It’s definitely been a curveball up here on Sakakawea. East winds, more east winds and goofy weather has made me have to move around more than weeks past. 

Sometimes you land on the bite right away. Other days it takes a little while to track down what I’m looking for. For me, I’m looking for less bait and more marks.  Completely contradicting what a lot of anglers say. 

I personally don’t like to compete with all the forage.  Maybe if I was strictly livescoping for a tournament I might take a different approach.  The name of the game is bites when you are guiding.  

I tell my clients everyday it’s a wonder these fish even eat a crawler.  I say they are eating at an all you can eat prime rib buffet and we are trying to give them hot dogs. 

The fish are still relatively shallow.  Especially for this time of year.  As for the bigger fish, they are really shallow or really deep.  Doesn’t seem to be much in between.  Shallow weeds and deep rocks are holding the so called tournament fish. 

The eater size are roaming around chasing the water temps.  Slow death and small hooks with a small chunk of crawler has been the ticket for me.  On certain days the prop rigs are also working well! 

I have a 3 day block that opened up for Sakakawea if you are interested in getting out.  I also have a couple of scattered one days open on Devils.  Last but not least remember I’m now taking bookings for the Fall River trips on the Missouri River near Bismarck! Should be good!