A common theme across the Dakota’s is we are in the dog days of winter. If you are planning on making a trip over this way, make plans to have tracks or hire someone who does.
We have lots of snow on our lakes and it is making getting around a bit more difficult. The one thing that I’d different herein North Dakota is we have very few plowed roads on the ice. We get way too much wind and the snow shuts it down fairly quick.
Again, no secret here, I’m guiding but on Devils Lake right now. We continue to find decent walleye bites and a fair perch bite at times. The perch just haven’t bunched up like we normally see making them difficult to track down ave stay on top of. It also seems when we do find them, they are pretty reluctant to eat.
Walleyes however have been different. We are trying to time what we are chasing to coincide with the cloud cover. Cloudy days we chase walleyes, Sunny days we will chase the perch.
If I had to pick a place to ice fish right now in North Dakota I’d probably lean towards Lake Oahe. The southern stretch from Beaver Bay to the ND/SD stateline. The best part with these river fish, is the weather and conditions don’t mess with them as bad. If you are in the right areas, especially at sundown you can put a lot of fish on the ice in a short period of time.
Lake Sakakawea is also kicking out some decent fish. Mostly still further west. Van Hook area and the river section towards Four Bears Casino have been pretty good on days. Again, you are gonna do best on Sakakawea during those low light times and also at night.
One thing I haven’t mentioned on here yet is we are taking bookings right now for spring fishing up near Bismarck starting late March if conditions allow. We will hit the section hard until the end of May. If you are looking for a personal best walleye, this area is without question the place to be! I’ll touch on this more as we get closer. If interested hear to www.mikepelusooutdoors.com I have a couple of full time guides and myself ready to chase a potential state record walleye!
