Waubay Area South Dakota

[IceAddict87]

Heading up to Waubay January 11-14th and looking for some advice. I realize this is the iowa section but i have had little luck posting in the sodak section. We have a sleeper that will be setup on waubay but we also have a house rented on pickerel. Anybody ever fished pickerel?  We are going to have a few portable shacks and a couple ATV's so a few of us plan to be pretty mobile during the day. Mainly looking for some smaller lakes/sloughs to try and also information about fishing pickerel lake since we will be right on it. Otherwise we will prolly just stay on the edges of the crowds.....

Thanks in advance!

[Agronomist_at_IA]

Heading up to Waubay January 11-14th and looking for some advice. I realize this is the iowa section but i have had little luck posting in the sodak section. We have a sleeper that will be setup on waubay but we also have a house rented on pickerel. Anybody ever fished pickerel?  We are going to have a few portable shacks and a couple ATV's so a few of us plan to be pretty mobile during the day. Mainly looking for some smaller lakes/sloughs to try and also information about fishing pickerel lake since we will be right on it. Otherwise we will prolly just stay on the edges of the crowds.....

Thanks in advance!

If your on Waubay the north end by Grenville and the buckshot acess has some pretty good perch fishing....Pickerel is ok for crappie but The few times I've fished it it was just so so......Go to the DNR website and look at the creel/gill nets reports like I've posted....most all of the lakes up that way have good to excellent fishing, but if you want to get buckets of pigs you need to find the lakes with the most pigs in them....Bitter and Waubay have been hit pretty good & rebound fast with perch growing to 8in in 2yrs......but the big pigs are on some of the lesser known lakes do to less pressure and perch cycles...poinsett and opitz look to have the best numbers of jumbos this year/cycle.....if you want some big walleye check out reetz

[Trump]

Sportsmans cove is the bait shop in Webster it's an automated message for fish report bitter in past had been great for jumbos and evening walleye bite waubay always sucked except fishing it in fall so they are in there we just never found them.  Before you go on a smaller slough or anything make sure it's still public, they had some changes last year and a few lakes aren't open anymore.  Look at old posts on here with that search bar too you might be surprised good luck and watch the weather

[Trump]

Agronomist unless it changed I thought they closed reetz last year did it open back up

[Agronomist_at_IA]

Agronomist unless it changed I thought they closed reetz last year did it open back up

I believe so, but I'd suggest the guy talk to dug at sportsmans cove..........Lot of weird stuff going on on if certain stuff can be accessed or not.

[ice dawg]

GF&P is still negotiating with the Reetz family about opening the lake again. Could be a while.

[Trump]

Thanks ice dawg

[Dakota2]

Good luck to you!  We are headed up that weekend as well from the Ottumwa area.  We are staying at Lynn Lake Lodge and planning on fishing Bitter/Waubay.

[bmahler]

Heading up to Waubay January 11-14th and looking for some advice. I realize this is the iowa section but i have had little luck posting in the sodak section. We have a sleeper that will be setup on waubay but we also have a house rented on pickerel. Anybody ever fished pickerel?  We are going to have a few portable shacks and a couple ATV's so a few of us plan to be pretty mobile during the day. Mainly looking for some smaller lakes/sloughs to try and also information about fishing pickerel lake since we will be right on it. Otherwise we will prolly just stay on the edges of the crowds.....

Thanks in advance!

We rented a house on Pickerel Dec. 28-31.  Mostly fished Pickerel simply because the wind chill was -40-50 almost the whole time we were there, and didn't want to struggle with loading/unloading 4 wheelers, shacks, etc.  Fishing was tough.  Caught a few nice walleyes.  A few small perch.  Some guys in a permanent near us said they were picking off crappies in the deepest part of the lake, but they were pretty far between.  They say there are great crappies in there, but we've fished it two years in a row now, and haven't had much luck with them.

[walleyehunter16]

Reetz was definitely not open in Oct and indications from Doug at that time is it will be a wait and see deal.
Mr. Reetz was in the shop drinking coffee at the time.
Most of the other lakes were open. Those that were not had the entrance chained so its pretty obvious if its not open.
Haven't found a lot of perch up there the last three years anywhere but Bitter.

[Agronomist_at_IA]

We rented a house on Pickerel Dec. 28-31.  Mostly fished Pickerel simply because the wind chill was -40-50 almost the whole time we were there, and didn't want to struggle with loading/unloading 4 wheelers, shacks, etc.  Fishing was tough.  Caught a few nice walleyes.  A few small perch.  Some guys in a permanent near us said they were picking off crappies in the deepest part of the lake, but they were pretty far between.  They say there are great crappies in there, but we've fished it two years in a row now, and haven't had much luck with them.

That was my experiance with Pickerel when I've fished it. I think for panfish & fishing the area there are better lakes. However when it's -40 and a cold front I'd be in the same game plan you had.

[Mr.Seaguar]

With the recent weather I think anyone driving to SD would be better off driving to Kansas.

[Agronomist_at_IA]

With the recent weather I think anyone driving to SD would be better off driving to Kansas.

I don't know.....I had a buddy go up the other day and did well on waubay for perch....they limited. He did say the were mostly 10in fish though with a few 13in. Also said he did well on Bitter....but it is fishing so.....

Ice is /should be good, might head up with wheel house next week.

[Ol Dad]

Hi, New to this forum but am seeing a lot of great info... I fish in SD twice a year, once on the ice and once in the spring. Poinsett is our home base when we venture that way however we do travel around to other lakes to find the best bite. My group is headed up on 1/12/18 and fishing that afternoon and that Saturday/Sunday. We are coming out of Mt Pleasant, Ia. From our sources we are hearing the bite is tough right now... hope that changes before we leave next Friday morning!

[rodeomarine21]

Call Pickerel Lake Lodge to get a good report on the lake. Also I fished the glenville slough on the north end of Waubay lake and it was dynamite for perch and walleyes.

[superstockbigblock]

I think the hot bite moves around. Don't be afraid to change lakes and talk to bait shops.  Have had great luck in the past on certain lakes and stayed there the next year only to drive 1hr from that location to a hot lake the next year.

[walleyehunter16]

I think the hot bite moves around. Don't be afraid to change lakes and talk to bait shops.  Have had great luck in the past on certain lakes and stayed there the next year only to drive 1hr from that location to a hot lake the next year.

I agree with this 100% whether its hard or soft water. I have never met anyone up there that doesn't bounce around to find the bite. Sometimes its just finding a place
to fish and stay safe from the wind.

[whip2]

Reetz was definitely not open in Oct and indications from Doug at that time is it will be a wait and see deal.
Mr. Reetz was in the shop drinking coffee at the time.

So, is Mr. Reetz trying to Lease or rent the access to the Lake & that is why it was closed?

[walleyehunter16]

So, is Mr. Reetz trying to Lease or rent the access to the Lake & that is why it was closed?

Its complicated.
Reetz still owns the land, but the state paid for all the development and stocking of the lake. As well as oversight.
The way I read it was Reetz doesn't feel a need to let people on it or take money to let people on it.
I would imagine there would probably be an issue if Reetz opens it up and makes a bunch of money on it because I'm sure he's collected a ton of money from
insurance for the property loss and several buildings too.
We have seen the small boat from the farm house out on the water but that is the only one.
We also fish another lake where supposedly the state oversees the lake but its private and it costs $5/vehicle. Road in is bad, ramp is crap, dock is crap and its
very clear the owner doesn't put any effort into the endeavor. I was told they only charge a small fee because if they make too much on the deal it ends up causing other financial issues.

[whip2]

Thanks walleyehunter16

I take it that you are familiar with the area?

It just looks a little odd that the State paid for the re-development but he is the only one with the right to use it.

whip2

[Agronomist_at_IA]

Thanks walleyehunter16

I take it that you are familiar with the area?

It just looks a little odd that the State paid for the re-development but he is the only one with the right to use it.

whip2

Not really......No different then the Government with farm programs, economic development programs, and the other numerous programs the government has out.

[ice dawg]

Its complicated.
Reetz still owns the land, but the state paid for all the development and stocking of the lake. As well as oversight.
The way I read it was Reetz doesn't feel a need to let people on it or take money to let people on it.
I would imagine there would probably be an issue if Reetz opens it up and makes a bunch of money on it because I'm sure he's collected a ton of money from
insurance for the property loss and several buildings too.
We have seen the small boat from the farm house out on the water but that is the only one.
We also fish another lake where supposedly the state oversees the lake but its private and it costs $5/vehicle. Road in is bad, ramp is crap, dock is crap and its
very clear the owner doesn't put any effort into the endeavor. I was told they only charge a small fee because if they make too much on the deal it ends up causing other financial issues.

I believe from what I have read that Reetz can give permission to fish his lake, but can't take any payment. I don't think any landowner can legally take payment for giving access, but who would know if he did??? 

[Agronomist_at_IA]

I believe from what I have read that Reetz can give permission to fish his lake, but can't take any payment. I don't think any landowner can legally take payment for giving access, but who would know??? 

If it is private property, they can do whatever they want.....unless something was agreed to when the SDGF managed it.....

[ice dawg]

You may want to read the new regulations and see what they came up with. If you close non-meandered water you can give permission for access, but can't charge for access  to it. The land is private, but the water belongs to the public. This is why they have to petition G, F & P to close it and the public has the right to petition to open it again. Nice can of worms.

[Mr.Seaguar]

Judas priest what a nightmare