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FREQUENTLY ASKED FISHING
QUESTIONS
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- Why isn’t the fishing
season closed in the spring to protect walleyes during
the spawning season?
It is a common belief that preventing large
walleyes from being kept by anglers during April will result in more small
walleyes being produced during a year and more large walleyes being present in
a lake. This is not the case. Protecting walleyes of spawning size during the
spring does little to increase the likelihood that a lot of small walleyes
will be produced or to increase the number of large walleyes in a lake for the
following reasons:
- In South Dakota, a shortage of walleyes of spawning size has never been
documented.
- Even a small number of adult walleyes can result in a lot of small
walleyes being produced.
- There is no relation between the number of spawning-size walleyes and the
number of young walleyes produced.
- The number of small walleye produced each year is mostly related to spring
weather conditions, water levels during the spawning season, and the
availability of suitable spawning habitat.
- A higher percentage of walleyes longer
than 18-inches is kept during April than during other months, but harvest of
larger walleye is highest during the May-July period, when fishing pressure is
highest.
To really protect fish of spawning size, they would need to be protected
during the May-July period, when the majority of them are harvested.
The possession limit is the number of fish a legal angler may have
under their control at any one time. It includes fish that are in a portable cooler, a
home freezer, or registered in their name in a commercial locker. For most species in
South Dakota, the possession limit is twice the daily limit. Once you have reached your
possession limit (for most species you would have to fish for two days) for a given
species, you are longer allowed to harvest additional fish of that species.
- Why have a possession limit?
Sport fishing in South Dakota is meant to provide recreational
opportunity and an occasional meal of fresh fish, not to serve as a method for individuals
to fill their freezers. While South Dakota is currently blessed with abundant fish
populations, our fisheries resources are still limited. The possession limit is designed
to spread the available harvest out across as many anglers as possible, while maintaining
healthy fish populations for future years.
A daily limit means the number of fish that may
be taken from midnight to midnight. A person may possess no more than
one day's limit of fish while on the water/ice or actively engaged in fishing.
- Why have the minimum walleye length
limit on the Missouri River ?
The minimum walleye length limit was selected for two reasons. One,
during the January through June period, our water temperatures are fairly cool and the
walleyes are typically found in shallow water (less than 30 feet), two conditions that
maximize survival of released fish. This time period also happens to correspond to the
time period of traditional high fishing use. The second reason is that during certain
years, we get excellent natural walleye reproduction in these reservoirs. Allowing some
harvest of these smaller walleye helps keep their population in balance with their food
source.
- Can I release fish from my livewell?
NO. It is now illegal to
high grade or "cull" walleye/sauger once they have been placed on a stringer or
in a livewell or other storage container. High grading or livewell culling causes
unnecessary fish mortality due to extra handling, added stress while being carried in a
livewell, and being subjected to warm surface water temperatures. With the high
demand being placed on our walleye fisheries, we must do all we can to eliminate
unnecessary waste of this valuable resource. The elimination of high-grading does
not restrict fishing opportunity, but only what you do with the fish you catch. The
bottom line is that anglers can help reduce unnecessary mortality by not high-grading.
- Is there any problem in releasing fish caught from deep water? What's deep water?
Generally, fish caught from depths 30 feet or greater should be
considered as coming from deep water. From this depth, as fish are brought to the surface,
the gases in their air bladder begin to expand placing pressure on their internal organs.
The air bladder in some fish will be so expanded that it will cause their internal organs
to extend out of the mouth. These fish are unable to swim beneath the surface. While other
fish you may release after catching them from this depth appear to be O.K., often the
internal damage caused to their other organs will take several hours or days to kill them.
- If there are so many fish dying from
being released from livewells or deep water, why don't I see that many?
Lets use Lake Oahe as an example. In 1997 anglers reported releasing
over 676,000 walleye during the period April through October. Lets assume that 50% died
within a couple of days of being released or 338,000 walleye. That's an average of about
1850 per day. Then when you consider that the South Dakota portion of Lake Oahe is about
one walleye for every 215,000 acres, that works out to about one walleye for every 116
acres. Then when we factor in that not all walleye that die float to the surface or for
those that do, many are quickly removed by other predators or washed ashore. Its easy to
see that we can have a fairly serious release mortality without actually seeing many dead
fish on the surface of the water.
- How fast do walleye grow?
It generally takes three to four years for a walleye to grow to 14
inches in length (minimum length) and six to eight years for a walleye to reach 22 inches
in length. This is a big investment of time to raise our walleyes to harvestable size,
when you consider it only takes six months to raise a pheasant or duck large enough to
harvest. Please consider our total impact on our fisheries resources when you decide how
many and what sizes of fish to harvest in a day or in a year.
- How many fish pass through the dams on Missouri River
reservoirs and survive?
It is unknown how many fish pass through Missouri River dams but
passage of fish from one lake to another continuously occurs. The primary species passing
through Oahe Dam are rainbow smelt, lake herring, rainbow trout, and Chinook salmon. High
reservoir releases during 1997, due to high water inflows, caused 36% of tagged walleye in
Lake Francis Case to pass over the spillway of Fort Randall Dam into Lake Lewis and Clark.
Passage of cold-water fish through Oahe Dam was also substantial during 1997. While many
fish do survive, large numbers also die due to changes in pressure and temperature and
from hitting turbine blades as they pass through.
- Does letting gas out of the gas bladder with a
needle, or "fizzing" a fish, improve a fish’s chances
of surviving?
A fish
that is unable to remain upright in the water because it is severely stressed and/or has
an over-inflated gas bladder, stands a poor chance of surviving, if released.
"Fizzing" is a process where gas is released from the gas bladder of a fish by
inserting a needle in the side of the fish and puncturing the gas bladder. While helping a
fish regain it’s ability to return to the bottom of the lake, many fish that are
"fizzed" end up dying within a few days of release, from the stress of being
caught and handled. There is also the likelihood that when you insert the needle into the
side of a fish you will damage internal organs such as the kidney or intestines.
Just because a fish swims towards the bottom
doesn’t mean it will survive.
- How many SD residents, or what percentage
of SD residents, fish?
Based on 1999 data: 141,959 unique resident anglers (this
count does not include the number of anglers under the age of 16) .
Based on 1999 estimated population of 560,582 residents 16
and older: 25.3% fish.
Each fish house, shanty, or
other shelter must display on the structure's outside, the name and address
of the owner in letters at least two inches high. The door must permit
entry, except when unoccupied and locked from the outside. Portable
shelters removed from the ice daily are exempt from the marking
requirements. Shelters must be removed from the ice by midnight, March
5 in Day, Grant, Marshall and Roberts counties and on Deerfield Lake in
Pennington County. In the remainder of
the state, shelters must be removed from the ice no later than midnight,
Feb. 25. Shelters may be used after designated removal dates if they
are removed daily.
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