Stay Fresh.  Water running into Lake Sakakawea has ticked up, changed the bite, and provided current for walleye anglers to key in on over the past week. DEO Photo by Mike Peluso.

By Mike Peluso 

The past week has once again brought lots of change to the walleye fishing up here on Lake Sakakawea. All of that change has been a great thing, however!

Lots of fresh mountain runoff has been pouring into the lake. What a blessing, considering we weren’t supposed to get much of a rise in water levels this summer. We have way over exceeded expectations and it’s still coming in.

This influx does change the fishing and I know a lot of folks for the past couple of weeks were struggling a bit. We found a few areas with current and warmer water and we were fortunate to keep our clients very busy.

Don’t be fooled by reports saying the fish are overly deep. Most of our walleyes this past week have come out of 15 feet of water or less. Don’t get me wrong, there are plenty of fish out deeper, but you can find some real quality up shallower right now.

It has been nothing fancy as far as presentation is concerned. Slow death rigs with plain hooks and crawlers are taking care of business and usually rather quickly once you are on the fish.

Fish the marks and grind it out, you’ll get your walleyes!

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