Lake Preston, SD:  Tracy, Jesse, Matt, and I left Iowa on January 15th for the northeastern corner of South Dakota to meet Ralph from Tea, SD, and spend our weekend ice fishing area lakes around Lake Preston, SD.  Matt’s friend, Tim, from Sibley, IA, joined us for the weekend, too.  We fished Lake Thompson all day Friday and Saturday.  Friday we fished on the northern side of Lake Thompson gaining access to the lake over an ice jam that had formed along the shoreline.  We set up our Clam, Frabill, and Otter shacks and the first fish was a pike Matt caught on a “jawjacker”.  We caught a few more crappie and a walleye and felt we were off to a good start.  However, Saturday’s weather forecast was for 30-50 mph winds and the weatherman was spot on.  Matt and Tim left in Tim’s truck to fish some area lakes Tim had fished in the past.  They never set up the Frabill tent but fished with the truck breaking the wind from their buckets.  They managed to catch a walleye and some crappie.  Tracy, Jesse, Ralph, and I drove to the southwestern corner of Lake Thompson and joined many other anglers on the west side of the lake.  We used our vehicle and trailer along with Ralph’s truck to break the wind.  I’ve never fished in conditions like we experienced on Saturday.  Tracy and I did not catch a keeper fish but Ralph and Jesse caught a few.  The equipment held up in the wind and we stayed out on the ice till dark hoping for the late afternoon bite which never arrived.  Sunday we headed to Lake Whitewood and fished the shallow water lake in depths around seven feet.  I fished with Ralph while Jesse fished with Tracy.  We had a beautiful weather day with little wind, sunshine, and warmer temps.  Matt and Tim fished outside, never used the Frabill, and caught a bunch of crappies.  Tracy caught a nice walleye and Jesse caught a beaut of a perch.  Ralph caught a few perch with me.  I managed to get one good bite and one perch in the bucket!  We were amazed at how many anglers were on the ice at Whitewood.  Our bite died early afternoon but we stayed out till dark hoping for the light transition bite.  We had a lot more fish to clean Sunday night once we combined our catch!  Tim left for home Sunday late afternoon and the rest of us left Monday morning to drop Matt off in Ames and the rest of us in Cedar Rapids.  We had hoped for more fish to bring home but have fished enough to know the weather can sometimes make or break a trip.  We thank Ralph for arranging the housing, Matt and Tracy for providing food, and for the chance to get away for our South Dakota adventure!  Spike