Official Newspaper of Eddy County since 1883
Official Newspaper of Eddy County since 1883
Perch can be found in 30-to-40-feet of water in the mud-bottom basins of Devils Lake, but they're finicky in midwinter.
In this week's Devils Lake report, I'll touch on what is taking place up here for us right now and also the next chapter of my fishing adventures, which is approaching extremely fast!
What's going on right now on Devils Lake? Well, for me and most of our crew things are definitely in a funk. The dog days of winter have hit, and this has happened every year I have guided up here about this time. For some reason things get tough for a bit. Rest assured, the lake will snap out of it and the fishing will pick back up.
Perch are definitely in the deeper mud basin areas of the lake. 30 to 40 feet seems to be where you can mark a bunch of them. Getting them to feed is another story. Certain days it can be down right impossible. Eventually these fish will fire back up though.
The walleyes have been better. You can still do well if you get yourself positioned in the right areas, but it's a sit and wait type of deal. Find the walleye structure like humps, points, old roads or old shorelines and do two different things, jig a buckshot rattle spoon and have a dead stick with a minnow nearby.
Now, I don't want people to think I'm throwing the towel in on ice fishing. I'm far from that! I still have the whole month of February and a large chunk of March left. However, it is time to start thinking about early spring walleyes out near Bismarck/Mandan on the Missouri River. If you are interested in booking a trip with us this spring do not hesitate! This is your chance of a lifetime right now to catch a personal best or possibly the next state record walleye! I will have a couple full time river guides working with me this spring, so we can definitely get you booked up.
April and May are the absolute best times on the Missouri River and if you are looking for something different, this is it. Plus, the Bismarck area gives you and your family lots of things to do after the fishing trips. Please get ahold of me to secure your seat in one of our boats! It's going to be awesome!
Mike Peluso is a Dakota Edge Outdoors contributing writer and a licensed ND fishing guide specializing in walleyes on the state's premier waters.
