• SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (AP) -- Spearfishing guide Bill Donovan has spent dozens of his summers making the long trek from Sioux Falls to the Missouri River, though he'd love to be able to enjoy his sport a little closer to home.
• South Dakota's spearfishing season opens Saturday, but for those wanting to target popular game fish -- such as walleyes or crappie -- heading out to the Missouri from Pierre to Pickstown is about the only option.
• "It would sure be nice to not have to drive 250 miles to go shoot a walleye," Donovan said.
• The Game, Fish and Parks Commission this past year expanded spearfishing in the state, extending the season's winter ending dates by a half-month and allowing for the spearing of northern pike in the state's East River lakes.
• The commission made the change because state's waterways had an abundance of northern pike, said Geno Adams, GF&P's fisheries program administrator.
• "That opportunity is there for people," Adams said. "It's not going to impact anything biologically by allowing people to spear those pike. There's a small contingency of people who do that."
• But Donovan said the expansion is largely symbolic.
• "They threw a carrot at us, but the carrot didn't have any meat on it," he said.
• Donovan, a Sioux Falls shop owner who guides groups on the Missouri each summer, wants the commission to turn spearfishing into a year-round activity as East River lakes are typically too cloudy by the time season opens on June 15.
• "You've got to be able to see them to shoot them," said Donovan, of Donovan Hobby & Scuba. "You need to open this thing up so we can go when the water is clear, not when the season's on."

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