Hard Earned Gold.  As the weather shifted last week, so did the walleyes on Lake Sakakawea. DEO Photo by Mike Peluso

By Mike Peluso

It’s been quite a challenging week for walleyes up here on Lake Sakakawea. If you are a duck, it would have been awesome. There has been lots of wind and rain, but amazingly enough the walleyes still bit, but it took some work. 

A blue collar grind is just one of the terms I could use to explain the bite on Sakakawea right now. I will say this though, after the days of fishing like I had over the last week, it’s extremely rewarding.

When you have to work hard and earn every bite you get, when you catch one it’s all worth it. Not to mention the quality of fish we caught this week was way above average. Before all the fronts, the walleyes were actually shallow. 15 to 25 feet of water was solid for us. As soon as the weather moved in the fish moved deeper again. The last few days the bulk of them were in 40 to 60 feet of water.

Old school plain hooks with minnows seemed to be the best, but we did catch fish on crawlers still. The lake just hasn’t made the turn to fall yet, but it’s getting closer.

It is hard to believe my guide days on Devils Lake and Lake Sakakawea are pretty much done. I will however be guiding from now until freeze-up on the Missouri River. If you want to get out this autumn, get ahold of me and we will pencil you in a trip on the river near Bismarck.

Mike Peluso is a Dakota Edge Outdoors contributing writer and a licensed ND fishing guide specializing in walleyes on the state’s premier waters.