By Mike Peluso

As my ice guiding season nears its end, one thing comes to mind and that is it has been a super tough winter with the conditions we have faced. One common theme has been wind; it hasn’t been just a little breezy at times, but darn near hurricane-like. This has got to play havoc on the fish with these massive pressure changes, not to mention the massive temperature shifts we keep seeing.

If I had to describe this week up here on Devils Lake, I’d say it’s been both good and bad. When it’s good it’s good, but when it’s bad, it’s really bad, making life on us guides a little stressful. One thing I will say with the group of guides I work with, we work our tails off! There is no putting clients in a shack and disappearing. In fact, as I’m writing this report after a long day on the ice, I just counted that I moved the shack seven times today trying to land on fish.

So, when you do land on them, it seems they bite in spurts. Your timing must be impeccable. Things like moon, sun, snow, and time of day all play into the equation. The lures that seem to be working for me are the old school Forage Minnows made by Northland Tackle and either a few waxies on it or a minnow. This bait is working for both perch and walleyes right now. For me I’ve had to go quite a bit shallower to find biting fish, and 8-to-17 feet of water has been best.

As I mentioned before, I am gearing up for the spring walleye run near Bismarck on the Missouri River and also Lake Sakakawea and Devils Lake for this summer! If you are looking to fish with us, get a hold of me! I have a couple guys on staff this spring and summer so we can accommodate you!