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I hope there is enough fishing there, I have to move to Elsworth in jan. Moving from alaska leaves me with pretty high expectations.
No salmon fishing, but there are some large brown trout hanging out in Pactola. The record brown trout was caught near where hatchery trout are released, so go figure. The large browns like those 3-inch fingerling rainbows that are released in Pactola.
My experience last summer tells me otherwise on Spring Creek. I did catch a TON of little 3-inch something there though that were a nuisance after the first two or so.
From what I've been told, the only two streams that have a self-sustaining trout population are Rapid Creek and Spearfish Creek. The rest are stocked on a regular basis though.
If you want to fly fish I recommend going to the little fly shop in downtown Rapid and asking about current fishing patterns. They were helpful when I was there last summer. They may also have a Black Hills fishing guide you could pick up for free.
Did anyone take over Harry Slaughter's fly shop along Rapid Creek? He was the go-to guy for me when I was first learning to fly-fish, back in 1973 and 1974.
I fly-fished around the Black Hills way back in the mid 1970s and found that Rapid Creek and Spearfish Creek had the best populations of rainbows and brown trout (very finicky). There are some cool places elsewhere (French Creek, Boxelder Creek) but those have mostly smallish trout with the occasional lunker brown. A few beaver-dams back then had Brook trout but those rarely got very large.
For me fly-fishing is about 90% the environment and 10% catching fish. The Black Hills are cool. I last fished it in 1998, so my information is dated, eh?
No salmon fishing, but there are some large brown trout hanging out in Pactola. The record brown trout was caught near where hatchery trout are released, so go figure. The large browns like those 3-inch fingerling rainbows that are released in Pactola.
There is some great lakes Salomon on Lake Oahe, above Pierre.
I went fishing when I was there this past summer with a girl I had just met the day before. It was around midnight off a bridge outside of Box Elder, and I think it was called the Bel river not sure though. But anyways, we caught a catfish about 30 seconds after casting. I was amazed to say the least.
Hahaha...yeah you got it. The very first time I ever went fly fishing, I was only 15 and visiting my sister who lived in Rapid City. She dropped me off at Canyon Lake Park and I walked upstream along Rapid Creek. Huge brown trout were lazing in a long pool but I could get none of them of interested in my dry fly. They weren't particularly scared of my clumsy casting efforts, which was puzzling. After walking for a while, I came upon the Cleghorn fish hatchery and realised that the browns were either escapees, or released breeders. What they were probably waiting for was some food in, ah, Size Pee-Gravel! (Like the hatchery food.)
I am new here in Rapid City. I am originally from Hawaii and that's where I learned to fish from offshore and I love to fish. I am new to freshwater fishing and I see that there are some fish in the creek and I have caught one or two trout but not consistently so I figure someone from around here must have some tips that they could share... it's not as if i will be able to catch all the fish and not leave any for anyone else to catch...
and it would be nice to just drive a block down the road and be able to fish. I am near Prairie Market and the School of Mines. I am on a fixed income so I don't have enough dough for the gas to just drive miles away to Canyon Lake or Pactola although I could save up to do that once in a while but with a creek nearby that has fish in it... why not?
I have tried behind the fairgrounds too where the creek comes to a kind of a waterfall (?) I once caught a nice trout from there... any tips? Please?
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Rapid Creek tips? :o
