Bang or Bust.  Wind has made fishing for walleyes on Devils Lake challenging as areas of the lake cannot heat up as effectively as the water moves.  This in turn scatters the fish around the large water. DEO Photo by Mike Peluso

By Mike Peluso

Now I’m definitely starting to sound like a broken record when it comes to walleye fishing on Devils Lake. Wind, windy, hurricane, and more wind has been the story of this past week. I’m honestly getting super tired of it. I’m not going to lie.

So, I’ll start with Devils Lake. This will be my last Devils Lake inside scoop for about a month and change. I’ll be switching gears and heading over to Lake Sakakawea next week. Normally I’m torn about leaving Devils Lake cause usually this time of year the bite is gangbusters.

But so far this year it’s gangbusters or bust. The water just won’t stay consistently warm. Usually, the back bays heat up faster and the fish concentrate in them, but that is not the case so far this season. With the hurricane winds the entire lake is mixed up and all the water stays the same temperature. This really spreads the fish out.

When you do get a little warmer water, the walleye fishing pretty solid. The problem is that doesn’t happen until way late in the day when we are basically getting off the water. When we are catching them, the bulk of the fish are coming off of slip bobbers and leeches. Some days casting cranks does the trick, but that can be very hit or miss.

Sakakawea looks to be continuing to get better and better. Of course the further west and north one goes, the better fishing they’ll find right now.

The Missouri River in the town stretches of Bismarck and Mandan has begun to slow down. There is a solid bite going on further down south towards the state line and even further south into Mobridge.

I don’t really have any openings until August right now for either Sakakawea and or Devils Lake, but I do have openings in August. I’m also taking bookings for the river near Bismarck for October and November if you are interested in getting in on that great fall fishing.