Dept. of Game, Fish and Parks
For Immediate Release: Wednesday, March 21, 2001
For more information: Dennis Unkenholz, 773-4508

LIBERAL WALLEYE LIMITS IN EFFECT ON LAKE OAHE

PIERRE – Anglers visiting Lake Oahe this spring and summer will be allowed unusually liberal walleye limits, according to Game, Fish and Parks officials.

"Several years of research shows that the availability of food for predator fish in Lake Oahe has fallen to a level where walleyes are not finding enough to eat," said Dennis Unkenholz, head of the fisheries program for the Department of Game, Fish and Parks. "Those fish are growing at the slowest rate that has ever been recorded for Lake Oahe walleyes. By increasing the creel limits, we hope to reduce the number of walleyes by increasing harvest. This should allow bait fish, such as smelt, shiners and yellow perch, to increase in numbers."

On all other inland waters of the state, the daily limit for walleye is four, and the possession limit is eight. On Lakes Sharpe and Francis Case there is a minimum size restriction of 15 inches, and only one fish 18 inches or longer may be kept. A number of other inland waters also have specific size-limit restrictions.

On Lake Oahe, anglers can keep four walleyes 15 inches or longer, and of those, no more than one may be 18 inches or longer. However, an additional 10 fish under 15 inches in length is added to Lake Oahe’s daily limit, for a total of 14.

Anglers should note that all 14 walleyes of the Lake Oahe daily limit could be less than 15 inches. The possession limit for Lake Oahe is 42, taken in accordance with the daily limit.

The new limit structure for walleyes caught from Lake Oahe has brought questions on how the limits of fish may be taken. Unkenholz said the first thing that must be considered is what type of license is purchased.

Anglers in South Dakota will be able to purchase a traditional fishing license, which is valid statewide. But anglers fishing only Lake Oahe may purchase a reduced-price license valid only on Lake Oahe. Either way, only one license is required for fishing on Lake Oahe, and anyone fishing with the traditional statewide fishing license is eligible to take the liberalized limit of walleyes from Lake Oahe. The special Lake Oahe fishing licenses are valid only on Lake Oahe, and are available from license agents located around Lake Oahe.

"Below the Oahe Dam near Pierre is the headwaters of Lake Sharpe. The Oahe license is not valid on Lake Sharpe or on any other body of water in the state. It is valid only on Lake Oahe," Unkenholz noted.

Regulations allow for one limit of fish daily, including Lake Oahe limits, for anglers with a statewide license. For instance, if an angler is fishing Lake Oahe and he or she has kept four walleyes, they are not allowed to catch and keep additional walleyes that same day on other waters. Four walleyes caught and kept in possession on Lake Oahe will satisfy the statewide daily limit. One could continue fishing on Lake Oahe until they fill the daily limit there. Likewise, if one catches four walleyes on any other inland body of water, he or she could move to Lake Oahe to catch an additional 10 walleyes there.

Possession limits can be counted for Lake Oahe and other South Dakota waters separately, but they must be caught within the daily limit provisions. In other words, an angler might fish one day on a lake in the northeastern part of the state and catch a limit of four walleyes. He or she might then take a three-day trip to Lake Oahe and catch a daily limit of 14 walleyes each day. This angler could bring that three-day limit of 42 walleye back to their home and add to the four walleyes already in their freezer. One would then be able to go to a lake in northeastern South Dakota and catch another daily limit of four walleyes. Those four, added to the limit of four walleyes that you had taken earlier on the northeastern lake, would bring the possession limit to eight walleyes. That limit is counted separately from the possession limit of 42 walleyes brought home from Lake Oahe. Following these daily possession rules and fishing a minimum of five days, an angler could conceivably have a possession limit of 50 walleyes in their freezer. However, they would have to fish five days or more to do so.

"Obviously, 50 walleyes is a considerable amount of fish," Unkenholz said. "It is legal if an individual follows the strict daily limit guidelines, and we are in fact encouraging anglers to take advantage of these liberal limits on Lake Oahe. At no time, however, is it legal to have in one's possession more than eight walleyes taken from any other body of water in the state other than Lake Oahe."

Unkenholz added that conservation officers will be watching other bodies of water in the state to make sure anglers are adhering to the lower walleye limit.

Due to its close proximity to Lake Oahe, officers will be paying special attention to Lake Sharpe, and a number of special enforcement details have already been arranged. 

"We are not encouraging greed among anglers, but rather seeking their assistance in harvesting additional walleyes from a large body of water that needs a population reduction," Unkenholz said. "I think sportsmen and women recognize other bodies of water will be adversely affected by over-fishing. We are going to do everything we can to guard against that."

An explanation of the Lake Oahe fishing rules can be found on pages 15, 28, 29 and 30 of the South Dakota 2001 Fishing Handbook. The Lake Oahe fishing rules can also be viewed from the GF&P website at http://www.state.sd.us/gfp/fishing/Index.htm. 

Any violation of fishing regulations can be reported by calling the TIPs 24-hour hotline at 1-800-592-5522, a conservation officer, or a Game, Fish and Parks office.

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