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Home › Waters › South Dakota › Belle Fourche Reservoir
Reservoir · Butte County, an irrigation reservoir behind Orman Dam on the plains northeast of the Black Hills · South Dakota

Belle Fourche Reservoir Fishing Guides

An irrigation reservoir behind Orman Dam whose elevation gauge is the whole story, because the drawdown decides what is fishable from one month to the next.

Dock pilings standing in flat water against a wooded far bank
Gauge location. Map data © OpenStreetMap contributors.

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About the Belle Fourche Reservoir

Belle Fourche Reservoir lies on the open plains northeast of the Black Hills, held behind Orman Dam, and was built in the early 1900s as one of the first Bureau of Reclamation projects in the country. It exists to store irrigation water for the Belle Fourche valley, and everything about the fishing follows from that. At full pool it covers some eight thousand acres. By the end of a demanding irrigation season it can be very substantially lower, with broad mudflats where there was water in June.

The gauge reports reservoir elevation, and on this water that number is not background information but the central fact of any trip. Ramps that are usable in spring can be left high and dry by late summer in a dry year. Shoreline features change completely between visits. Anglers who fish it regularly check the elevation before loading the boat, and visitors who do not are the ones who end up dragging a trailer across gravel.

When there is water in it, the reservoir fishes well. Walleye are the principal target and are the reason most boats are there, worked along the old creek channels and the rocky points. Northern pike are numerous and run to a good size, holding in whatever vegetation the current water level has left standing. Smallmouth have established themselves on the rockier shorelines. Perch and crappie provide the panfish interest and can be excellent in the right year. The surroundings are open, treeless and exposed, which matters: wind builds fast across the plains here and a reservoir this broad becomes genuinely unpleasant and sometimes unsafe in a strong blow, so a look at the forecast belongs alongside the look at the elevation.

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Version 1.0, dated 6 September 2026. Applies to every photograph submitted to GuidedFloats through the contact form, a species page, or the community board.

1. What you give us

By ticking the box on the form you grant Guided Floats, LLC (“GuidedFloats”, “we”) a non-exclusive, worldwide, royalty-free license to store, copy, resize, crop and display your photograph on guidedfloats.com, in GuidedFloats’ own social media accounts and mobile apps, and in material that promotes the site itself, in connection with the fish, water or community feature you sent it in for. The license lasts until you withdraw it (section 4).

You keep the copyright. The license is not exclusive, so you can use the photo anywhere else and license it to anyone else. We will not sell your photo, license it on to anyone else on its own, or use it in paid advertising for a third party.

2. What you confirm

You confirm that you took the photograph yourself (or otherwise own the rights to it), that you have the right to grant this license, and that publishing the photo does not infringe anyone else’s copyright, privacy or other rights.

If any person is recognisable in the photo, you confirm that they have agreed to its being published here, and that a parent or guardian has agreed on behalf of anyone under 18. Please do not send photographs of other people’s catches, screenshots, or pictures copied from other websites or social media.

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We print the credit name you give us beside the photo wherever it appears on the site, and record it as the photo’s creator in the page’s structured data. If you leave the credit blank we use the name you gave us on the form. Write “Anonymous” if you prefer no name at all. Your email address, phone number and the exact spot the photo was taken are never published.

4. Withdrawing the license

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5. What we may do

We choose which photos to publish and may decline any submission without giving a reason. We may crop, resize, sharpen or colour-correct a photo for display, and we may remove a photo at any time. We will not alter a photo in a way that misrepresents the fish, the water or you.

6. Your details

We keep your name, email address, the credit name, the water and date you gave us, and the network address the submission came from, with the submission record, as our evidence of this license. We hold that record for as long as the photo is published and for the retention period described in our privacy policy. Location data that your camera or phone embedded in the file is removed before the photo is published.

7. Versions

The version of this license you accepted is stored with your submission and printed with the photo. A later version does not apply to a photo you have already sent unless you agree to it.

Pool right now

56.87ft NGVD29
  • 24 hours+0.05 ft → steady

Reading taken 1h ago at USGS 06435000, BELLE FOURCHE RESERVOIR NEAR BELLE FOURCHE SD. Elevation is the surface of the lake above the survey datum, not depth. Source.

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Posting to Belle Fourche Reservoir.

JPG, PNG or WebP, up to 12 MB. We resize it and strip the location data out of the file.

The name shown under the photo. Leave blank to stay anonymous.

Reader photo license v1.0 — the short version:

  • You grant Guided Floats, LLC a non-exclusive, royalty-free license to publish, resize and crop your photo on guidedfloats.com and in GuidedFloats’ own social posts and apps. You keep the copyright and can use the photo anywhere else.
  • You confirm that you took the photo yourself, that publishing it does not infringe anyone else’s rights, and that anyone recognisable in it (or a parent or guardian, if they are under 18) is happy for it to appear here.
  • Credit is printed beside the photo wherever it appears on the site, using the credit name you give us. Leave it blank and we use your name; write “Anonymous” for no name. Your email address is never published.
  • Withdrawing is one email to hello@guidedfloats.com naming the photo. It comes off the site within 7 days.
Read the full license

Version 1.0, dated 6 September 2026. Applies to every photograph submitted to GuidedFloats through the contact form, a species page, or the community board.

1. What you give us

By ticking the box on the form you grant Guided Floats, LLC (“GuidedFloats”, “we”) a non-exclusive, worldwide, royalty-free license to store, copy, resize, crop and display your photograph on guidedfloats.com, in GuidedFloats’ own social media accounts and mobile apps, and in material that promotes the site itself, in connection with the fish, water or community feature you sent it in for. The license lasts until you withdraw it (section 4).

You keep the copyright. The license is not exclusive, so you can use the photo anywhere else and license it to anyone else. We will not sell your photo, license it on to anyone else on its own, or use it in paid advertising for a third party.

2. What you confirm

You confirm that you took the photograph yourself (or otherwise own the rights to it), that you have the right to grant this license, and that publishing the photo does not infringe anyone else’s copyright, privacy or other rights.

If any person is recognisable in the photo, you confirm that they have agreed to its being published here, and that a parent or guardian has agreed on behalf of anyone under 18. Please do not send photographs of other people’s catches, screenshots, or pictures copied from other websites or social media.

3. Credit

We print the credit name you give us beside the photo wherever it appears on the site, and record it as the photo’s creator in the page’s structured data. If you leave the credit blank we use the name you gave us on the form. Write “Anonymous” if you prefer no name at all. Your email address, phone number and the exact spot the photo was taken are never published.

4. Withdrawing the license

You can withdraw the license at any time by emailing hello@guidedfloats.com, or by using the contact form, and telling us which photo you mean. We will remove the photo from guidedfloats.com within 7 days of receiving your message and stop using it in anything new. Copies that are already outside our control — search-engine caches, social posts that have already gone out, printed material already produced — may take longer to disappear or may not be recallable, and we are not responsible for those.

5. What we may do

We choose which photos to publish and may decline any submission without giving a reason. We may crop, resize, sharpen or colour-correct a photo for display, and we may remove a photo at any time. We will not alter a photo in a way that misrepresents the fish, the water or you.

6. Your details

We keep your name, email address, the credit name, the water and date you gave us, and the network address the submission came from, with the submission record, as our evidence of this license. We hold that record for as long as the photo is published and for the retention period described in our privacy policy. Location data that your camera or phone embedded in the file is removed before the photo is published.

7. Versions

The version of this license you accepted is stored with your submission and printed with the photo. A later version does not apply to a photo you have already sent unless you agree to it.

Lake level alert

Tell me when the pool at Belle Fourche Reservoir ft (NGVD29)

Now: 56.87 ft pool elevation, read 5:15 pm CDT, Sun Oct 18, 2026 (USGS 06435000, BELLE FOURCHE RESERVOIR NEAR BELLE FOURCHE SD).

We never use this address for anything else and never share it. See the privacy policy.

Access

Belle Fourche - the town southwest of the reservoir, with fuel, tackle, groceries and lodging.
Rocky Point Recreation Area - the main developed access on the reservoir with ramps, camping and shoreline.
Orman Dam - the dam at the southern end, with bank access and a view of the whole water body.
Belle Fourche River - the inflowing river above the reservoir and its outlet below, both fishable.
Spearfish - a larger town to the south with full services and access to Black Hills trout water.
Spearfish Creek - a well-known Black Hills trout stream within easy reach for a change of fishing.
Newell - the small community northeast of the reservoir, nearest to the upper end.

Seasons

Spring: the strongest season, with walleye and pike active in shallow water and the reservoir near full pool.
Summer: fish move deeper as the water warms and the drawdown begins, with wind dictating most days.
Fall: cooling water and a low reservoir concentrate fish, and walleye and pike feed hard before freeze-up.
Winter: a solid ice fishery for perch, walleye and pike, with access depending on how far the pool has dropped.

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Questions

What species can you catch on the Belle Fourche Reservoir?

Anglers target Black Crappie, Bluegill, Carp, Channel Catfish, Largemouth Bass, Northern Pike, Smallmouth Bass, Walleye, White Sucker, Yellow Perch on the Belle Fourche Reservoir in South Dakota.

Where can you access the Belle Fourche Reservoir?

Belle Fourche - the town southwest of the reservoir, with fuel, tackle, groceries and lodging. Rocky Point Recreation Area - the main developed access on the reservoir with ramps, camping and shoreline. Orman Dam - the dam at the southern end, with bank access and a view of the whole water body. Belle Fourche River - the inflowing river above the reservoir and its outlet below, both fishable. Spearfish - a larger town to the south with full services and access to Black Hills trout water. Spearfish Creek - a well-known Black Hills trout stream within easy reach for a change of fishing. Newell -...

When is the best time to fish the Belle Fourche Reservoir?

Spring: the strongest season, with walleye and pike active in shallow water and the reservoir near full pool. Summer: fish move deeper as the water warms and the drawdown begins, with wind dictating most days. Fall: cooling water and a low reservoir concentrate fish, and walleye and pike feed hard before freeze-up. Winter: a solid ice fishery for perch, walleye and pike, with access depending on how far the pool has dropped.

Where are the fishing regulations for the Belle Fourche Reservoir?

Regulations change by season and section. Read the current rules on the South Dakota agency site: https://gfp.sd.gov/pages/regulations/