south dakota sloughs?

i go to school at south dakota state university and have been ice fishing poinsett with little luck. i have heard there are sloughs that hold fish out here. i know its a long shot but i was hoping someone could share the name of some sloughs that hold perch and walleyes. i totally understand if no one wants to share because its a “secret spot” but any help would be appreciated.

Go north of 212 and start punching holes on bodies of water that touch the road right of way or have state or federal land adjacent to it. Most of them have perch, and some even have walleyes or crappies. Best bet is to look at the stocking reports and call the local GFP on the locations of those bodies of water.

jjrieger61 wrote:

Go north of 212 and start punching holes on bodies of water that touch the road right of way or have state or federal land adjacent to it. Most of them have perch, and some even have walleyes or crappies. Best bet is to look at the stocking reports and call the local GFP on the locations of those bodies of water.

That’s valuable info right there cause he is spot on correct!
Been there, done that. Too bad he posted that one

Yeah I agree bull can…on the other hand, that’s a lot, and I mean a lot of water to hammer thru.

But there are a lot of lakes out there that hold perch…just gotta find them. Poinsett was the buzz the last 2 winters, this year it’s a Dead Sea.

There’s a lot of good fishing really close to Brookings, and none of its really a secret.

Sorry guys but it’s not exactly a secret anymore considering he would have gotten the exact same info from local bait shops. There are literally hundreds of sloughs that hold fish in the range I gave, and if you know anything about slough hopping, you know most of them either hold a large population of small fish, or with deteriorating water quality, not a large population of fish period(talking perch.) Usually following the stocking reports will give you a chance to catch a few fish, but those real gems can be found by just drilling a ton of holes on anything that touches the right of way and systematically eliminating those unproductive bodies of water. It can be a grind, but it can be worth it too.

I have not been able to make it out to fish any sloughs this year but in the years past if you go over West of Henry or Clark I can’t remember which one but there is a slough on the north side of the road that is full of 10 to 13in perch. I limited every time I went there last year. It doesn’t seem to get hit very hard. It would be worth a try.

I went to school at SDSU as well, graduated 5 years ago. So all of my info would be from 5-9 years back. But there are so many quality lakes in that area, and the further north you head towards all those sloughs. I had never ice fished before until I went to school there and somehow I caught more walleye through the ice without a flasher nor knowing what the heck I was even doing, then I do now with all of the equipment and kind of knowing what I am doing.

Lake Thompson, Lake Albert, Lake Sinai, 81 Ponds were all pretty good bets for walleye. Lake Campbell could produce a few small perch if you needed something close to town. About 8 years ago the little pond north of Hwy 14 that Six Mile Creek flows through had a lot of northern in it.

Between Watertown and Webster is all of the sloughs, I haven’t fished them in years, and I’d love to head out there and give them a go. But without knowing what one to fish, it is a little intimidating to figure out what ones to try. I can’t really help you there… other than go on GFP website and see what info you can find as far as stocking or fishery surveys. Most of our luck always came from knowing somebody from that area who knew somebody who knew somebody and would give the area of the hot bite.

Hey Jack, any luck on sloughs around the area? I go to SDSU as well, wondering if you found anything.

Go on a map and draw an imaginary triangle with Watertown, Clark and Webster. Pick out some sloughs in that area and plot a route that will run you by most of them. When you arrive at one, go out, drill a hole, and fish for about 20 minutes. You will know pretty quick if there’s fish and if they’re going to bite. If you strike out, pack up and take off for the next one. Beware of ornery landowners especially when you get up around Bradley. If there’s not a direct access from a right of way, don’t risk the trespassing ticket. Also, bring a spare set of auger blades because you’re bound to drill into mud once or twice.

ejdelvo28 wrote:

Go on a map and draw an imaginary triangle with Watertown, Clark and Webster. Pick out some sloughs in that area and plot a route that will run you by most of them. When you arrive at one, go out, drill a hole, and fish for about 20 minutes. You will know pretty quick if there’s fish and if they’re going to bite. If you strike out, pack up and take off for the next one. Beware of ornery landowners especially when you get up around Bradley. If there’s not a direct access from a right of way, don’t risk the trespassing ticket. Also, bring a spare set of auger blades because you’re bound to drill into mud once or twice.

Great advice.
Also watch out for those “friendly” landowners around Holmquist. They will definetly give you their thoughts on the SDGF&P folks

Thanks for the advice ejdelvo28, look forward to this weekend to start the search. “Friendly” landowners are duly noted :). Just went through the stocking reports as well so hopefully that narrows down the area a bit.
I had some great luck on Poinsett last year but haven’t heard a lot about the bite this year, so hoping to find something with a bit less fishing pressure.
Thanks again!