Photo by Ron Sinfelt.

January on the northern plains ushers in not only a new year, but also a new season on the great outdoor playing field we call the Dakotas. Having just put another great season afield to rest, it’s time to kick back and look ahead to the next big outdoor adventure. For most of us, that’s simple: Switch gears into fishing mode and dust off the ice-fishing equipment.

It can be a bit depressing to put Old Betsy in the gun cabinet for another year, but after the great fall bite witnessed in many of our lakes and rivers and improved water levels across the board, anticipation for another good ice-fishing season is the best thing going in the long month of January.

I read last year that a warming trend (global or otherwise) had put a hurt on much of the ice-fishing in many Midwestern states. That certainly wasn’t the case in the Dakotas. While many Midwesterners were busy looking for safe ice to walk on, people in our neck of the woods were looking for extensions for their ice augers.

I love to ice-fish, but the thought of falling through thin ice can keep a guy awake at night. Thanks to a couple of brutal cold fronts last December, over 25 inches of good ice could be found at my familiar haunts along the James River in central South Dakota when I first hit the ice last year. (Continued)

This was no serious charge for trophy fish, nor anything else of that nature -- only family fishing for anything that would bite, and a chance to get outside. Don’t get me wrong: The Jim River holds its share of big fish -- but just an occasional flag or disappearing bobber was all we were looking for. When the smoke cleared at the end of the afternoon, we had accomplished just that: about six good hits and three fish on the ice -- all of them pike from 3 to 8 pounds.

Whether you’re a serious, diehard angler heading out to the big ice fields with a host of electronic gadgets or the guy who just wants to sit on a five-gallon bucket and stare at a hole in the ice for a couple of hours before sunset, it all starts this month -- and the hard water of the Dakotas has something for everyone. Here’s a look at a few of top prospects for this year and what anglers can expect when they hit the ice.

One of the best hardwater bites going last year occurred along the North and South Dakota border at Lake Oahe, near Pollock, S.D., and this should be another banner year for the area. Depending on ice conditions, this action should be taking off any day, and if you like to ice-fish for walleyes, this is the place to be. It’s no secret that Oahe is back on top of its game, producing scores of chunky walleyes in the 18- to 21-inch range and beyond. The walleye population in the entire Lake Oahe system is in great shape, and owing to the annual late-fall migration into the Mobridge/Pollock area, tons of (usually) very accommodating fish should be in the area by now.

Ice-fishing Oahe has always been a tough call because of safe-ice concerns, but this stretch of the river generally enjoys a good run starting later this month, and that can continue into March. When the fish are going, it’s a great place to be. No secret hotspots or tricky techniques are involved -- just a well-established bite announced by the sight of anglers, portable shacks and ATVs and the sound of early-morning ice-augers. Plop down a few minnows and get ready. If you have any questions on where to stay, where they’re biting or ice conditions, just call Bob Beyers at the West Pollock Resort, and he’ll answer all of your questions.

The next stop is near the town of Webster, S.D., which sits smack in the middle of some of the best ice-fishing action in South Dakota. Within a 30-minute drive of the town lie roughly 15 productive lakes, any one of which is producing not only walleyes right now, but also perch, pike and crappie.

This area in the northeast part of the state annually provides the bulk of the state’s ice-fishing action, and by looking at last year’s action, the fall bite and current fish populations, anglers can quickly find a bite that suits their specific tastes.