Fishing
Black Hills, Badlands and Lakes Region
More than 1,100 square miles of water and a fishing season that never closes await you
Comprising nearly a third of the state, this region features the famous Black Hills. Named by the Lakota, the mountainous Black Hills extend 100 miles, are 50 miles wide, and reach heights of more than 7,000 feet.
in South Dakota. The fishing section has been divided into four regions to assist your planning. The numbers on the map correspond
Within the Black Hills are 14 mountain lakes and more than 800 miles of meandering streams containing brook, brown and rainbow trout. On the surrounding prairie, reservoirs and ranch stock dams also provide angling fun. More than 50,000 stock dams, brimming with largemouth bass, northern pike and a variety of panfish, dot the western half of the state. Since many are found on private land, permission is needed before fishing.
to the numbers on the chart which accompany each region for quick reference. Refer to the current Game, Fish and Parks Fishing Handbook for rules and regulations regarding specific waters and species.
Black Hills Bell e
Spearfish on
3
sh C
Deadwood
Spe 21R
70
Lead 14A
60
85
135
13R
9R
25
BLACK
79
2335 29R
11R
17
32R
k Hwy
58
67
Sheridan Lake 228
244
36R 71
385 89
ife
385
87
Loo
18
18
79
16R
p
22R
18
19
Hot Springs 14R
6R
nne
eye
Ch
71
29
For the Black Hills angler, trout is the main quarry and are found in two primary habitats: small streams and mountain lakes. Rainbow trout are the most abundant and can be found throughout the Black Hills. Most waters are regularly stocked, but in about half of the streams, quality habitat has allowed wild trout to thrive. Refer to the Fishing Handbook for these management areas.
36
3R
36R
8R
.
Wind Cave NP
89
2
30
Angostura Res.
◆ Spin Casting: Small spinners, crankbaits, spoons and plugs
Fishing Techniques
Mtn
16A
CUSTER 16A 69 41 35 STATE 15R Wild PARK l
89
FOREST
n
15
7
22
Jewel Cave NM
Iro
6
87
Road
Crazy Horse Memorial Custer
38
23R
◆ Fly Fishing: Elk hair caddis, adams, blue wing olive, hare’s ear nymph, flashback scud nymph in sizes 16-20 or streamers in sizes 4-10
◆ Bait Fishing: Salmon eggs, marshmallows, night crawlers, corn and grasshoppers (in season)
ore
Ru
Rushmore Natl. Mem. Keystone
Hill City
NATIONAL
16
a Ro
shm
46 43 Mount
90
Rapid City
12 d
30R
51
27R
14
14
385 Rimroc
7R
HILLS 16
23
5R
62
28R
33R 31R
Deerfield
Fishing Tips
12R
17
d
34R
Roa
25R
Sturgis
14A
ad
arfi
39
2R
Ro
14A
any
10R
BEAR BUTTE STATE PARK
. eR ch
79
r ou
20 45
Most Fished Species: Brown, brook and rainbow trout and largemouth bass Popular Waters: Deerfield Reservoir, Sylvan Lake, Pactola Reservoir, Stockade Lake, Sheridan Lake, Rapid Creek, French Creek, Spearfish Creek, Spring Creek and Castle Creek
F
18
64
R
r ive
A slow and stealthy approach is needed for fishing small stream trout. Keeping a low profile and using brush and boulders to conceal your approach assists in success. Local fly fishing shops and country stores can be helpful to determine which flies and baits are working during a particular season.
385
South Dakota Fishing and Hunting Guide 1
Prairie Reservoirs Most Fished Species: Walleye, perch, smallmouth and largemouth bass, bluegill, channel catfish and northern pike Popular Waters: Belle Fourche Reservoir, Angostura Reservoir, Shadehill Reservoir, Little Missouri River, White River, Gardner Lake, Coal Springs Dam and Murdo Dam
Fishing Tips ◆ Spin Casting: Spinners, crankbaits, jerkbaits, spinnerbaits, spoons and jigs with plastic tail bodies Missouri R.
18R
Gra
nd
75
74
24R
er
Lit tle
31 63
South Gra
nd River
28
24
68
So
uth
Nor
th M
M
ore
au
57
59
ore
au
Ri
Riv
Moreau River
er
ver
26R
212
Faith 27
55 50 56
A popular lure for bass and walleye is the jig with a plastic body. Many anglers tip this with their favorite bait, such as a minnow, and slowly retrieve it in a jigging motion. Bass anglers have success worming with plastic worms. A small teardrop jig tipped with a wiggler is a favorite of panfish anglers.
73
49
Belle Fourche
Be ll
eF
30R
34
ne
.
en hey
R
Deadwood
BEAR BUTTE STATE PARK
he rc
8
3
ou
Spearfish
Sturgis
4R
R.
C
8R 73
76
52
90
Rapid City
8R
79
Mount Rushmore N MEM Keystone
Badlands NP
5
y
64
2
8R 11
Angostura Res.
Kadoka
240
385
2 South Dakota Fishing and Hunting Guide
37R
83
r
ve Ri ite 37R
h
W
18
18
77
90
Murdo
White River
Hot Springs 10 Edgemont 29
26 48
4
er
he
47
Riv
37R
54
73
ite
8R
ne en
16
37R
e Riv
r
Cave NP
C
3R Wind
Wall 9 72
44 33
CUSTER STATE PARK
Custer Jewel Cave NM
Philip
36 53
1
Martin 13 40
42
Wh
385
32 61
Mission 37
tle
12
66
Lit
14
21
Cheye
Elk Creek
12R
nne R
.
Lead
30
On the prairie, the fishing varies as much as the seasons in South Dakota. Waters on the prairie range from 8,000-acre reservoirs to two-acre ponds. Walleye and bass keep most anglers busy in these settings, but perch, bluegill, crappie and northern pike also provide angling excitement. Fishing techniques range from bait fishing with a bobber to aggressive spin fishing with jerkbaits and crankbaits.
73
17
85
4R
Fishing Techniques
17R
19R
34
◆ Bait Fishing: Crayfish, night crawlers, frogs, wigglers, leeches and minnows
12 Lemmon
Riv
83
Lakes and Reservoirs
Allen Dam Angostura Reservoir ✜ Bear Butte Lake ✜ Belvidere Lake Berner Dam Biltmore Lake (Lakota) Bismarck Lake B.L.M. Pond ✱ Bloom Dam ✱ ✜ Bochert Dam Buffalo Gap Natl. Grassland Ponds Canyon Lake ✱ Cedar Creek Dams Cement Plant Ponds Center Lake Church Dam Coal Springs Dam Coldbrook Reservoir Cottonwood Springs Coxes Lake Curlew Lake Custer Municipal Pond Dalton Lake Dam No. 73 Deerfield Lake Draper Dam Durkee Lake East Lemmon Lake Edgemont Dam Fiddle Creek Dam Flat Creek Dam Fort Pierre National Grassland Ponds ✱ Gage Dam Gardner Lake Grace Coolidge Dams ✜ Haynes Dam Hidden Timber Lake Horsethief Lake Iron Creek Lake LaCreek Refuge Pools Legion Lake Little White River Project Major Lake Mako Sica Dam Mirror Lake Mitchell Lake Murdo Dam Murdo Railroad Dam Newell City Pond Newell Lake Newton Fork Dam New Underwood Lake New Wall Lake ✱ Okaton Dam Opal Dam Orman Dam Owens Lake Pactola Reservoir
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58
Warmwater Species
Coldwater Species
Facilities
. ccess icap A g Hand leanin Fish C ock D Ramp Boat Toilet ing Camp out ow Tr Rainb Trout Lake rout roat T Cutth ut n Tro Brow Trout Brook on lm ok Sa ye Chino Walle ie Musk Tiger eon Sturg eye Saug er Saug Perch ike ern P North ie Musk ie Crapp h Catfis ad Bullhe ill Blueg Bass White ss Ba mouth Small ck Bass Ro Bass mouth Large ge Acrea
r umbe Map N
Black Hills, Badlands and Lakes Region
4 4,275 ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ 125 ■ ■ 38 ■ ■ 10 ■ 11 25 ■ 10 18 ■ ■ 15 ■ ■ ■ – ■ 25 17 5 25 15 ■ ■ 82 ■ ■ ■ 32 ■ – ■ 4 136 ■ ■ ■ ■ 3.5 3 4 ■ 414 12 ■ ■ 77 ■ ■ ■ ■ 164 ■ ■ ■ 2.5 ■ 10 ■ ■ 203 ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ – ■ ■ ■ ■ 25 ■ ■ 203 ■ ■ ■ ■ – 10 ■ 20 ■ ■ ■ ■ 16 24 ■ ■ 3,900 ■ ■ ■ ■ 9 200 ■ ■ ■ 4 4 ■ 9 5 41 ■ ■ ■ ■ 18 ■ ■ ■ ■ 20 ■ ■ 183 ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ – 20 ■ ■ ■ 37 ■ ■ ■ 25 ■ ■ ■ 28 ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ 8,000 ■ ■ ■ ■ 96 ■ ■ ■ ■ 785 ■
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✱ Limited Access ✜ Marginal Waters/Intermittent Fishing
South Dakota Fishing and Hunting Guide 3
Lakes and Reservoirs
Rabbit Creek Dam Reausaw Lake Richland Dam Roubaix Lake Shadehill Reservoir ✱✜ Sherberth Dam Sheridan Lake Shulte Dam Slate Creek Dam Sorum Dam Stockade Lake Strawberry Hill Pond Sylvan Lake ✱ Tennyson Dam Tisdale Dam ✱ Vesey Dam Vobejda Dam Wicksville Lake Williams Dam
Rivers and Streams
Battle Creek Bear Butte Creek Beaver Creek Belle Fourche River Box Elder Creek Cascade Creek Castle Creek Cheyenne River Cold Spring Creek Crow Creek Ditch Creek Elk Creek Englewood Creek Fall River Flynn Creek French Creek Grand River Grand River, N Fork Grand River, S Fork Grizzly Creek Hanna Creek Hot Brook Creek Iron Creek Little Missouri River Little Spearfish Creek Moreau River Newton Fork Creek North Fork Rapid Creek Rapid Creek Redwater River Rhodes Fork Creek Slate Creek South Fork Rapid Creek Spearfish Creek Spring Creek Stockade Beaver Creek White River
59 60 61 62 63 64 65 66 67 68 69 70 71 72 73 74 75 76 77
Warmwater Species
17 ■ 5 16 ■ ■ 6 4,693 ■ ■ ■ 2 ■ ■ ■ 385 ■ ■ 8 ■ ■ ■ 4 87 ■ ■ ■ 130 ■ ■ ■ ■ 2 19 56 ■ ■ 20 ■ ■ ■ 8 10 ■ ■ 6 ■ ■ ■ 20 ■ ■
■
■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■
■
Facilities
48 – – 133 – 3 – 288 ■ ■ – – – – – 7 – 62 144 25 30 – 2 3 – 53 – 289 2 – 86 41 – 14 – – 78 – 407
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Total miles
1R 2R 3R 4R 5R 6R 7R 8R 9R 10R 11R 12R 13R 14R 15R 16R 17R 18R 19R 20R 21R 22R 23R 24R 25R 26R 27R 28R 29R 30R 31R 32R 33R 34R 35R 36R 37R
✱ Limited Access ✜ Marginal Waters/Intermittent Fishing
4 South Dakota Fishing and Hunting Guide
Coldwater Species
. ccess icap A g Hand leanin Fish C ock D Ramp Boat Toilet ing Camp out ow Tr Rainb Trout Lake rout roat T Cutth ut n Tro Brow Trout Brook on lm ok Sa e y Chino Walle ie Musk Tiger eon Sturg eye Saug er Saug Perch ike ern P North ie Musk ie Crapp h Catfis ad Bullhe ill Blueg Bass White Bass mouth ss Small Ba Rock Bass mouth Large ge Acrea
r umbe Map N
Black Hills, Badlands and Lakes Region
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