Hutch's Guide Service Fishing Reports

---

FISHING REPORTS LAKES OAHE /SHARPE PIERRE AREA FOR MAY 6TH THRU MAY14TH 2022

Fishing on Sharpe is excellent with water temps in many areas in the 50's. Close to Pierre the water is colder with the discharge waters colder. Temps on Oahe are colder on the main lake but starting to warm in the back of river /creek arms making for the bite just starting to go. I guided the party's pictured here to full possession limits to take home over the last 10 days. On a few days weather/wind made things harder. Most of these trips however were limits by two or three in the afternoon. The bite for walleye and bass on Sharpe has been mostly around 10 fow with either minnow jigs or minnow bouncer rigs for me. Tried crawlers but maybe just a little early. This next week they should go. Oahe is still a tougher fish with fish that are being caught are right on the bank pitching jigs/plastic or minnow tipped. As I said in my last report this time of the year weather is a big factor in all trips. Big winds/ storms making some day's lots of work to produce the fish. This early fishing requires keeping an eye to the sky. Overall it looks like a great year again in our area with fish sizes and numbers very good. Lots of bait fish in both reservoir's so a healthy outlook for the summer. We have experienced lots of people and boats in recent history so expect some area's to have busy boat ramps and lots of boats in community spots but with Sharpe a 90 mile long reservoir and Oahe 235 miles long you are can find plenty of places to stay away from crowed spots if you like. Things to bring along : Coolers, Sun screen, bug repellent, rain gear and this time of year you might even bring some warm clothing. Dave Spaid helped me guide the last groups of guys and we had 40 walleye in the two boats by two O'clock two days in a row, I am mentioning this because we never fished around another boat. I am making the point that all of the fish aren't under the big boat groups that you see. If you are willing to do a little looking you might be surprised at how many fish are all over these lakes. I do realize that a lot of what causes community spot fishing is a time factor but finding walleye away from the crowds can be a very rewarding part of the fishing sport. For many of us that spend a lot of time on the water eating fish and catching them is fun but hunting and finding walleye is the best part of any trip. GF&P"S is righting tickets for not pulling boat plugs when you leave the water. It a way to stop transportation of invasive species . It can be costly to forget that. Thank you to all the customers picture above for your business and I hope you all had as good a time as I did.

HUTCH'S GUIDE SERVICE

Hutch

FISHING REPORT LAKES OAHE/SHARPE PIERRE AREA MAY 1ST TO MAY 6TH 2022

I am back fishing on a regular basis so will start updating fishing around the Pierre area. I guided Chack Gladden from the Omaha area to one day of harder fishing then a second day of great fishing sending him home with full possession limits of walleye and 5 nice bass. We caught all of these fish in shallow water 10 fow or less on mostly flasher jigs tipped with minnows. I then fished Jim Walter and his son Nathan from the Des Moines area to full possession limits of walleyes to take home. Fishing mostly the same way with Flasher jigs tipped with minnows, We did catch some on bottom bouncer minnow combinations. Most of these fish came in around 10 fow or less. Water temps around Pierre are in the low 40's and further south around west bend in the upper 40's. Lake Oahe is putting out limits of walleyes for those willing to work hard. The bite on Oahe favors the experienced fishermen and those that know the lake. If you are not familiar with the big lake fishing this time of the year your best bet is wait for the water to warm. Fishing on Sharpe is easier for walleye however Northern fishing is best with pike sets and dead smelt on Oahe. Much tougher for the walleye now but experienced fishermen continue to work out limits in stained water. Temps still lower 40's most places but finding any warmer stained water is the key. on Oahe. I usually start out mentioning that most of the time staying away from the bigger groups of boats and trying to locate fish in less fished areas will produce nicer times, nicer fish, and usually more numbers but in many areas that is very hard to do now days with lots of anglers using our area. Remembering that Lake Sharpe is a 90 mile long reservoir with Oahe 235 miles long. There are lots of areas full of fish and much less boat traffic if you are able to do some research. Limited time trips often mean fishing busy areas and that is fine but exploring both new areas and maybe even new species of fish {Catfish Bass} can lead to some great away from the crowd experience's. In closing the real word this time of the year is WEATHER. Weather watching is probably the most important consideration to take this month {or any month} as it can save you some real bad times. Bringing warm clothes and rain gear count right in there to. Just great to be back on the water with such great lakes to fish and so many nice people to guide.

HUTCH'S GUIDE SERVICE

Hutch

FISHING REPORT LAKES OAHE/SHARPE PIERRE AREA FEB 1ST TO 16TH 2022

Just a brief mid-winter update. Caution is the word with the fishing. We are having a mild winter in the Pierre area with no snow and lots of 40 degree days. There has been open water by the dam and boats are still able to fish Sharpe especially when the corps runs current. The bite on Sharpe fishing in boats has been spotty with the bite late in the day. A friend Mike Kulm and party were out and caught limits last weekend but caught most of the fish around five in the afternoon on jig minnows below the dam. Reports of catches on the ice on Oahe vary also but really watch the ice. I talked to one party fishing the back of the Cheyenne river and they said they drilled holes in the first spot they fished and had eight inches of ice, moved about a half mile drilled and had 3 inches so caution is the word. I would describe the bite in our area as spotty on Oahe too, but for those excellent fishermen limits are coming in. The walleye that are being caught are fat and healthy. We should be looking at a great spring fish and I think the summer fishing should be along the lines of last year but with even lower water unless we get a wet rest of the winter. I have cabin fever already so really looking forward to our great spring bite.

HUTCH'S GUIDE SERVICE

Hutch

---

Month by Month Guiding Breakdown

April/ May

Both of these month's produce excellent walleye fishing along with great smallmouth/ Northern/ Catfish. Weather is a factor so many times we have to stay off big water because of high winds etc. but this is a great time to go after the big northern and catfish in the back of creeks/bays to beat the weather. Also fishing on Sharpe below Dam keeps you out of wind and produce's nice limits of walleye. Jig fishing when water temps cold along with btm. bouncer presentations as water warms most common .Boat traffic can be much more around the Pierre area.

June

By far the busiest month on both lakes.( School out and just traditionally start of summer season] so book early if possible to get best guides/lodging. The fishing is excellent for all species. Weather can still be a factor. We are usually fishing with Lindy or btm. bouncer's.

July

Best all around month for both fishing and weather especially family trips Walleye fishing at seasonal peak especially in high water periods on Oahe. and Sharpe good two. Btm. Bouncer presentations most common.

August

Same as July but there can be hotter weather. If there is a breeze it is not to bad as big lake water temps keep heat down. Fish can be a little deeper but still great fishing.

September

Very good on the walleye fishing with fall weather great toward end of month. As water cools jig fishing starts to come into play again.

October / November

Fishing is still good but weather coming into play again Jigs work best especially in colder water. Combination Hunting /fishing trips most common. Just a note: You can catch fish in all the months above tolling or casting plugs and we do that often. But I have found that guiding people over the years most prefer live bait hover fishing better so I spend more time with btm/bouncer/crawler/minnow/leeches than the plugs but pulling plugs is always a good alternative and sometimes can be the best.

---

Kent Hutcheson
E-mail: fishinghutch@aol.com
Cell Phone: 605-220-2844

---