See every public fishing venue in South Dakota on the map, with boat ramps, camping, parking and full rules for each one.
Willow Creek is a public river in Butte County, South Dakota. You can fish it on a South Dakota fishing licence; bank access is at bridge crossings, GFP access points and public parks. South Dakota riverbeds are private property up to the ordinary high-water mark except on a few federally-declared-navigable reaches, so wading or bank fishing away from a public access point needs the landowner's permission.
It runs roughly 34 miles through the Black Hills region. The nearest other mapped waters on PiscaMaps are Ninemile Creek and Jug Creek.
Night fishing: No statewide night-fishing closure in South Dakota. Snagging, gigging, bowfishing and setlines for carp, gar, buffalo and catfish are legal on most waters with their own seasons and gear rules; the four Missouri River reservoirs have specific paddlefish-snagging seasons.
Boats: Most South Dakota rivers (the James, Big Sioux, Vermillion, and the West River creeks) are waded or floated by canoe, kayak and jon boat; the Missouri River reservoirs and the lower James take full-size boats.
Bank & bivvy camping: South Dakota treats a 'meandered' waterway (surveyed as navigable at statehood — the Missouri, James, Big Sioux and most major lakes/rivers) as fully public. Many prairie lakes are legally 'non-meandered' with a privately-owned bed; a 2017 state law (SDCL 41-2-18 et seq.) keeps these open to public fishing and boating via GFP-marked public access points, even though the lakebed itself is private — always launch/access from a signed public site, not by crossing private land.
Anyone 16 or older needs a South Dakota fishing licence — the resident annual is about $28, the non-resident annual about $73, with non-resident 1-day (~$16) and 3-day licences also sold. No separate trout stamp is required — the standard licence covers Black Hills trout water. South Dakota residents 65 and older can buy a discounted senior combination licence, and anyone under 16 fishes free with a licensed adult. Buy from GFP at gfp.sd.gov.
Every water carries species, bank & boat access, current regulations and live water conditions — and members get Swim Mapper, Catch Logger and Trip Planner. It's the only US map with a dedicated carp-water layer.
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