Coming Back Around.  Perch are beginning to move on Devils Lake with the change in weather, and hole hopping is essential to catching those famous jumbos on the water. DEO Photo by Mike Peluso.

By Mike Peluso

It seems easy for me to get sidetracked during the busy ice fishing season.  I almost forgot it’s Sunday as I’m writing this, but in my world, days don’t mean much to me unless it’s a day off. 

It’s still been a real grind ice fishing up here on Devils Lake.  I thought this cold front or major arctic blast was never going to end.  However, it has finally broken and it’s my hope for the last few weeks of ice fishing that things will be a little more rewarding. 

One thing that will be nice with the warmer weather is that we will be able to get clients out of the shacks and hole hop a bit.  Even when the bite is tough, when you can do this the results will show! 

So far this week we have caught fish, but we have had to work hard and move a ton! We did find the walleyes have turned around a bit this past week.  It’s still an early morning deal for us because no matter what, it seems after 10:30 a.m. things really fall off. 

The perch are moving around like crazy and it’s super hard to stay on top of them.  You’ll get them to swim under you and catch one or two and then it’s a waiting game for them to circle back. 

Again, with this warmer weather, all of us guides hope things will really pick up and we can go out on a high note to end this ice fishing season! With that being said, I will be back on the Missouri River near Bismarck very soon. I open my spring walleye trips on the flow starting April 1. If you want to get in on a chance to catch a personal best and dust off the long rods get ahold of me ASAP!

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