HUGHES COUNTY, SD (KELO) – It’s hard to imagine much better weather for enjoying the outdoors than what we found at Farm Island on the Missouri River near Pierre on Friday.
“Oh, it’s a great day to get out,” said Bill Serbousek of Fort Pierre, who was fishing farm island. “It’s not really hot, not too cold.
So far, 2022 has seen great interest in fishing in South Dakota.
“So far for this year, we are following our Licence sales, and our license sales probably trail a bit above last year,” said Chris Hull, communications specialist at South Dakota Game, Fish & Parks. “Obviously our COVID year, everyone wanted to be out in 2020. So we had record license sales, and we’re getting closer to that again.”
Hull says the shoreline is a good place to cast.
“Now is the time to go fishing on land in particular,” Hull said. “These fish are always close to shore. They eat after their spawning season, so many of these fish are accessible from shore.
He says central and northwestern South Dakota have hotspots in the state.
“Right now the Missouri River, Chamberlain, Platte, even Pierre, the bite of the river is really good right now,” Hull said “But I’m also hearing in the northeast corner of those lakes, from Sisseton at Webster, all the way down to Thompson Lake and everything, there’s a lot of high water up there, and high water usually means pretty good fishing.
Count Serbousek is one of those who enjoy the experience…with a caveat.
“As long as I can get my fishing rod to work,” he said.
