Salmon fishing good on Oahe

By Steve Miller, Journal Staff Writer | Monday, September 25, 2006

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PIERRE -- With a Chinook salmon population on the rebound in Lake Oahe, anglers report that they are pulling in good numbers and good sizes of salmon as the fish push up to Whitlock Bay west of Gettysburg and other locations to spawn.

Information about the success rate during the salmon run is only anecdotal so far, according to state Game, Fish & Parks fisheries biologist Bob Hanten. But a creel survey conducted in July found that hourly catch rates for salmon were approaching those from Oahe’s salmon-rich 1990s, Hanten said Monday.

And the salmon were coming at the biggest average size since the banner year of 1993, he said. “From 1993 to 1997, we really had a good salmon fishery on Lake Oahe,” he said.

Hanten said anglers began fishing the salmon run about two weeks ago, and shore fishermen typically will fish through October, when the salmon stop eating and prepare to spawn. “Right now, those salmon are still eating.”

The salmon population declined in the early part of this decade as drought shrank Lake Oahe. Concerned about overpopulation of predator fish competing for rainbow smelt and other feeder fish, GF&P did not stock salmon in 2001 and 2002. “That was basically part of the overall plan to assist with getting Oahe back on its feet,” Hanten said.

At the same time, the department liberalized walleye limits, allowing anglers to take 14 walleye a day, with a three-day possession limit. “We also encouraged harvest of white bass and catfish,” Hanten said.

Later, GF&P realized it was putting its salmon program at risk by not stocking at least small numbers each year, because they do not naturally reproduce in Lake Oahe, Hanten said. With salmon maturing in three to four years, fisheries biologists worried about creating a void in the population.

GF&P resumed stocking smaller numbers of salmon in 2003, and the population has been recovering since, he said. “This year, we’re expecting a decent run of salmon back into that Whitock Bay area,” Hanten said.

Meanwhile, this will be the third year that low water levels have made it impossible to use the spawning station at West Whitlock Bay, Hanten said.

But the state has received salmon eggs from North Dakota and is able to collect small numbers of eggs using electricity pulsed into the water from boats to temporarily stun the salmon.

“Right now, we’re optimistic that we’ll be able to collect enough salmon eggs to meet South Dakota’s needs for next year’s stocking,” Hanten said.

Contact Steve Miller at 394-8417 or steve.miller@rapidcityjournal.com