Well, My wife and I decided to make an evening trip to Devils Lake last night and get some much needed time on the water. So we made the trip (85 miles) from our doorstep to the landing in Black Tiger Bay. When we arrived at the lake we made a quick stop into C&M Bait for some bait and the latest scoop on the fishing. We decided to get some crawlers and leeches since the word was that some nice fish were being caught in 8 to 12 FOW pulling spinners and crawlers ( the leeches were for back-up plan) Justine and I decided that our game plan was to pull spinners until about 7:30-8:00 and then depending on the bite tie up in the trees and put out the slip bobbers. When we got down to the ramp, I backed the boat in, let the wife in the driver’s seat to pull the truck out and jumped into the boat to launch. 
Now everything had went exceptionally well up until this point, so it just wouldn’t have been right for me to remember the keys that I never take out of the boat 
So in a slight bit of disbelief, I pulled the boat out of the water and the FW and I had the discussion about well, what now??? 
After driving 85 miles to fish, I wasn’t leaving without wetting a line.
We came to the conclusion that the right thing to do was put the boat in and use the trolling motor to get over to some flooded timber that was about 100 yards from the ramp. we figured it was better than nothing. Once we got tied up in about 9 FOW we set out 3 lines on slip bobbers (2 for the wife and 1 for me) about 6 inches to a foot off of bottom. Two of the rigs had a 1/8 oz jig, one with a crawler and one with a leech, the other line had just a hook and a split shot below the float. For my second line I decided that I might as well cast cranks as reports were that crankbaits were putting fish in the boat as well.
Now, you can imagine all the looks of the “lookit that idiot, he’s not gonna catch anything there” 
But both the wife and I managed to keep our cool up till this point and agreed that it felt dang good to just be on the water and we hoped to catch something, but didn’t care if we didn’t.
My first crank of choice was a Blue Gold and Silver Husky Jerk that I got from my brother and never used yet. Being slightly disappointed I thought if I get snagged in a tree and lose it, oh well, the night can’t get much worse Man, was I thinking way off base!
About midway throught the retrieve of my 5th or 6 cast, the husky jerk got crushed my wife said my face instantly lit up. I got the fish in and it was a 26″ pike that managed to get all 3 sets of trebles in the mouth!!! 
Then about 5 minutes later my wifes bobber goes down and she pulled in a 14 inch eye that hit the livewell for the fishfry I was craving. After that the rest is history, we took home both of our limits of walleys for the frying pan ( all 14 to 16 inchers… My favorite eaters) and missed many more. So it turned out to be a great nite and one of our most pleasureable outings in a long time on the water!! 
It was a blast, and this goes to prove that sometimes you don’t have to go far from the ramp to have fun!!!
Sorry for the length, but I thought maybe someone would get a chuckle out of it!!.
Bottom Line, the bite is on right now on DL, with excellent numbers of eater fish being caught and reports of some good size fish coming out as well with some bigger baits and faster presentations. If you get a chance head on out there, you won’t be dissapointed!! 
I really need to get to Satan’s Slough and check out that fishing! 
Heading up there soon to visit relatives. I can not wait.