By Jason Mitchell Jason Mitchell Outdoors Northeastern South Dakota is a special place if you love fishing. The sheer number of lakes available present a wide variety of extremely quality fishing opportunities. I personally love exploring as many different lakes as I can. This past spring, we fished at a lake with Joe Unzen from the Double P Ranch on a lake typical of eastern South Dakota. The boat ramp had perhaps six vehicles and boat trailers. Most of the day, there were hardly any boats around us. The lake was shallow with some emerging weeds coming up along the shorelines. The number of walleyes we saw on our electronics was staggering. Not even sure how many walleyes we caught pitching jigs and plastics in less than six feet of water. Something to point out about the walleye fishing is not only that there are so many lakes with so many fish but the presentations we use to catch fish are so much fun. Casting crankbaits along wind blown shorelines or weed edges is a favorite. Pitching jigs and live bait is as fun as walleye fishing gets. Jigs and plastics are another favorite. You can use slip bobbers and I don’t know too many people who still don’t enjoy watching a bright colored bobber disappearing underwater. Later in the season, you can use bottom bouncers and spinners or Slow Death hooks. You can troll crankbaits or use lead core. At the end of the day you can catch walleye just about any way you want but the fact that we often find walleyes shallow in less than seven feet of water through so much of the year is truly what makes this area so much fun. Walleye are popular and no doubt that the anglers in the region probably spend more time focused on walleye than anything else but try to take advantage of so much more. There are some tremendous smallmouth bass fisheries in this region. There are big largemouth bass as well. You can find huge bluegill and crappie. The jumbo perch are extremely popular, especially through the ice. You can find musky and northern pike. There is just a lot of great fishing in the Glacial Lakes Region of South Dakota. We have so many great memories from fishing in this region. There are also several fun communities with great lodging and eating options, and I also enjoy the people in this region. Truly a special area if you love to fish. SDGlacialLakes.com // 175 GLACIAL LAKES & PRAIRIES REGION GLACIAL LAKES WALLEYE
South Dakota Vacation Guide 2026 South Dakota Vacation Guide: Page 175
