The south shore of Lake Alvin from the boat ramp
We made our little trip last week to Island Lake north of Humboldt, South Dakota and while we did get out lures and fishing line wet, it was very unlike the fishing we normally do. Having to go another week without some fishing was really out of the question. Man cannot live by bread alone. He must fish too!! We cashed in our pop cans this week for gas money and only came up with $8.36. We are really in need of a sponsor here. We knew we could not wander far and because there is no boat ramp at Covell Lake, we decided on Lake Alvin mostly based on location.
There was nice looking structure most of the way around the lake.
The bass clubs have done a great deal of work at Lake Alvin over the years. They have caught stunted bass from some west river stock dams several times in the last 20 years and with the help of Game, Fish and Parks, relocated them to several lakes on the eastern side of South Dakota. Lake Alvin was one of the recipients of those bass. They also cut down a bunch of old dead wood from the shorelines of Lake Alvin and sunk the wood randomly about the lake using concrete blocks to build some structure to hold the bass.
Sure beats the view we would have had if we had gone to work today instead.
Over the years, I have heard of all this work being done at Lake Alvin but I have never really heard of anyone taking advantage of the fishing there. When our boys were small, we used to spend some time at Lake Alvin fishing for crappie and bluegill. We always did well but when we moved out west, the trips were better spent going to places that were closer. The last couple years since moving back here, I have ice fished Lake Alvin a couple times and caught several small hammer handle sized northern pike.
Dad's first bass of the day and so far, the largest of the year.
Our little trip today turned out to be a real treat. Partly because I enjoyed getting back to Alvin and partly because I just like fishing with Dad. The water temp was 68 degrees when we arrived and warmed a few degrees as the day passed. We motored (very slowly as Lake Alvin is a no wake lake) over to the dam and we started working west from there. There was almost no wind at all when we started and even when we where finished for the day, it had not blown over five knots. There was another fella fishing from the handicapped dock and before we left, the lake was getting downright crowded so apparently others enjoy fishing here too. Maybe they just do not have many pop cans to cash in either.
Honest, if this is the same fish as the first picture, he caught it twice.
Dad caught a nice bass fairly early in the day that went about 3 pounds or so and then just a little bit later, he either caught another one the same size or he caught the same one again. Those two bass have been our largest fish of the year so far. I know it is only June 1st but usually by this time of the year, we have caught several large already. This has been a different kind of spring I guess. Overall, we had 5 bass today and yes, I did catch one of them. It was the smallest one but I did also catch a northern that was in the 2-3 pound range. I did have another northern that was larger but when he decided to go the other way, the 6 inches of frayed line scrapping across his razor-like teeth lacked the integrity to allow me to change his direction.
We may have to come back here again. There was time for a good day of fishing and being so close to home, a nap afterwards.
I believe everything we caught today, with the exception of my northern, was on a Texas rigged brush hog type of a plastic creature bait. I thought it looked good but then I think they all look good. The northern I caught was on the infamous PB&J jig with a Gulp trailer. It is a good thing I was not born a fish as I would have never made it to 6 inches and I would have been fried because I think they all look good.
Overall the lake is nice. Being so close to Sioux Falls, there was far less litter than I expected but if you come out, don't bring any more and take an extra piece home with you and we will have it looking good in no time.
We may have to make the drive back to Lake Alvin again. Especially when the pop cans are low. This is a nice looking piece of water and while I know it does get some pressure being so close to Sioux Falls, we proved today there are some nice fish here. If anyone would have told me last year we would catch bigger fish at Lake Alvin than we did at Lake Henry so far this year, we could have had them committed for being plum crazy. Who knew? It has been a strange year so far.
