Ice fishing lake trout in the Black Hills of South Dakota. An exotic ice fishing experience, lake trout are not native to this scenic area. Through either stocking or transplanting, Pactola Reservoir and Deerfield Reservoir have a strong population of lake trout.
These fish however don’t act like your typical lake trout. You can throw your deep water structure and tube jigs out the window. These fish can often be found shallow and often seem to prefer smaller tackle, comparable to what you would use to target walleye. Combine small tackle, lighter rods and shallow water with one of the hardest fighting fish that swims under the ice.
Depending on the reservoir, ice anglers can find not only lake trout but rainbow trout, brook trout and brown trout. Some reservoirs also have bluegill, crappie, northern pike, largemouth bass and yellow perch. We reason that many of these lake trout are actually feeding on yellow perch and bluegill and this is the reason we find lake trout so shallow in this region.
Lake trout well over twenty pounds and thirty five inches are caught in this area each winter. By lake trout standards, these fisheries are small so we encourage safe fish handling and healthy releases so these fisheries can continue to flourish with big fish potential. When you leave the Black Hills of South Dakota, you have to travel a considerable distance to find the next closest lake trout fishery, perhaps Fort Peck in Montana or northern Minnesota. Really a jewel of a fishery that often flies under the radar. The scenery around you while you fish is also breathtaking.
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