Devils Lake, ND Fishing Report

There is a hint of fall in the air here in Devils Lake and the fish are acting more like fall is here every day.  The water temps are near or a bit below the 70 degree mark now and if they continue to fall, the fishing will just keep getting better and better.

For now, the old lake shoreline is the key to catching walleye.  25 to 30 feet of water is where the oldest shoreline of Devils Lake eroded away to clean rock and gravel.  There are many fish relating to this structure.  The area along Hwy 57 near Ft Totten, north 6 Mile Bay, Doc Hagens and any other prominent point is producing fish in that depth range.

Spinners and Gulp! is still my go to, however, trolling lead core line and small crankbaits has produced some nicer fish.  Smaller lures like #4 and #5 are catching the numbers of fish, but the new #9 has caught a few whoppers this week.

White bass are still around.  Look shallow along windblown rocks and weeds.  We got a few over 18 inches last week.

Northern Pike are just about anywhere, but seem to be a bit tougher to catch.  Some look at that as a good thing, but crankbaits have been catching more than the spinners.

8-13-2012           

Fishing is still incredible here on Devils Lake.  100 fish days, all be them small, are still happening and will continue for a while.

Walleye are still hitting spinners and Gulp! with regularity.  The colors depend on the day.  If it is sunny, shinny colors are better.  On the cloudy days, painted colors seem to be the best.  Half a crawler is all that is needed along with a single hook.  The Berkley Pinched Crawler or the new Killer Crawler is all I have used in over a month.  No live bait to keep alive.

Depths and areas are all over the board.  Birkland Point in East Bay has been good between 20 and 25 feet of water.  The rip-rap of Hwy 57 is good between 25 and 30 feet of water.  The rail road grade in Pelican Lake is good in 10 to 12 feet of water; all pulling spinners.

We have caught some nicer fish pitching crankbaits to weed beds also.  #5 and #7 Flicker Shads and 14oz Nuckle Ball jigs tipped with 3 inch Berkley Ripple Shads are working great for that.

The pike are thinning out a bit, but you still get a few each day.  Have not seen any white bass for a while, but we were getting a few mixed in while looking for shallower walleye.

There is plenty of good fishing left.  The next three months are my favorite times to be on Devils Lake.

7-19-2012           

Game on!!!  If you ever wanted to catch 100 walleye in a day, now is the time to come to Devils Lake, ND.  Bring lots of bait, you will need it.

The bobber bite is in full swing.  Find an area shallower than the surrounding water and sit there.  It won’t take long to know if the fish are around.  Many times when the bobber stop hits the bobber, it just keeps going.  Areas that have been good are Maddock Ridge, Haley’s Hump, and Chicken Ridge (AKA Clint’s Hump).  There are others too.  Leeches on a small jig seem to work the best.

Bottom bouncers and spinners are taking their share of fish as well.  Hammered gold or the new Pink Shine Berkley Flicker Rigs seem to be the hot colors.  Perch is a great choice as well.  Half a crawler is all you need and it helps the bait last longer too.  Gulp! Crawlers or Fry and the new Killer Crawler are great options if you don’t want to deal with live bait in the heat.  The Ft. Totten area is turning on pretty good now.  Depths from 15 to 30 feet are producing; you just have to try them all till you find the depth for the day.

There is still a shallow pitching bite too.  #5 Pearl White (mouse) Flicker Shads were the hot ticket this week.  Any areas with weeds or cat tails were good.  Even better if the wind was blowing in.  I had great luck near the Mauvais Coulee this week.

Some anglers are beginning to have great success pulling smaller crank baits on lead core as well.  The fish are transitioning to deeper water with the hot weather.  The old lake bed shoreline is about 26 feet deep and is the thing the fish seem to key on.  Just point the boat and go until you locate a school of hungry eyes.  Trust me, it won’t take long.

Life is good at Devils Lake, ND.  The Walleye are biting and folks are happy.

My last report mentioned weeds, and that is still the case if you want it to be.  The best weed edge bite I know if is on the south side of the RR Grade in Pelican Lake.  10 to 12 feet of water, a hammered gold spinner and a half a crawler.  Hard to miss there.  Any weed edge will produce fish.

The Golden Highway is starting to show how it got its name.  The top is about 18 feet deep and the walleye are there.  Lots of action and some days the fish are pretty good size.  Took a couple of 5 pounders there this week.  Spinners are the ticket again.  The Gulp! Killer Crawler has been producing well and is much easier in the heat than trying to keep the real thing alive.

The pitching bit is good still too.  It is amazing how shallow some of the fish are in the heat we have had.  Pitching 1/8^thoz Nuckle Ball jigs with 3 inch Ripple Shads into one foot of water has been incredible.  Cat Tail edges seem to be best for this.  White is by far the best color.

The Pike action has slowed.  That is good for my tackle box.  The white bass are still biting and seem to be large this year.  Winchester Island had some tanks on it yesterday.  3 over 17 inches came from there on #5 Flicker Shads.

If there is one word for this report, it is WEEDS.  The aquatic vegetation is alive and well and very near the surface of Devils Lake.  Find the edge of it or fish over the top of it where you can and it is GAME ON!!!

The deep weed edge seems to be between 8 and 10 feet depending on where you are.  If you drag a bottom bouncer and spinner around near the edge of the weeds, it will not take long to catch a walleye.  Using a half of a crawler is all that is needed.  If you don’t like messing with crawlers, Berkley Gulp! is just as effective.  Try the 3 inch Fry or the new Killr Crawler.  They are working great on spinners and on Slow Death hooks.  The best Spinner colors seem to be perch colors or whites.

If you like to cast, that bite is still good too.  Casting #5 and #6 Flicker Shads to deep weed edges is productive.  If you can find shallower areas of cat tails that you can still cast to, the Scheels exclusive Team Esko is working very well.  Purple Tiger, White Fire Tiger are all great color choices as well.

There is a deeper bite beginning to develop too.  The deeper rock areas and flooded roads have fish showing up better and better each day.  Trolling Lead Core and crank baits or dragging spinners are great options for this.

Pike and White Bass are still going strong too.  Windy shores are holding the Bass and you can’t seem to get away from the Pike.  We even got a nice Perch this week too.

Out of town at Lake Winnebago for a week, check back after the 4^thof July for my next report.

The weather this past week made life very interesting on Devils Lake.  The wind picked up and the temperature dropped.  We actually had lows in the 30s.  That slowed the fishing a bit.

The walleye are still catchable, but it is not easy.  Shallow still seems to be working.  Casting small crankbaits and jigs is taking a few fish.  Color does not seem to matter.

Look for the warmest water and the wind blowing in.  Clean gravel or back bays seem to be the key areas.

The pike are still going crazy.  The weather did not slow them at all.

White Bass are beginning to show now.  Channel A and Browns Bay are both holding a fair number of whites.  They hit anything, but a white Gulp! Jigging Grub seems to be all you need.

Off to Mille Lacs Lake this week for an MWC tournament.  It will be a bit until my next report 

Fishing right now is incredible, especially if you like Northern Pike.  They are biting like the White Bass do a month from now.  It is simply amazing how many you can catch in a day.  Berkley Ripple Shads just tear them up!!!

The walleye are coming mixed in with the pike at a ratio of about 20 pike for each walleye.  Some days it is even worse than that.  The walleye we are catching are nice.  18 to 22 inches is common right now.  #5 crank baits like the Berkley Flicker Shad are working well.

I found more walleye and less pike in the main lake areas.  The bays are loaded with Pike and a Walleye every now and then.  Cast the windy shore lines and look for warmer water.  The best areas are where the boat is in 7 to 8 feet of water and you are barely able to reach the shore with a long cast.

I am traveling this weekend but back at the fishing Monday.  Look for a report later in the week.

We finally got on the water this week and all I can say is the more things change, the more they stay the same.

I took the kids from Lake Region State College up to Pelican Lake and we had a blast.  The pike and walleye were on fire yesterday.  Shallow rocks in 5 feet of water or less was the ticket.  The lures of choice were 1/4 oz Nuckle Ball jigs with 3 in Berkley Ripple Shad bodies.  The color did not matter at all.

The early spring we had has not seemed to change the fishing at all.  This is very typical of early may.  The spawn is right on schedule as the makes we caught were all milking.

The fishing reports may be a bit sporadic the next week or two as I am still traveling a ton.  I will post new reports as often as I can get on the water.

Fall fishing was incredible on Devils Lake, but it has all come to an end now.

Snow on the ground and lows near zero each night means ice is just around the corner.  This does not mean that fishing stops here, but it does slow down for me. 

My reports will come much slower for the ice fishing season, but please check in form time to time.

I will post where and when I will be speaking this winter.  If you get a chance, drop in and say hi.

The fall fishing is getting better by the day.  On 10/2/2011 we boated 15 walleye between 16 and 27 inches.  All fish were caught trolling with lead core line and #7 Flicker Shad or Shad Raps.  The key colors were perch and white.  19 feet was the magic depth and the speed was 1.8 to 2.0 MPH.

This will only get better as the water cools down. 

Fall is here and the fish are fired up, big time!

It was 10 days between my Devils Lake trips and in that time, the water temp had dropped nearly 20 degrees.  On Saturday the temperature was 56 degrees.

The weeds are dying off and the fish are leaving them and heading toward their favorite fall locations.  Our success came on deeper rock structure in Pelican Lake.  Trolling #7 Flicker Shads and #5 Jointed Shad Raps produced modest numbers of fish, but the size was awesome.  Fish averaged 20 inches and the largest of the weekend was a beautiful 28 incher.  White and Hot Tiger were the best colors followed closely by Chrome and Blue.

This fishing is only going to get better as water temps continue to fall.

Big Fish, No Crowd, gotta love the fall.

Talk about consistent fishing.  That is Devils Lake for the last two months.  Not much has changed at all.  I am not sure that will stay the case, but let’s enjoy it while it lasts.

Bottom bouncers and spinners till dominate the catches.  Slow Death rigs are also working very well.  Don’t waste time with more than half a crawler, they just won’t hit it.   Actually, why even use a crawler?  A 3 inch piece of a Gulp! crawler is all you need.  Not much live bait in my boat the past two weeks.

Areas that are producing are the humps in Ft. Totten Bay, Stromme’s, Birkland Point, The Golden Highway and Old 281.  Depths vary from 12 to 30 feet of water.   It is honestly hard to not catch fish right now.

There is a shallow water bite going too.  Pitching cranks between weed beds and the cat tails can be good.  It is hit and miss, but when you find them they are really nice fish.  #5 Shad Raps and Flicker Shads as well as 3” Berkley Ripple Shads are producing there.

The water is starting to cool and the fall fishing bonanza is not too far away.  Man, hard to choose, Grouse, Geese, Deer, or Fishing.  I’ll take the fishing!!!! 

Still catching 80 to 100 fish per day even after a nasty cold front.  Things are going to get even better as fall arrives.

Spinners and crawlers still are the rule.

Walleye Fishing continues to be red hot on Devils Lake.  It is actually hard to find a place to not catch fish.

I have been spending most of my time pulling spinners and bottom bouncers.  Colors really do not matter.  Orange, Gold and Copper blades have been good, but so has everything else.  Half a crawler is all you need.  The last two days, I personally never used a crawler.  Berkley Gulp! 3 inch Fry with about half an inch cut off has worked wonderfully and you can use the same one most of the day.

My best area has been near Ft. Totten.  Water depths form 18 to as deep as 40 feet have produced fish.  The Golden Highway is still producing as is Birkland Point in East Bay.

There are some larger fish shallow, but the bite is much slower.  It needs wind and is early in the day or just at sunset.  Casting #5 Shad Raps and Flicker Shads in areas where there are not many weeds has produced some nicer fish.  White and Bleak are the colors for me.

Be ready for some excitement, twice this week I had pike attack my walleye on the way to the boat.  Gets the heart thumping for sure. 

The wind moved em shallow today and really fired em up.  2 man limit in two hours.  All on spinners and half a crawler.  Easy money today.

Not much has changed in the last month.  Anglers need to decide what they want from their day; numbers or size.  Right now, it seems to be impossible to do both.

For numbers, bottom bouncers and spinners are the trick.  Areas that are rocking are the Golden Highway, Ft. Totten Point, Camp Grafton, The Storm Sewers, and Birkland Point.  Use half a crawler or a leech and you will have success.  #3 blades in Colorado or Indianas are working.  Slow death gets ‘em when nothing else will.  Colors change from day to day.  Silvers, Golds, Perches and whites have all been good.

For larger fish, look for shoreline with the wind blowing in.  Cleaner banks have been better than those with weeds.  However, if you can find cabbage, you will find walleye.  Areas in Ft Totten Bay, East Bay, and East Devils Lake have had shallow fish.  The wind helps a lot, but there have been some fish caught without any.  It is much slower when calm.  #5 and #7 Shad Raps and Flicker Shads have been the go to lures.  Bleak, Silver/Blue, and Purpledescent have been the best.  I have had some great luck on a custom painted White Bass #5 Shad Rap form Dutch Fork Custom Tackle as well.