Now that the season is over in SD

[GB 83]

I have some question about some the people in SD, mostly in the Day county area. What is up with pulling valve stems out of the trailers while they are out fishing, summer time or winter time doesn't matter what season? My buddies had that done to em. Then sitting in Galley in Websters. The bartender said that happens more than people think. Wow, why? Just don't want out of staters fishing "your waters"? Then another group was staying at the Boomer Outback "the old holiday inn" They had their ATV screwed with. Someone put kerosene in their gas tank. Again WHY? Cause their license plate said Iowa? I tell you what, if that happens more time than not. Don't mess with someone from Ferguson MO. They will burn your ass down and Obama will sit there and let it happen.

[perch_stalker]

Land owners in Day Co. are for the most part pricks! The GF&P is in a long drawn out court battle currently with the land owners in Day Co. They are trying to shut down all of the lakes that cover private ground, even if there is public access to the lake. There are a few that they have successfully shut down to fishing. It's all because they think they are high and powerful, and they own the lakes that are on their ground. It will never end. The problems you are talking about happen to out of staters and even some residents. It doesn't seem to matter, they are trying to deter people from fishing "their" lakes. And to make matters even worse, the big name lakes in Day Co. have been hit extremely hard with fishing pressure the last 5 years, and even before that. So the fishing has gradually fallen off. You used to be able to catch limits of perch and walleyes, now you're lucky to catch a few every now and then. Is this the out of state fisherman to blame? Not all of it, but when you see a parking area that has more Iowa, Minnesota, Nebraska and other out of state plates over resident SD plates, it makes a lot of guys pissed. I'm not condoning this behavior, or saying it's right, but that's how a lot of guys feel!

[Poutman]

Land owners pay taxes on land that is flooded. If the state would get off it's heinie and offer some kind of compensation to the affected land owners maybe there could be some kind of comprimise.

[bowmandan]

I agree with poutman and sorry for the bad people screwing with out of staters.    Please don't judge all of us the same.

[12ICEFISH]

Wow! I hadn't heard anything like this from any of the few groups I associate with! Together we've probably are up that way a dozen times a season, and again, no word of anything like this.

I'd have to say anyone with that big of grudge should focus their energy to asking for the masses support, instead of pissing them off! I know most of the real sportsmen that frequent this area area leave a pretty good part of their billfolds up there, and that alone should be acknowledged (and is by some). I have no problem signing petitions, and if there's a fee associated with fishing your lake, I think after spending thousands of dollars for equipment, a few extra dollars to fish a hot spot wouldn't be an issue.

As stated in an earlier post, I thank all the acquaintances I've made, and been part of while in the area for the hospitality we've been shown.

Herm

[sdatver]

Land owners in day county have been doing this for years and for some reason they get away with it.  There was some issues at a lake years ago one of the farmers was actually shooting a 22lr in the direction of guys on the ice fishing trying to scare them away not shooting at them but around there are.  The same lake a farmer was pulling vehicles that parked on the section line down the road with a tractor.  Then another lake started having issues that started because the land owner actually made a boat ramp and put up a dontaion box at the ramp for the local 4h or girl scouts or something along that line and he went out there one day and 5 or 6 vehicles with empty trailers parked by the ramp and the donation box was empty so he destroyed the ramp and has been fighting it ever since.  And since these issues they have been closing down roads and it is now illegal to unload a boat from a road in day county.  They shut down certain areas of day county to 4 wheelers.  Those landowners seem to get to make their own laws in that county.  I know part of it was people fishing right by their house and drilling holes at the crack of dawn and leaving trash on the ice and tearing up ditches.  Unfortunately a few bad apples have ruined it for all of us.  We as sportsman are our own worst enemies.  Not all of us but the ones that do the stuff listed above.  Because of most of that I just stay away from the general area because it isn't worth the hassle.  I had co workers and friends and friends of friends that had valve stems removed and event tires slashed so it isn't just the out of staters.  When you see sportsman doing stuff that gives us a bad name confront them or turn them in.  If we don't do something its just going to get worse. 

[Duckhunter76]

Stuff like that has been going on for years in that region. Landowners in the area are very territorial and it doesn't matter where you are from. It also isn't always due to vandalism or disrespect that the landowners sometimes act like pricks. I have been chewed out by a landowner for accessing a small body of water after getting permission from his wife when he was well aware she granted me permission. Didn't matter to him. He acknowledged I had permission and then angrily asked me a bunch of questions. Another time, I had a finger waved at me just for driving by too slowly as I drove by someone's land. This past fall I was hunting out in my in-laws pasture, a place I have been allowed to hunt for 15 years. A certain individual who's family owns land adjacent to where I was hunting ( they have a guide service in the lake city area) drove all the way out into the pasture to "make sure" I had permission to hunt there since it was next to his families land. I should have asked him why he was trespassing but I thought it best just to act friendly instead of saying what I really wanted to say...  Not all the landowners are aunry, and I appreciate the ones who are friendly. All one can do is be respectful to the landowners and hope to be treated decently.

[ice dawg]

Fishing pressure in the Webster area has caused a lot of problems. Farmers are angry about people on their flooded land and resident fishermen are angry because of the crowds on the lakes. It doesn't help when nonresidents sit in the local bars at night telling locals their towns would not exist without nonresident money supporting them. I especially liked one comment, "You can always tell a South Dakota resident fisherman because he will be wearing brown coveralls and using a bobber the size of his head.". Not hard to see where problems in the area come from. Waubay Lake isn't anywhere near as good as it used to be and Bitter Lake is being pounded to death at this time.

[ice dawg]

Land owners in day county have been doing this for years and for some reason they get away with it.  There was some issues at a lake years ago one of the farmers was actually shooting a 22lr in the direction of guys on the ice fishing trying to scare them away not shooting at them but around there are.  The same lake a farmer was pulling vehicles that parked on the section line down the road with a tractor.  Then another lake started having issues that started because the land owner actually made a boat ramp and put up a dontaion box at the ramp for the local 4h or girl scouts or something along that line and he went out there one day and 5 or 6 vehicles with empty trailers parked by the ramp and the donation box was empty so he destroyed the ramp and has been fighting it ever since.  And since these issues they have been closing down roads and it is now illegal to unload a boat from a road in day county.  They shut down certain areas of day county to 4 wheelers.  Those landowners seem to get to make their own laws in that county.  I know part of it was people fishing right by their house and drilling holes at the crack of dawn and leaving trash on the ice and tearing up ditches.  Unfortunately a few bad apples have ruined it for all of us.  We as sportsman are our own worst enemies.  Not all of us but the ones that do the stuff listed above.  Because of most of that I just stay away from the general area because it isn't worth the hassle.  I had co workers and friends and friends of friends that had valve stems removed and event tires slashed so it isn't just the out of staters.  When you see sportsman doing stuff that gives us a bad name confront them or turn them in.  If we don't do something its just going to get worse.

I used to fish the small lake where the farmer installed a dock and launch ramp. Vehicles with boat trailers were lined up for a half mile in both directions on both sides of the road and he didn't have room to move his farm equipment through on the road. The fact that people weren't putting money in his donation box certainly didn't help. I used to fish this little lake until it became a zoo and I don't blame the farmers in the area. In my opinion a $5 stamp to access flooded private land wouldn't be out of line if GF&Parks could figure out a way to distribute the money fairly.

[rags]

ice dawg , I will agree with what you are saying even though I don't live in that part of SD . I live in the se corner of SD. I teach my grandkids how to fish responsible and always ask if we are keeping any fish that day , some days we may keep a few and some we release them all . With all the greedy fishermen out there its hard to get any good information from other fishermen . Greed is going to make fishing a lot harder in years to come .

[ice dawg]

rags, I remember one day in particular on Jesse when the perch were really hitting, watching the same boat being loaded and leaving three times. I would guess the livewell was full each time. The boat had a South Dakota license on it, but I wasn't close enough to get the numbers on the license. I don't blame nonresidents only for these lakes getting fished heavily as we have plenty of resident fishermen who take more than their limit. Most nonresident people I have met have been great. I do have a problem with people who like to tell me how much money they spend coming here to fish.

[rags]

I agree some of the worst ones are right from SD .

[diesel2012]

Moral of this story is call the GFP when you see these things happening. Officers can't be every where all the time. If you're truly a so called "Sportsman" that includes policing ourselves. How do you do that? Call the game warden. Plain and simple. Even if you can't get a license number it doesn't hurt to let them know there is someone in the area poaching. There is nothing better than a tip or two when it comes to helping an officer do his job. Conservation starts with us, the sportsman. Only we can continue it on.

As far as the land and water rights, its a mess. Plain and simple. But asking a landowner for permission and being friendly to them is a tried and true method. Even if legally you are in the right to be there. Being considerate to other people is a lost art in this world...

[ice dawg]

This reminds me of the time I was fishing on Lake Oahe during a time when the lake was flat calm. I fished in the same area as another boat and there were Silver Bullet cans, potato chip bags and other trash items floating all around the other boat. I decided to leave the lake for the day and when I arrived at the boat launch there was a game warden there with his boat on the trailer. I told him about what I had seen snd gave him the license number of the boat and state it was from. He told me to go back to where the other boat was fishing, collect some of the trash, take photos and bring them to him. I offered to take him back there in my boat so he could witness what was happening and he refused so I loaded my boat and left. This is the reason I didn't make the call when I suspected the other boat of triple dipping on Jesse. I learned the lesson well the first time.