I’m just gonna call this a North Dakota big 3 fishing report since I’ve been scattered about. I’ve had the opportunity to fish all three systems in the last couple weeks.
I’ll start with Lake Sakakawea. Lots happening on this body of water. Fish seem to be spreading out all over the water column. Fish are shallow, fish are deep, and fish are in between. Seems like you have them chasing bait of kinds all over the place. For me personally I like the shallower fish. You don’t have to worry about those fish living. Lots of fish out deep and some big fish out deep and East. Also seeing some suspended fish hanging on the big clouds of smelt. Should make for an interesting NWT event coming up. Don’t forget to bring the minnows along.
Devils Lake is going through it’s normal change over. You should start seeing the algae die off and the fish will immediately start heading to current, neck down areas and deep structure. This is the time of year the big girls get the chow on and I would anticipate Devils Lake turning back on fire here as the temps continue to fall.
Missouri River/Oahe is always an interesting place to fish right now. The Big Muddy event which was postponed this spring was held last Saturday. Extremely frustrating day for our team. Our trim went out on the engine about halfway down river to our starting spots. We had good leads on boats to about the desert area and the trim went out and the boat started to bounce around so I had to slow her down and get out of the way so we didn’t get run over. After working on it for a bit we decided not to finish our run down to the Eckroth corner area and turned back upstream. We caught tons of fish in the 12 to 14 inch range. We mixed in a few 15 to 17.5 inchers for our limit and loaded up early so we didn’t tie up the boat ramp. I will say this, the river system looks to be in really good shape for our future! Lots of fish to be caught especially for this time of year.
I’m also starting to gear up for the upcoming ice fishing season. Study your dates and book a trip up on Devils Lake. We have fishing and lodging packages available! No group too big or small, email me at mikepelusooutdoors@gmail.com