Walleyes are almost everywhere in the topnotch winter fishing territory that is eastern South Dakota. Other top lakes this winter are Reetz, Bitter and Enemy Swim.

Waubay is perennially profitable, reported Mark Ermer, regional SDDGFP fisheries manager at Webster. "Waubay continues to be one of the best places," he said. "(Anglers) typically find some of the deepest water, over 20 feet, and use little ice jigs with spikes or wax worms."

Ermer believes that Waubay's perch are reaching old age -- at least, that many of them are. The year-classes are now 8 to 10 years old, positively geriatric by piscine standards. And those that remain are also probably fairly intelligent, and lucky, having evaded ice-fishing lures and baits for most of the decade.

"In Waubay it is an old age of fish," said Ermer. "The males are 9 inches, females 10 to 12 inches; it is the end of their life span. We are really surprised they are hanging on. When those fish go, it will slow down, no doubt, in Waubay. They were huge year-classes. Anyone who fished here in the early 2000s caught those. They have been slowly whittling them down. We have a decent fishable population in the lake, but it is not what it was four years ago. 2000 and 2001 were really good years."

Those perch are providing the tail-end of the good fishing that ice-fishermen will be taking advantage of right now. "We get them up to 12 1/2 and 13 inches," remarked Ermer. "That is the top end. They are fat fish. There is still a lot of productivity; they are full of freshwater shrimp."

The next stage of the upswing will be ushered in by more water, flooding the shorelines and starting the cycle again, most likely after deep winter snows -- which, Ermer pointed out, haven't fallen for five years.

But some of the predators are still doing well, including northern pike. One of the best places for them is Bitter Lake. Ermer recommends the south end, where the water is shallow. "Typically, an average fish is 4 to 8 pounds," said Ermer. "They aren't exceptionally big."

For a somewhat different type of ice-fishing, some South Dakota fishermen are going after bluegills this winter. One of the best spots for this: Enemy Swim Lake.

"They don't fish bluegills much, but some guys specifically target them," said Ermer. "Enemy Swim is good. The top size has gotten smaller over the years. Lynn Lake has a low population for bluegills, but the ones you catch are really big -- usually over 10 inches."