Fishing Grass Lake in Codington County, South Dakota

• Overview

  You will find Grass Lake in Codington County, South Dakota. It sits at 1,732 feet above sea level. It measures some 3.5 sq miles, and wind has room to build across it. Some 9.4 miles of bank gives room to move when the wind turns. Size puts it in the front rank of our Codington County list. The closest town, Watertown, is 18 miles away. Webster follows at 19 miles, then Clark at 22 miles. One jurisdiction covers this water end to end.

• Where to Fish on Grass Lake

  No chart reached our records; the first cast is your sounding. The productive water is a rod length or two out, not a hundred. Still water like this holds fish on the edges rather than out in the open. Fish documented in Codington County include Iowa darter, green sunfish, white sucker, northern pike and yellow perch. County data is a starting point rather than a guarantee. The shape of Grass Lake decides where the fish sit.

• Seasonal Patterns

  The warmest month averages 71°F, the coldest about 11°F. Hard water is a season in its own right here. The freeze runs deep into the year, with break-up near early April. Average temperatures cross freezing around early April in spring and again near late November in autumn. The weeks after the thaw and the ones before the freeze are the strongest. It sets the rhythm of the year at Grass Lake.

• Tackle & Baits

  Whether the bank is open is not something our records settle. This is a natural basin, not a dammed one. This sits inside Dayton GPA, so read the reserve notices first. Pike mean a wire trace, no exceptions; big spoons and jerkbaits do the searching. A phone call first saves an afternoon. Night access is frequently treated as a separate matter. Should this one be busy, Kings Lake is 3 miles off. Treat access at Grass Lake as something to verify.