Freshwater shrimp lets the lake grow a perch to eater size in two years.

[chilly-willy]

lol nice.

The IGL & NE SD have been known for years, I don't think your going to tell to many people anything new. Besides that I think Lakes Like Bitter Need the Pressure on them. With the Freshwater shrimp lets the lake grow a perch to eater size in two years.

Lol's I know it know but for sure some thing to think about lol's .. just a friendly reminder lol's

[cropee]

If the OP has a GPS that shows the lake contours, points, and humps and pairs it with the lake map you can buy at the waubay gas station that shows points of interest and areas All he needs to do is check spots to find fish. and be willing to move. Spending $300 on a guide doesn't guarantee good fishing either. With the technology, information sharing, and everyone wanting to make a buck today makes doiing it your self pretty Easy.

You are correct, but for a person whom has never been there it can be overwhelming ( lots of water to search not sure about technique and ect) and if you only have 3 or 4 days to fish the first day or two can be pretty rough.  Notice i said if you can afford it.

[rags]

I have never ice fished there myself . My son and I went up early May for a father/son trip and fished bluedog , the wind blew like crazy ( 3 ft waves ) , we ended up with one dink eye but did have some father/son time . We did stop at a couple bait shops and they was not much help .

[timmons22]

I will also be up there that same time frame.  A lot of people will flock there during that week.  Rule of thumb is you can stick with the crowds and probably do good enough. Myself i like to go find my own fish. Once you find the depth run and gun, drill lots of holes until you find fish. Once you find schools of perch you will also find the walleyes. If you search and find fish it WILL be extremely rewarding. If you cant keep your fish inside the tent you will have people all around you in a matter of time. Plus that's how the guides up there work, they have pawns that drive around on their sleds looking for people catching fish and poke around to find somewhere for their clients to go.

[Crawdad28]

Lakes everywhere!  I actually stay away from Waubay and Bitter.  tons of great options west of Brookings and Watertown and of course the Webster area and even north.....endless sloughs.

Not to hijack this post but how do you know which sloughs are public? I love to venture out on my own but am always afraid to be on private property.

To reply to this original thread. Skip the guide if you are ambitious. It's really simple up there, ask at the bait shop. Definitely don't be afraid to venture away from the crowds if you are on Bitters or Waubay. Just drill holes till you find fish. I know guys who hired guides and they simply took them to the middle of the crowd on Waubay and fished. It would take a real "special" guide to take you to your own little honey hole or a unknown spot that has a hot spot. Don't see that happening. 
The guys at the baitshop will get you everything you need which really isn't much.

[Agronomist_at_IA]

Not to hijack this post but how do you know which sloughs are public? I love to venture out on my own but am always afraid to be on private property.

To reply to this original thread. Skip the guide if you are ambitious. It's really simple up there, ask at the bait shop. Definitely don't be afraid to venture away from the crowds if you are on Bitters or Waubay. Just drill holes till you find fish. I know guys who hired guides and they simply took them to the middle of the crowd on Waubay and fished. It would take a real "special" guide to take you to your own little honey hole or a unknown spot that has a hot spot. Don't see that happening. 
The guys at the baitshop will get you everything you need which really isn't much.

Talk to Doug at sportsmans cove. He usually has a map with roads and directions to the different lakes. Uusally he will have the popular little spot for the year too, with directions.


I became a do it yourself up in that area when we hired a guide & the guide put us in a wheel house on antelope for the day and night. We didn't see or catch a single fish. At that time my uncle in law and some of his buddies were up there. they roamed around from Waubay, Pickeral, and Bitter and caught fish. We ended up going home with a couple of grumpy guys and didnt catch a fricking thing.

[sparkee]

I've only been up there once & we had a guide. If it was not for them we would not have caught a thing. We left Iowa in 50 degree weather & woke up the next morning in Waubay to 30mph winds, snow, & 15 degrees. We were picked up @ 7:00AM in the morning & did not come home till our limit was caught. We were supplied all the gear we needed , flashers-rods-tackle, gear was quality gear (only time I've used a VEX 28). The guides moved around a bunch & we had a good time. Almost all the fish we caught were in an hour period before sundown. There were 4 of us & the guides cleaned & bagged all the fish. Yes it was a little expensive, but well worth it the way it turned out. 

[Hard H2O Gold Hunter]

I've only been there once myself without a guide. Fished Bitter, Waubay, Lynn, and another small one, don't remember name. Didn't catch limits but they were quality fish. Did the best on Bitter. Temps were -15 without wind chill and minimal snow. We stayed away from the crowds too. Going back January 18th to the 22nd without a guide again. Time can't move fast enough.

[Agronomist_at_IA]

I've only been there once myself without a guide. Fished Bitter, Waubay, Lynn, and another small one, don't remember name. Didn't catch limits but they were quality fish. Did the best on Bitter. Temps were -15 without wind chill and minimal snow. We stayed away from the crowds too. Going back January 18th to the 22nd without a guide again. Time can't move fast enough.

X2 just hope we get some good ice fast and it stays.

[Ranger619]

Do your homework on guides and you'll get a good one if you choose to go that way. They can make a short trip like yours a great memory.
Don't let some guys bad experience or negative comments decide for you. There's some great guides up there that you'll learn a lot from. The people at Sportsmans Cove are great as was said and have good lodging also. They give great information but don't think they just give it to a few. A lot of lakes & alot of area to cover. Tell the guide what you want & are looking to do. They'll help you out if they're "Good" guides.

[Royalwapiti]

Thanks for the info.   I decided not to hire one.  I couldn't get him until Wednesday so i would have fished Monday afternoon and Tuesday on my own.  I hire a guide on Lake Sharpe in the Spring when I go.  Definite advantage can be seen when we go to the fish cleaning station.

I booked a room at the Sportsman Lodge so will be at the Sportsman Cove stocking up and getting advice. 

Thanks

[tla100]

Been hit and miss up there for me.

Earlier in year seems better. Bitters I have had best luck.

Been up there where when guys we know hired a guide. Guide started drilling holes and had them guys hole hop. When fish got caught, most of the guys went to the hole that caught fish and more holes drilled around. And repeat. If hole not producing, move. I have drilled a lot of holes, and some days not see fish. Bitters, can usually find perch and small eyes easier than Waubay for whatever reason.

Talk to bait shops and get an idea on best depths.

Perch love the red wigglers.

Wind and cold is the norm up there.

Cameras can be better than flashers for light biting perch. If you are set-up in a shack.