The Peluso Report: Clearing Up

Walleye fishing on the Missouri River has definitely improved since Wednesday of last week. The water in the river is settling back down, it's clearing up, and the fish are responding.

I'm almost done on the river here near Bismarck for the spring. A few more trips and I will be headed to Devils Lake for a pretty good stint and then, of course, Sakakawea. This is always a bittersweet time for me. Usually, I'm tired of the river and ready for a change at this point in the season. This year however with our below-average weather, and missing a big portion of April due to snow. I feel like I got cheated out of the spring.

I will say this. The water temperatures on the river are staying cool, so it's my guess it's going to get really good and stay good a little extra longer than normal. Jigs and minnows are working well and so are crankbaits. 7-to-10 feet of water seems to be the magic number right now. Crawlers on small jigs and or Lindy rigs are going turn on as soon as the water temperatures hit the mid-50s.

Mike Peluso is a Dakota Edge Outdoors contributing writer and a licensed ND fishing guide specializing in walleyes on the state's premier waters.