Just got back from Devils ND on a cast & blast mission with buddies Dave Dvorak and Kyle Allen. We got to see the fury of nature as ma Nature dumped about 10 inches of snow on Devil’s Lake, driven by sustained winds of 35-45 with gusts to 58. Obviously, fishin’ was a little tough…but the duck hunting was beyond fantastic!
We were only able to get out fishing two days ahead of the storm, water temps are still warm, but dropping. Since the wind is ALWAYS blowing here and the lake has grown to about 200K acres, any bridge crossing is a walleye magnet.
When we were able to get out on the lake arouind the bridges the fish went ape on Zips and Sonars. Dave, a forever live bait guy, even saw the light. Color of lure didn’t matter. This pattern is a sure thing here and now..but bring all your baits. There are NO blades for sale within 50 miles of Devils Lake.
In the past I’ve taken walleyes up to about 28 inches here in October. Nothing that big this trip, mostly 16-23 inch fish.
Duck hunting on potholes around the lake is beyond incredible! Problem is too much water, too few hunters. Putting several guns around a 300-500 acre marsh was an effective tactic to keep ducks moving. In ND, if land ISNT posted, you can go ahead and hunt. This is truly ‘Manland’ nothing to do but fish, eat, sleep, drink, hunt…and go to the casino and lose money
a friend of mine retired from the minneapolis fire department and bought a house in cando ND. his kid and 2 other firemen went up last weekend and came home tuesday. they were field hunting and really got into the big canadian geese and mallards. they all filled out. they didn’t do any fishing on this trip. 3 of the 4 guys also have a place here on lake mille lacs so they fish when they want. glad to hear you had a good trip also…..tom f
Gotta love ND and SD for wind!! I got some pics of the Bismarck area from a coworker. WOW did they get dumped on just west of there. Great duck weather!!!!! Thanks for sharing the report!
if you just wanted a free trip where you could catch 100/walleyes a day, buy up 100 Zips and Sonars and take ’em out there for sale at five bucks each. No blades available for MILES….and blades are stone killers around bridges now.
WOW the peckster still lives
Good to see you got back safe.
You might want to give those blades a serious shot below the Jefferson dam for about a mile downstream…i usually do real well with ’em there this time of year!
is there still alot ducks around devils lake, i planned a trip for the 18-24 and was hoping all the snow didnt phase them any
Get an hour south of Devils Lake and very little snow fell. Ducks were piling in there from the north when we left last Thursday. You should have an outstanding hunt! Don’t forget those blade baits. Two bridges close to the casino had fish STACKED! Walleyes also holding on old railroad trestle near cut of one bridge about 3/4 mile from the casino. Picked up a few walleyes fishing the old railroad bed…but the TRESTLE is the place to target the real big ‘uns! good luck!