Devils Lake Winter 2016 Questions

Even though its July 3rd, my wife and I are already planning for Ice season.

We did a weekend on Lake of the Woods this past winter. We stayed out of Zippel Bay, had a sleeper house in shallow water (15ft) for the early morning and evening bite, then had a deep water house for the mid day bite.

Even though fishing was slow (12 fish each day with only 6 total keepers), we still had a great time. It was like camping, being on our own schedule, cooking our own meals and enough action to keep us interested. It was also convenient that the Igloo Bar was right between our 2 houses

Anyway, this year we are thinking about trying Devils Lake. From researching, we have 2 options. Option 1 – stay at a lodge that has fish houses that can be rented. Option 2 – stay at a lodge or motel and get a guide. (Rather not bring our own portable and explore on our own never having been there yet _ maybe do this in the future)

Looking at Option 1 – this is very similar to what we did on LOTW minus the sleeper house. We would use a lodge/resort ice road to their house and fish in that location for the day. The risk of this option is we would be in the same spot for the day so if fishing was slow there, oh well. On the flip side, this option is more affordable. From what I can tell, there are 2 places to go thru for this option, Woodland Resort and Lakeview Lodge. Does anyone have experience with either place?

Option 2 provides a better shot at catching more fish by going with a guide and staying mobile with portables. This option would obviously cost more though. Also, my wife has a concern about running and gunning in portables for 10hrs a day, it may not be as relaxed and comfortable as a larger fish house like we had at LOTW. I have had a couple local guides recommended to me though.

I was also thinking about doing 1 day with a guide and day 2 just renting a fish house thru Woodland or Lakeview. This would give us a little of both.

Does anyone have any recommendations?

Thanks.

I am interested in this as well. Planning a ice trip with a few friends and wanna see what other recommend. Would also be interested in hearing what time of year is best.

Since you said you would rather not bring your own portables or explore on your own the first trip ….. If you can swing it in the budget I would go with a guild and portables both days for your first trip. Ask a ton of questions, mark your GPS spots and let them know you are doing so. Takes tons of pictures. Then the next year or trip you will have great experience for going it alone with your own portables. Devils is a huge body of water and can be intimidating for your first trip more so on the ice than in a boat. IMHO

Fortunately for me I have a couple of Nephews that fish it a ton and now I am old enough that they do most of the work for me

+1 what Mocha said! Don’t get me wrong you’ll catch fish doing one of the day houses and it will be more comfortable but you may not catch as many fish. Coming to Devils is about catching the elusive jumbo 12-15in perch and you’re better off finding them by going with a guide and portables to stay on top of the fish!

Thanks for the responses everyone. We’re unsure at this point, but we’ll figure it out soon I think

If you are going to fishing in permanents on Devils go early! Don’t go late in the year or you could end up really disappointed.

I have fished with Perch Patrol and Bry’s. Both are really good, if you want to catch perch and aren’t bringing portables this is the only way to go in my opinion. You may have to move quite a few times or you may not.

The first time I took my dad up they were on a really good bite and the weather was ugly. They set the houses up on fish and we caught them steady all day. The guides were running around the area trying to find more active fish, but it was about the same as where we were.

The next time we moved around quite a bit. On Devils you will hit pockets of perch that will hit everything you throw at them, but you will hit a lot of them that won’t touch anything. That’s why you have to be willing to move if you want perch.

Shallower rental’s from Woodland will be on good spots for eyes and pike, but putting perms on perch is really tough. Had a buddy take his wife up for a day last year and they had nothing going in the house. He had his own auger with and went 50 yards from the house and popped a couple holes and caught his limit of perch quickly. That’s just how it goes with deep perch.

Thanks for the info holmsvc

I think we are leaning toward doing a guided trip on day one to bounce around and find active fish and then the 2nd day in a permanent house thru Woodland. It looks like Perch Patrol guides out of Woodland from what I can tell

Even is being in 1 spot in the perm house, it would still be relaxing and to catch a few throughout the day would be just fine (even 1 an hour is good enough as we just like to get out). I could always drop tipups outside too

After some research and a few emails/calls to get ideas of cost and availability, we are booked for a guided trip with Perch Patrol on 1/2 and a fish house thru Woodland on 1/3. The wife is already putting together the packing list .

Now we wait…………….

Sounds great! Make sure to bring lots of zip locks or other storage for your fish! Also bring lots of tip-ups if you plan to use them. I believe you can fish with 4 per person. Have a great trip!

You will have a good time perch patrol works hard to keep you on fish. It’s early enough the perch house should be ok as well.

Holmsvc – what do you mean by its early enough that the perch house should be OK?

Sorry I meant perm house.