The peak walleye action occurring right now on Devils Lake is “hot.” Known far and wide as a 4-seasons fishery (no season closure), as many people flock to this walleye mecca in winter as summer. Spring and fall are also very popular.
Guide Mark Bry said, “They’re really biting now at the end of July. This will continue into August and September.” Guide Johnnie Candle echoed those sentiments saying, “The typical mid-summer bite is on! Find ‘em and catch ‘em.” Guide Dave Randash said, “Fishing’s so good it’s unbelievable.”
Bry described a recent guide trip. His clients were slip-bobbering a main-lake hump that topped at 23 feet. A flurry would occur with four or five fish landed. The person casting a quarter-ounce jig baited with a leech also caught walleyes. “We caught fish from 10 inches to 25 inches, keeping a limit of 15 to 18 inch eaters,” he said. “Walleyes came through in pods of three to seven fish schooling with similar size brothers and sisters.” The 10 to 12 inchers mean lots of fish moving up the year-class ladder. The 15 to 17 inch fish traveled together. The 22 to 25 inch walleyes moved onto the rock pile in smaller pods.
Bry’s tip for non-biting walleyes that appear on his electronics: Drop the jig (below a slip-bobber) on top of its head. If still snubbing the jig and leech, reel in and cast back. One client did that for five minutes until the big walleye nailed it.
Days for Bry and his other eight full-time guides vary. Fish are relating to rocks and weeds. They’re deep and shallow. He said, “Trust your electronics. My Garmin Live Scope gives me confidence.” He’s caught them during the past week as shallow as six feet and as deep as 35 feet.
Bait such as freshwater shrimp, hatches of may flies and dragon flies and young of year minnows are everywhere. “Walleyes are gluttons and so used to feeding, even when full, they gobble our baited hooks,” he said. A typical 14 inch Devils Lake walleye weighs about 1.5 pounds. At 18 inches, they’re pushing three pounds. A 22 inch walleye scales almost 4.5 pounds.
August and September fish act much like late July. “This late summer time,” Bry said, “is very promising.” He also pointed with pride to the many launch ramps and bait-cleaning stations around the lake, saying, “Here in Devils Lake, we’re people friendly with anything visitors could want.”
Guide Johnnie Candle fishes the Devils Lake open water season. He concentrates on walleyes and brings his World Walleye Championship and professional tournament credentials to work. From November to March, he guides fishermen to grouper, red and mangrove snapper, sea bass, red fish and speckled trout in Carrabelle, Florida, southwest of Tallahassee.
“This is typical mid-summer fishing. Cover ground. Fish the best way to catch them,” he said. Lately, bottom bouncers and spinners have been effective. The old 1993 shoreline is now 22 feet under water. “This is a go-to area, with so many miles to fish, the options of where to start are endless,” he said.
For the next couple months, Candle expects to see the same size fish in his livewell. “Half the limits are 17 to 20 inches. The other half is 14 to 17 inches,” he said. Every other day a 25 inch or bigger jumbo walleye comes aboard. After pictures, these are released.
He has been impressed with the huge numbers of 10 to 12 inch walleyes. “They’re for the future,” he forecast. His plans call for concentrating on edges of structure and with temps in the mid-70’s, nothing will change over the next couple of months.
Guide Dave Randash offered his on-water experience by telling the best Devils Lake spot to fish, “The main lake is firing on all cylinders right now, as is every other area. Go to your spot – anywhere – move around and catch fish.”
Randash shared some of his go-to tactics. He has been bottom bouncing, but instead of spinner blades, he favors Mack’s Smile blades. “I can go slower. Rods are in the rod holders. The two-hook harnesses work best. Nightcrawlers produce on this rig over leeches,” he said. Same method catches fish on the flooded roadbeds.
Fishing with slip bobbers is a tried and true Devils Lake standard. He uses plain hooks (#4 Gamakatsu) and leeches. When clients have boxed a limit
of walleyes, Randash introduces them to white bass and northern pike. Casting crankbaits performs well, as do Rippin’Raps and Jiggin’ Raps, but he has developed a proven pike plan.
“I lengthened the long arm of my bottom bouncers to 2-feet. With a 6-foot leader and plain hook baited with a creek chub, I troll for pike,” he stated. When a pike grabs the minnow, my clients know to feed line like when fishing a Lindy rig. Waiting a minute, his clients set hooks into some very large pike.
Many excellent guide services, an access/launch map, lodging, resorts, restaurants, casino, bait shops, fish-cleanings stations, handicapped fishing piers and many more details about one of the best ice and open water fishing destinations in North America can be found at devilslakend.com. Seasons are open!
