Goose Lake Fishing Guide, Codington County, South Dakota

• Overview

  Set in Codington County, South Dakota, this is Goose Lake. Around the bank it is rolling bush. At 2.4 sq miles this is proper open water rather than a pond. Around 9.2 miles of bank, which is a long day on foot. The nearest place of any size is Watertown, 8.9 miles away. Sioux Falls sits 93 miles out, and it is the nearest city worth the name. A border sits close enough to be relevant to the paperwork.

• Where to Fish on Goose Lake

  Depth figures are not published for this one. Bays and points beat straight shoreline every time on water like this. A soft bed grows weed late into autumn, which keeps fish shallow. County-wide records name Iowa darter, green sunfish, white sucker and northern pike. What holds for the county may not hold for this water. Read Goose Lake before you fish it and the day goes better.

• Seasonal Patterns

  Seasonal averages run from 11°F in January up to 71°F in July. Cold winters and warm summers give a wide working range. Ice fishing carries the winter, and the water opens about early April. Climate averages put the opening at about early April and the closing near late November. Right after break-up, and again as the nights sharpen, is when to go. Plan any trip to Goose Lake around it.

• Tackle & Baits

  Who may fish here is not settled in anything we hold. Records list it as a natural water body rather than an impoundment. No car park, ramp or path is recorded within easy reach of the shore. A wire trace and a big bright lure handle the pike; deep water asks for a heavier spoon. A landowner's word beats anything printed elsewhere. Where tickets apply, they are sold in the nearest town rather than on the bank. For a change of water, Pelican Lake is 5.1 miles distant. What applies at Goose Lake may have changed since it was mapped.