River Ready.  While the fall bite hasn’t materialized fully, anglers will likely be able to find a good mix of fish on the Missouri River as summer wraps and flows drop in the coming weeks. DEO Photo by Mike Peluso

By Mike Peluso

This week’s walleye fishing report is a closer to my time on Sakakawea and a briefing of the Missouri River near Bismarck ahead of my fall fishing season there.

Lake Sakakawea is still producing some really nice walleyes! We found early on this week that the fish were in the deeper water, forcing us to keep what we caught and stop fishing.

We did however find some shallower fish later in the week. We were actually catching a fair amount in 15 to 22 feet of water and they were the nicer walleyes!

I would anticipate the fall bite up there to be stellar and we were seeing more of the nicer fish in the mid-section of the lake this past week, saving on the gas budget.

The Missouri River is showing signs of life. There were quite a few smaller sized fish this weekend with a mix of a couple decent ones in our catches. Like every fall we are a tad early yet. We need that first frost of the fall to kick things into high gear.

The fish are still in a summer mode relating to deeper water on the river. They are also able to access a lot of the backwater areas. As soon as the river drops for the fall cutback in flows from Garrison Dam, it will force the walleyes back out into the river where they will be more concentrated and easier to catch.

All signs thus far indicate it should be an excellent bite heading into early October and as far as we can fish before Mother Nature won’t allow us to anymore.

I am still taking bookings for October and November, weather and conditions permitting. Of course if the weather doesn’t allow us to fish there is no charge and you’ll receive your deposit back. 

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