ND Fishing Report-August 27th, 2023

Written by Mike Peluso

August 27, 2023

It’s hard to believe we are already at the beginning of school and football season. Summer buzzed by us way too quickly here. I still have quite a few days left here of guiding on both Devils Lake and Lake Sakakawea, so here it goes.

I just left devils mid week. When I left the bite was still going strong. With a little bit of a cold front and maybe the water dropping some and weed growth slowing down, the fish are gonna go into transition mode. My guess is the crank baits are gonna be the way to go to put fish in the box. Don’t get me wrong, you can still catch them anyway you want, but for numbers and speed, cranks.

Sakakawea hasn’t disappointed me at all since returning again. I’m hearing people talk about how it’s slow or slower. Well, compared to what? Gang buster limits in a hour? Of course it’s gonna seem slow compared to what it’s been. Overall, in a realistic sense, it’s still really good.

Catching fish on crawlers and bouncers for my clients. If I were tournament fishing, I would spot lock with creek chubs and jig raps on the fish marks and wait it out. It’s not exactly easy to do, but you will catch sone really nice fish this way.

Still lots of nice fish being caught however. Cranks will work also, and I’m guessing if in the right areas could fill the livewell fast. Fish (the bulk of them) are still deep yet. 25′ to 50′ seems about average.

Yep, here I go again…25 plus fow please 🙏 keep those fish. What people don’t realize is when you release that fish you think swam away. It actually pops the bladder and torpedoes to the bottom and dies. I’ve talked to a few divers that tell me it looks like a horror movie in some of the more popular areas on the bottom with white bellies.

All in all fishing is still pretty darn good! I think our fall is gonna be even more spectacular! Time will tell.

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