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
