Sorting Through the Fishing Reports to Decode the Real Story!

We have all probably been there, seems like everyone is posting pictures about catching tons of fish (i.e. Perch, Walleyes, Crappies) but gosh darnit we just can’t seem to manufacture the same luck out on the ice.  We drill and drill and drill but just can’t seem to dial em in.  We find out later that a lot of that talk was posturing and a lot of those pictures were from a loooooonnnnngggggg time ago.

No company or organization is going to go on social media or their website or email out that fishing sucks right now.  It’s bad business.  Every entity that makes money off of the fishing industry is going to tell you that they are biting.  They are going to tell you that, at the worst, it is just ok.

If a guide service goes on there homepage and announces that

Fishing sucks right now, it will suck for the next two weeks, stay home!

They just cost themselves a lot of money.

When Your Experience Doesn’t Necessarily Match The Reports and Pictures

After a sub par day or a sub par trip, many excuses come out of the mouths of fishermen, guides, all walks of fishing promoters:

1. Its the weather
2. Its the barometer
3. Its the snow covering the ice
4. Should have been here last week
5. Too many shrimp
6. Wrong Moon

(Fill in your favorite “Bad Fishing Excuse” in the comments section, we know there are some great ones out there, the best one will win a free waypoint package that includes the Perch Crappie Bundle and a Weekly Waypoint of the winners choice)

All of those are great excuses, some can be true at times, some are just plain hogwash.

Always a Bite Somewhere

We have always contended that no matter the weather or the barometer, there are always fish (Perch, Walleye, Crappies) biting somewhere on Devils Lake, its just a matter of where on that 200,000+ acres that bite is occurring.

THE GOOD

Hard Work

There are several ways to find that bite, some honorable, some not so much.  We drill, drill, drill and do our homework off of the ice to hopefully predict and calculate where the next bite is going to pop up because we relish in the search.  We are Perch Searchers, our rush comes from discovering that Gold Mine.  This approach is, in our opinion, the most honorable and sportsmanlike.  It’s what we do here at DLFR.

Bait Shops

Bait shop fishing reports can also point you in the right direction but most are very vague and broad on their description, stating depths, maybe what type of structure, and possibly a very large nondescript area.  They help a lot actually but they only get your dart on the board, not in the bullseye.

Friend of a Friend Told Me

Most fishermen that fish Devils Lake religiously have a network.  It’s too big of a body of water not to.  You have to get tips from buddies and acquaintance that have been out and have been on the ice when you haven’t been to keep abreast of school movement and dead spots.  It really helps when you plan to target an area and a network buddy says

Scrap that, we were there this morning and its a dead sea

Eliminating water on the Big Devil can be as important as locating a school.

THE BAD

Cluster Jumping

Many of us have seen it, cluster of 10-50 trucks and shacks crammed into a pretty tight area and 3 trucks barrel across the ice, Baja through a minefield of holes, tip-ups, and ice shacks; and set up shop right in the middle of the cluster.

THE UGLY

Binoculars

Binoculars are one of those not so honorable ways to find a bite.  You will see a pair of binos on the dashes of just about every pick-up out on Devils Lake and it is no secret why.  Not much a person can do about the tail-piper except hope and pray that they are respectful enough to give you a little room.

Facebook/Instagram

Be careful on this one, social media is great, social media can be an outdoorsman’s biggest friend, it can also be an outdoorsman’s biggest  enemy.  There are a lot of devious minds out there that like nothing more than to mess with others.  There are a lot of fly-by-night guides out there  who aren’t always on the up and up.  Just because a picture pops up on Facebook or Instagram showing a Mega Crap Ton of Perch, doesn’t necessarily mean they were caught recently, or even in this fish calendar year.

Reality

The reality of all of this is, there is only one true way to find out how the bite is, get out there and fish.  It’s called fishing for a reason, not catching.  The pure joy and goal should be to have an enjoyable experience in the Great Outdoors, the catch and hopeful cleaning station picture should be the icing on the cake.