How many jigs per line?

[iowaboy]

HI...I know your allowed 4 lines per  person in the winter can you have more then one jig on a line at a time?

Thanks

[Bean]

HI...I know your allowed 4 lines per  person in the winter can you have more then one jig on a line at a time?

Thanks

In South Dakota, 4 lines may be used for fishing through the ice except in the South Dakota-Minnesota border waters where 2 lines may only be used.  Only one end of each line may be equipped with hooks. An artificial lure constitutes one hook, regardless of the number of gang hooks attached.
So your answer is no.

[iowaboy]

Thanks Ken..

[stumper]

I will have to check on this,I know crappie rigs are legal and they have 2 hooks.

[Kodiakman]

OK, this is right from page 33 of the SD Fishing Handbook under the Hook and Line Restriction section:

Hook and Line Restriction
Two lines and three hooks per line may be
used for fishing.

—No person may use or possess any carp
species, European rudd, buffalo, carpsuckers,
goldfish, or game fish (except cleanings)
as bait for hook and line fishing.

—Four lines may be used for fishing through
the ice except in the South Dakota-
Minnesota Border Waters where two lines
may be used.

Only one end of each line may be
equipped with hooks. An artificial lure constitutes
one hook, regardless of the number of
gang hooks attached.

I'm no expert and I havn't check with a GFP officer but....The way I read it, you can have 3 hooks per line as long as they are on one end of your line.  The "one end of each line" stipulation is a separate paragraph from the itemized four line ice fishing exception.  This indicates to me it's a year round restriction.  You have to have all your hooks on one end of you line year round.

[ice dawg]

I think that two lines with three hooks per line is for open water. The way I read the ice fishing part is that you can only have one hook on one end of your line but if it is an artificial lure it can have multiple hooks on it. I have read on some forums that if you have a couple of hooks on the end of your line and put a small spinner blade on it, it will qualify for an artificial lure. I don't know if that would pass in SD.

[Kodiakman]

Well, this thread got me real curious because I was experimenting with a tip-up with 3 hooks spaced apart about 18" - 24" to cover more of the water column.  It's something I'd read in an article a few years back and I wanted to see how well it would work.  So, I emailed SD GFP to make sure I wasn't inadvertently breaking any laws. They replied back:

Mike:

The regulation pertaining to the number of hooks allowed per line does not differentiate between open water fishing and ice fishing.  This means you could (except on SD-MN boundary waters) legally fish through the ice with four lines, with three hooks per line.

[ice dawg]

There seem to be some things in in SD regulations that are gray areas and could be printed in better language and not left up the the interpretation of a CO. Glad  you asked them, because the way that I read it was that if you had multiple hooks they had to be on something like a jigging Rapala. Some of these regs are such a gray area that they should use gray ink when they are printed.

[Kodiakman]

I hear ya.  It could be worse though.  From reading other posts in these forums, it Sounds like the fishing laws in MN and some north eastern states need a degree to fully understand.

[ice dawg]

I have talked to some of the MN guys that come to NESD to fish, and they say it is virtually impossible to fish in MN and be 100% legal. They even had a regulation at one time that made it illegal to catch a largemouth at certain times of the year. They changed it to illegal to keep largemouths. How do you know what will bite when you put your bait in the water??

[toothfish]

SD has some gray area as well. This lake you can have 4 perch  with only one over 10" and the other lake you can have 10 perch while some parts of the state 25 is the limit....
If you are fishing one lake and you move to a different lake and you have too many for that lake but they were caught on the other lake.................. ...................... ................. TOO MUCH >>>>>  

[ice dawg]

I emailed GF&P a few years ago and told them that our regulations are going to look like a sears catalog if things don't change. They didn't see the humor. We get so many visitors to the NE part of the state that they had to do something to preserve the fishery according to them. I guess it's true. I remember last winter when they open a slough up for fishing that used to be a rearing pond, it literally got fished to death for a few weeks. This summer there was Hauge (sp) Slough and it got pounded pretty well also. I know of several lakes that got fished down to nothing in the last ten years. Sooooo_______ they decided to do something and this is what they did. They say that on an average day during the winter, there are 1,000 people on Waubay Lake. From what I have seen, I believe it. I can't imagine some of the derbies that are held in MN and there are 14,000 people on the ice just for the derby. WOW!!!! I don't think you are going to see your fishable ice by 12/8. 

[toothfish]

I sure do understand the need for limits. But.....how about one rule for the whole  NE area of SD. We haven't run into any of the fish cops yet but....would they believe we caught those other fish that are in the pickup on Bitter when we are out on the refuge...or some other set of rules run a muck ??
I hope you have ice before Christmas !!!

[ice dawg]

I think you can catch your ten fish on the NE lakes and then transport them to where the limit is 25 and keep fishing. I don't think you can go to a lake where the limit is ten with more than that number. The thing that is really strange is you could try going home with a 50 fish possession limit and get stopped. I don't know how they handle this, but I think you have to prove that you were staying in an area where the limit is 25. It gets pretty confusing. I'll do a little checking and see what I can find. The Lake you were talking about with the limit of 4 perch over 10" is Reetz Lake. It is managed as a trophy lake and you can take one walleye out of there and it has to be over 28". I've been trying to locate Waubay Fisher to meet up with him on Waubay Lake, but since he graduated and is working, he is about impossible to find. By the way, we had a deer hunter fall through at the refuge while trying to walk to an island. Have a great Christmas if I don't see ya first.