Lakota Lake (the one in the Hills)

[jbuss79]

Hit Lakota this morning. Went up while it was still dark so I could sit above the lake on Iron Mountain Rd. and watch the sunrise which was worth the whole trip by itself. Didn't catch many today but learned a ton. Today was the first time I've ever really fished with my Vexilar in earnest. Drilled about 8 holes to start and started walking along seeing if I could mark any fish. Never did, or so I thought. As it turned out they were sitting so close to the bottom that they more or less blended in on the screen so until I started jigging and they came up I didn't see them. Got 4 Perch and one 21 1/2" Northern. Used my dead and frozen shiners from Stockade yesterday and got him on a tip-up with a predator rig. While I was taking the hook off of him, I missed another flag. While I reset the one I missed, I missed another on the other tip-up. Kind of went fast ans furious for about 30 minutes and then it just died. Had to be back early so I called it a day. Frickin' ice on that lake is 1). Hit and miss with 3-4" inches of sketchy ice in one spot and 6" of really good clear ice just a couple feet away, and 2). Pops and groans like there's a train going across it. Not going to lie fellas, it was just spooky enough that I probably could have gotten away with another hour of fishing but the ruckus was making me just uncomfortable enough I was good calling it a day.


 

[Dakotablood]

Where the heck is Lakota lake, I've lived in the hills my whole life and have never been there ha ha. Anyways hopefully I'll be able to get out next week I'd be nice to catch a northern I've only caught one and it was a yearling. Good looking fish though.

[BlackHillsIce]

Good info.  Lakota is a pretty lake with easy access.  I have only fished there once with limited luck but will try it again this year.  I had a similar "sketchy ice" experience on Center Lake last year.  The ice was super clear and was probably fine but made so much noise (spooky) we went to Legion instead.

Scott

[jbuss79]

@Dakotablood- Lakota is off of Iron Mountain Rd between Playhouse Rd. and the Norbeck overlook. Awesome little lake with a picnic area and some hiking. My kids love it. No live bait there but the Warden didn't say anything about the dead stuff. Friday we stopped in and there was a doe that had been attacked by something on the ice. She wasn't dead but was chewed up pretty bad. Ended up calling GF and P to take care of her. Went back yesterday and saw a coyote running up the hill by the dam. Probably wondering where his meal went.

[fishm_n]

I hope to hit both Lakota and Center this  year. Didnt know Lakota had Pike.

[SoDakdick]

 i thought it was another trout lake. Are the perch wormy?

[jbuss79]

Lakota used to have amazing trout in it. I've fished it a ton since I was a kid. All of the sudden one summer we started catching Pike, totally by accident. Now, that's about all I seem to catch out of there with the exception of Perch. No, the perch I catch there are not wormy like the ones from Stockade and Bismarck. Also, saw an old guy on Bismarck and he had about an 18" Pike on the ice. I wish that whoever the bucket biologist that is putting them everywhere would knock it off.

[oyler]

i thought it was another trout lake. Are the perch wormy?

Yes, the perch are wormy.

[jbuss79]

Must be hit or miss. The ones on the table tonight were fine. Then again I only got 3 of them. How are the ones coming out of Deerfield and Sheridan?

[oyler]

Those are all clean.