This report is going to be combination fishing report for both the Missouri River near Bismarck and Lake Sakakawea (east end).

I’ll start off with the Missouri River. This will probably be my last river report until this fall. I do have to say this is very bittersweet for me. It feels like only yesterday I was rushing home from the thawing ice on Devils Lake to get a few of our last groups on the water to do some fishing. Crazy how fast the spring river run went for me. Fishing still remains pretty good if your looking for the perfect eater size fish. Lots of 13 to 16 inch fish in the river. They do seem to be moving a tad deeper. My thought process is the fish are moving south and the ends of the spots are normally deeper. Jigs and minnows, jigs and crawlers are working excellent.

Sakakawea has been completely the opposite of the river. The river is offering quantity, and the lake is offering quality! I’ve guided twice up there this week and every walleye we have caught has been between 20 and 26 inches. Slow moving jigs on wind swept points with minnows have been best. Tip: if you catch a white bass right now, the walleyes are nearby. Work those areas hard and if your marking fish don’t give up on them. Another fun part is there is a ton of smallies biting also.

I have a couple more river trips yet and after those I’ll be moving back and forth between Devils Lake and Lake Sakakawea. So lots of fishing reports coming from those bodies of water coming up.