Top Ten Hidden Trout Fisheries

Chinook salmon in the fall? Big rainbow and brown trout in the spring? Come to Lake Oahe near Pierre in the northern section of the South Dakota, a massive impoundment of the Missouri River, and fish one of the most prolific game species fisheries in the nation. The lake, and its hundreds of miles of moonscape shoreline and otherworldly coves, also offers fantastic angling for walleye, catfish and pike. Both the tailrace and the sprawling lake are productive. Chinook in the 2-10 pound range are caught regularly, especially when they spawn in the shallow coves in the fall. The rainbows in the tailrace grow large on disabled smelt which pass through the dam turbines. Lake Oahe, with its 376,000 acres in both South Dakota and North Dakota, is developing into an angling hotspot. The brown trout are increasing in numbers, and with the profundity of food, they could grow to great sizes but still go largely unnoticed. Anglers are still discovering all the other secrets this large lake holds.