KWAT’s Outdoor Report for week of October 4, 2021
Aberdeen Area
Fishing Report
Richmond Lake: Anglers have been catching white bass, perch, and walleye. Fishermen are having good luck using a bobber and plain hook baited with worms and minnows.
Elm Lake: Anglers have been catching walleye, northern pike, crappie, and perch. Fishermen pulling plugs are catching keeper walleye. The south boat dock and handicap fishing pier have been pulled. The water level is too low to use these docks.
Mina Lake: Anglers have been catching walleye, northern pike, bluegill, and perch.
Wylie Lake: Catchable (11”) rainbow trout are stocked. In fact, Wiley Pond in Aberdeen was stocked with 2,000 trout last Friday.
Hunting Report
Goose Season: Early Goose closes September 30th; regular goose season 8 daily limit; white-fronted geese 3 daily limit; light goose daily limit of 50.
Mourning Dove: The doves are moving out of the area due to cooler temperatures.
Archery Deer Season: The deer appear to be moving around during the morning hours.
Duck Season: Low – Plains north zone, is open hunters can either choose 3 duck daily limit; or the traditional limit. Teal have been shot the most in the area.
Pheasant Season: A fair number of pheasants have been reported throughout the county.
Clark County
Fishing Report
Dry 1: Water clarity has become good, which makes for a slow bite during the daytime.
Dry 2: Fishing pressure was high this past weekend. Anglers pulled out a few walleye, the perch bite has slowed down with the average 10 perch per 2-man boat.
Indian Springs: There has been minimal on walleye, perch were very slow on the bite.
Reid: Reports are coming out that the walleye bite is fair to pretty good.
Swan: Anglers seeing a few perch and walleye.
Hunting Report
Canada Goose: Geese are still around weather temps have not deterred many.
Duck Season: There was an abundance of duck hunters around for the opener; hunters had good shooting success in the morning but slowed a bit on the 2nd day.
Pheasant: Little activity seen with the pheasant population.
Codington County
Fishing Report
Goose: Fishermen are primarily catching walleye from the boat, as the weeds make shore fishing difficult
Kampeska: Fishing has remained consistent over the past couple month. Fishermen pulling the center of the lake are finding a few walleye and perch, while other fishermen are still reporting a mixed bag of fish.
Pelican Lake: Little fishing pressure.
Blythe Slough: Little fishing pressure.
Long Lake: Little fishing pressure.
Dry Lake: Little fishing pressure.
3rd Avenue Pond in Watertown: Is stocked with 1,400 trout. Please help spread the word about these stockings and take a kid or two to one of these Community Fishing Ponds to enjoy some fall fishing while the weather stays nice.
Hunting Report
Mourning Doves: Doves have begun to move out of the area.
Duck Season: Hunter’s are starting to see more of the ducks come in; not a huge migration of the Northern ducks yet.
Archery Deer: Seeing more daytime activity; and movement at dusk times.
Canada Goose: There are still a good number of geese around; a little scouting will find the geese.
Day County
Fishing Report
Waubay: Fishing pressure is still slow; the bite is reasonable for walleye, northern pike, and perch.
Bitter: White bass has been the fish of choice this week that anglers are having good success finding.
North Rush: The walleye and perch bite have been reported to be fair.
Hunting Report
Duck Season: Opening day was a success- the following day was much slower.
Mourning Doves: Doves are becoming less in the area; but if you want to hunt scouting is your best bet.
Archery Deer: Deer are moving around with recent harvest, and upcoming rut.
Goose Season: There are an abundant number of flocks of geese throughout the county.
Hamlin County
Fishing Report
Lake Poinsett: Fishing remains steady. Anglers who are having success are catching a mixed bag of walleye and perch. Anglers are having the best success during the evening hours.
Three Buck: Steady pressure all last week. Anglers who are out are having decent success catching walleye.
Lake Albert: Fishing pressure has been slow. An occasional walleye is being caught.
Clear Lake: Fishing has been slow. Little to no fishing pressure.
Hunting Report
Duck Season: With daily migration and cooler evening temperatures the mallards and pintails have showed up in the last week. With harvested corn and beans the ducks should becoming more plentiful in the field.
Archery Deer: Deer activity has started to pick up. The recent cold mornings have had the deer up and moving around.
Given the recent number of crops being harvested, deer are being pushed out of crop fields and are being seen more by hunters.
Pheasant: The numbers are looking promising for the resident only season starting this weekend October 9th -11th.
Marshall County
Fishing Report
South Buffalo Lake: Anglers found a few bluegill, walleye, and northern pike.
North Buffalo Lake: Little to no activity.
Piyas Lake: Good walleye bite, with a few perch mixed in, however the bit is starting to taper off.
Opitz Lake: Good on the walleye bite.
Cattail / Kettle Lake: Little to no activity.
Clear Lake: Little to no activity.
Roy Lake: Slow bite, but anglers found a few bass and northern pike.
Hunting Report
Canada Goose: Hunters had good luck finding birds however, the birds are hard to pattern with harvest starting.
Mourning Dove: Doves are bunching up and getting ready to start migrating south.
Duck Season: Hunter’s struggled a bit trying to find ducks; most of them are on the big water.
Archery Deer: Hunters are finding deer, although their movement is slow due to the warm weather.
Parks Report
Pelican Lake Recreation Area: The 3D targets are now up at the archery course! These are a different option to shoot and help get ready for this fall’s adventures! A park entrance license is required to shoot the archery range and course. These can be purchased at our new self-service kiosks at the entrance booth.
Hartford Beach State Park: Don’t forget to get ready for this fall’s hunting seasons at our new archery range and course! The range offers targets from 10 to 50 yards to get bows sighted in. We also have wood targets set up for anyone that wants to try axe throwing. The 28-target walking course winds through some of the parks wooded areas for different challenging shots. Hartford Beach also has miles of scenic trails, a disc golf course, and great picnic spots in the beach area!
Fort Sisseton: Haunted Fort – October 15 and 16 We will offer a Haunted Fort Weekend Package which will include two nights at one of the suites, four tickets to the Haunted Maze, and 20% off merchandise at either gift shops at Fort Sisseton or Roy Lake State Parks.
The cost of the package will be $280 for the weekend. This will save the visitor about $100.
Reservations will need to be made through the park, to give the discount and pay the Fort for the Haunted Maze tickets.
