devils lake north dakota

ok IDO I kneed your help I am headed to west bay resort on devils lake north Dakota on sunday for a weak with my dad we have never ben there.realy could use some help on what to look for what to do we are looking for walleyes and some perch would be great.pitch jigs in timber,slip bober in the timber ,troll cranks,not looking for your spots just some were to start and what to look for. we are looking forward to a good time and making memories that will last a life time.thanks for any help.

ooo I forgot to say it is big water for this miss pool 8 fisherman so any advice will be greatly help full

I’ve fished it 6-7 times. It is a walleye fisherman’s paradise. Couple ideas to start.

1) Wind – it blows! Be prepared to trailer closer to your spot. Even if its calm in morning, you don’t want to get stuck on other end of lake when the wind comes up.
2) Ask where fish are biting – baitshops, other fisherman, guys here.
3) When fishing timber:
a. Don’t anchor, tie anchor rope to tree, sturdy one but not one that if it tips over, will land on your boat.
b. Find timber the wind is blowing into. Get back in there a ways, find an opening big enough to fish.
c. You mentioned pitching jigs in timber. Based on my experience, I would not do that. Remember, the tree tops you see sticking out of the water, imagine all the lower limbs and smaller trees you CANNOT see.
d. Slip bobber, swivel, small weight, bare hook, leech. All you need to know for fishing timber.

My best days there have been pitching cranks to the weed edges in some of the smaller attached portions of the lake, or trolling near weed edges. Pitching cranks requires a leader, the pike are aggressive and numerous.

I think James has some video somewhere out here about pitching jigs to shorelines and weed edges. I believe he used plastics. I’ll try to find the links. Jigs lost to pike cheaper than $7 crankbait. Oh, and notice which cranks are in short supply in bait shops, and buy the last ones!!

Good luck!

Eric

thanks cougareye getting fired up for the trip. I will keep your tips in mind ,trailering closer to the spot for the day great safety tip.hope we can find some fish.

sent ya a pm

I have been out there one time. The best day we had was casting swimbaits into the trees, think bass fishing for walleye’s . It was kind of weird doing it but it really worked good. Have fun there is a lot of water out there.

Having fished a few derbies and a few weeks of pleasure fishing here’s a couple things.

If you want to catch bigger fish Pelican (NW corner) tends to be a migratory location that lends itself to a larger average ‘eye. Wind blown shorelines with fresh grass have put a lot of nice fish at the end of our hooks. Casting #5 and #7 cranks. Rapala SSR’s and SR’s, Flicker shads and some of the smaller Salmo hornets. Stop by Scheel’s in Fargo or GF if you need to stock up. Their supply is well stocked for DL. Orange is a dominating color as fresh water shrimp is a predominant forage base for DL. The trees are slowly disappearing but find a grove with deeper water nearby. Tie your boat to a tree and drop down a bobber. Don’t be afraid to circle the boat in hopes of finding the major highway. Many old cow paths that are exactly what an insecure walleye likes to travel along. If cranking or spinners are your game don’t overlook the Golden highway. Many, many quality fish get pulled out of the ditches of that highway. Just keep in mind there are old barb wired fences along this ditches that LOVE to eat cranks. Best advise is search on-line, talk with bait shops (Ed’s on the south side of town) and listen to what and where they tell you the bite is hot. biggest problem with DL? they are often biting in MANY locations. Just have to pick a spot and figure out how they prefer their feeding that day.

Good luck and post some pics and a report when you get back home. FWIW

The two main tactics right now on Devils Lake are bobber and pitch. A small jig and a leech under a bobber will get you a lot of fish. Look for emerging weeds and inside or around the edges of flooded trees. A good tactic is to pitch around these areas until you catch a fish or two then bobber them. If the fish aren’t too active you will probably catch more bobbering. You want a leader in front of anything you pitch- swimbait or crank. The pike are thick and chomping hard right now. Swimbaits have been better than cranks so far but as the water warms up that may change. Pretty hard to beat a Berkley Ripple Shad in the new 3.5″ size. Pearl White, Fire Tiger, Racy Shad, and New Penny will cover it. I use mostly 1/4 oz heads this time of year, some 3/8 oz if I need to fish faster or deeper. Pitching around cover you will want a tough superline like FireLine. I use 14 to 17 lb. hi-vis line. 17lb. Nanofil is my favorite because it casts so well.

Look up in Pelican Lake for the warmest water you can find off the edges of the main lake. The launch directly into Pelican is right near where you are staying or you can go under the Mauvee Coulee bridge from the main lake side.

I fished it on Wednesday and 100 fish days are easy right now. Most will be pike but you can catch some really nice eyes too if you work at it. Bobbering will keep the pike count down a bit. Hope you have a great trip to North Dakota!

Jim Carroll NPAA #13

thankyou guys this info will help it makes me feel better that I maybe able to put my 72 year dad on some fish this will be a trip of a life time, thanks. I have wanted to ice fish it but dad doesn’t get too far away from the wood stove in the winter.i will post how it went with pics

Video report from this week here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uBJSS1aisYI

Jim Carroll NPAA #13