Devils Lake Ice Fishing Report-January 23rd, 2022

Written by Mike Peluso

January 23, 2022

Man, I have to admit this winter is starting to kick our asses! More snow, cold cold temps, and wind! I can handle the snow and cold, the wind however is getting a bit ridiculous.

One of the main reasons, the wind, it is making travel and moving around difficult. The snow and it being cold is hard enough, but the wind makes it darn near impossible at times. You want to go look for fish, but you are stuck hunkering down.

So in between the snow, cold and wind, we are actually still catching a few fish. It definitely isn’t as red hot as it was. Overall though, it’s still pretty good. I get clients asking me all the time when is the best time to come fish Devils Lake in the winter. Honestly, that is an impossible question to answer. Every year since I began guiding the winters has been completely different. So with that, here is what is happening this week up here in the frozen tundra.

Walleyes are still going in relatively shallow water. We are seeing nice walleyes being caught in 3 to 10 foot of water during the low light times. Rattle baits and buckshots are king still. No changing that!

As for the perch. These are a bit more unpredictable and finicky. The finicky is being nice when I’m trying to describe the perch mood. If you are in the right areas, you will mark a bunch! Getting those marks to bite are another story. Tungsten with waxies will get a few to bite. I always feel there is a magic lure or bait combination. But honestly it’s more the mood of them than anything. They are definitely out deeper. 30 to 45 foot deep seems to be where a bunch of marks are.

I’m fairly full now until March 10th, but I do have a random day open and cancellations happening. Please get ahold of me if you are looking to fish!

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