It Just Doesn’t Get ANY Better Than This!!
When the old Miller Lite commercial proclaimed this years ago, they were trying to sell beer. It was catchy and it worked. Well, Walleye Fishing really doesn’t get any better than it is right now on Devils Lake, if your goal is to just:
Catch Fish.
The depth zones that are holding fish right now are varied. A guy can start out in the morning up shallow in 4-8 feet of water and pitch and catch fish, then slide to the next level,10-15 feet and slip bobber or pull spinners or cranks and catch Walleyes, then slip deeper to those old shoreline shelves and pull spinners or lead core in that 20-30 foot range. Once the schools are discovered, your boat will pull in fish after fish.
Many will be small, there are millions of those 8-13 inchers in the lake and attests to the health of our wonderful fishery. Sorting through these bait stealers to acquire a limit of 14-17’s might take a while but it is inevitable. If you aren’t getting there, you are doing something wrong and we want to help you. The Big Devil is at its most productive stages:
Right Now!!
Relevant Locations To Turn Fishing Into Catching!
Lead Coring!
This is probably my second or third favorite way to fish on Devils Lake. The applications of lead core, with its maneuverability and ability to be sped up to avoid snags, makes it an ideal technique on the snag crazy waters of the Big Devil.
Add to the fact that all the varieties of fish in Devils Lake tend to slide deeper as the dog days of summer set in, and you have an exciting way to troll the old shorelines of the lake.
With lead core and a Salmo Hornet, a guy can really bring in the fish and just the sheer number of Walleyes, White Bass, Pike, and Perch one can find on those submerged shoreline ledges is astounding. (we will bring you Old Shorelines 101 tomorrow)
The sequence of just todays keepers:
And the occasional surprise of what you can do with lead core:
That last one obviously isn’t the norm, but, it is possible, and more probable on lead core than with the spinners.
We were actually kind of perusing for Perch today with some #4 Salmo Hornet Dalmatians when that Big Pig attacked our lure. I am guessing that she was also looking for some Devils Lake Gold as well.
Awesome Fish!
So Many Options!
The thing that I love so much about this amazing fishery is, even though putting the largest number of fish in the boat right now can probably be done by:
trolling with spinners and bottom bouncers with worms or leeches
-and-
pulling lead core with some variety of crankbait
Devils Lake Fisherman can catch fish, right now, literally any conceivable way of fishing.
Pitching Cranks
Find a weed edge or submerged road in shallow water or a large submerged flat in 6-8 feet. Pitch, and Pitch, and Pitch until you have found a pocket of active fish. There will be fish up in those weed throughout the summer.
Slip Bobbers
Whether it be on rocky structure, the edges of weeds, or in the flooded timber; a slip bobber deployed with a plain hook and a leech will put ample numbers of walleyes in the boat. They may run a little smaller, but in the right location a nice bag of keepers can still be had.
Long Lining Cranks Shallow
Sunken road beds and the shallower old shorelines and shallower submerged flats can be attacked with #5 and #7 Crankbaits. A trolling guide might help take some of the guess work out of how much line to have out.
Snap Jigging
Rocks and Bridge areas seem to always produce fish, especially in the early hours and late hours of daylight. Some bigger fish can be caught this way and if you are a jigging fanatic, Devils Lake offers many locations for you to snap away.
You name a fishing technique, it can be applied to catching fish on Devils Lake, right now.
Where to Concentrate
We have been hitting a lot of submerged, old shoreline ledges lately. There at a lot of fish sitting on them and this time of year a limit can be attained quite quickly, actually almost too quickly. Look on your GPS for spots where there is a gap between two sets of tightly packed contour lines (we will bring you graphics of this tomorrow), that is the flat you at looking for. Try to find two sets that run parallel to each other. One should be in the 12-15 foot range and the next level in the 20-30 foot level. Those are the two old shoreline ledges we are paying most of our attention to.
Lots of fish on both, and good fish, some are REALLY good fish.
Hold On To Your Rod!
And…
Turn Fishing Into Catching
With…
DevilsLakeFishingReport!!
