Mud Lake Fishing near Lennox, South Dakota

• Overview

  Mud Lake sits in Turner County, out in South Dakota. The setting is rolling bush on every side. It runs to roughly 216 acres — big enough to hold fish away from the bank, small enough to learn. Ground here is low by South Dakota standards. Supplies mean a trip to Lennox, 8.8 miles off. Sioux Falls is the closest city, 24 miles away. It sits well inside its county, with no border complications.

• Where to Fish on Mud Lake

  No chart reached our records; the first cast is your sounding. Look for the band where the shallows give up and the bottom falls away. Weed, then depth: that is the order to fish a water of this kind. Fish documented in Turner County include green sunfish, common carp, orangespotted sunfish and black bullhead. It is the county picture; the agency list is water-specific. On Mud Lake the first feature you find is usually worth a session.

• Seasonal Patterns

  Average temperature peaks around 73°F in July and bottoms out near 15°F in January. Hard water is a season in its own right here. Ice is part of the season here, ending near early April. Averages suggest open water from about early April through to roughly early December. June through September is the settled part of the year, with the shoulders busier for fish. Mud Lake runs to that rhythm year in and year out.

• Tackle & Baits

  We have no record of the rules that apply on this bank. No slipway, car park or made path shows up nearby in mapping, so treat access as rough. For the catfish, fish bottom baits into the deeper holes and let them sit. A phone call first saves an afternoon. Some ground is open by custom rather than by right, so tread carefully. If the gate is shut, Swan Lake at 6 miles is the nearest alternative. Check the current arrangement for Mud Lake.