In a funk, goofed up, fished out, messed up are all terms being used to describe Lake Sakakawea right now.
I can’t say I disagree with some of these descriptions. It is fishing and we do have a few things working against the lake right now.
An over abundance of smelt, perch, and other baitfish in my mind is the number trouble maker for Sakakawea right now. Add that in with boat pressure and dropping water levels and it’s a recipe for tougher fishing no question.
Fish are still in the lake to be caught. Do I think it has been fished out a bit? Maybe to some extent I feel the “easy ones” maybe have been caught out but this is true on every body of water in the world. Still marking plenty of those good walleye marks that are extremely difficult to get them to bite. Cranks trolled over and over and over the marks will eventually result in some reaction bites. Slow rolling crawlers on long leadered lindy rigs will also result in some takers. I’m here to tell you however, my livewell these past few days have been absolutely stuffed with smelt that have been spit out. So these walleyes are not hungry. Why would a walleye eat a hot dog when they are eating ribeye lol
I feel things will straighten out here in the coming weeks. We still have been grinding out our fish, just have to work extremely hard to get them. August and September dates are available! Email me at mikepelusooutdoors@gmail.com to line up a day or two on Sakakawea, Devils Lake or Lake Oahe. Also you still have time to sign up for the WWP event August 1st out of Minnewaukan, ND.