Both the deep, cold waters of Lake Oahe and the prairie lakes of central South Dakota provide excellent year-round fishing for northern pike. Caught with dead bait rigs in the cool early spring, spoons and crankbaits as the water warms, these fish often reach 20 pounds or larger. In the spring of 1993, for example, a record-setting 36-pound pike was pulled from Oahe's chilly depths. Trophy pike are fished from local lakes year-round; the species is a common ice-fishing catch.