Current Devils Lake Fishing Report

[Guest]

Just got back from a full days fishing on DL. Fished the Main Bay. Caught about 20 walleyes total. Half were under 14 inches, the largest was 22 inches. Jigs and rigs with minnows. 18-23 feet deep on secondary flat out of 40 foot deep water.

------------------
Kevin Neve's Devils Lake Guide Service
fishingminnesota.com/kevin-neve-guiding/
e-mail: [email protected]
Phone: 701-473-5411 or 701-351-4989
Minnewaukan ND

[Guest]

Ice is forming on the smaller sheltered water areas as we speak. Nothing on the main lake until the wind goes down and a little more prolonged sub-freezing temperatures.

[Guest]

YES We have ice. The west bayiced over last night. However it is ridged with chunks that broke off in the wind. I would expect that it would be better on the upwind side. I am a chicken when it comes to first ice. No fish is as important as waking up tommorrow.

[Guest]

ICE REPORT

The only part of the lake mostly ice covered is the West Bay (Minnewaukan Flats). The Main Bay and East Bay are not iced over. Some ice on Creel and Six-Mile. Nothing is fishable without taking too much risk.

Some OK perch reports out on Cavanaugh Lake. Ice there is 3-4 inches. Warm weather the next couple of days won't help. Colder temps coming.

------------------
Kevin Neve's Devils Lake Guide Service
fishingminnesota.com/kevin-neve-guiding/
e-mail: [email protected]
Phone: 701-473-5411 or 701-351-4989
Minnewaukan ND

[Guest]

I could only get out in the late afternoon on Sunday. Walked out 1 mile from the Minnewaukan boat ramp to one of the several humps. Ice 8 inches. Fished 14' in 21' water. Only three walleyes through the hole but that was my fault. Missed several at 18' too. I am getting to old to walk that far pulling a sled.

Used the Fish Toy's saw to cut holes. No problem to cut 8" diameter holes.

Reports of good Perch catches in Black Tiger. Walleyes mixed in. Hitting minnows and jigs. Try blade baits for walleyes.

Lack of cold night time temps is slowing ice development. Watch out on the middle of all the bays for thin ice. Keep to the secondary bays for now.

------------------
Kevin Neve's Devils Lake Guide Service
fishingminnesota.com/kevin-neve-guiding/
e-mail: [email protected]
Phone: 701-473-5411 or 701-351-4989
Minnewaukan ND

[Guest]

A buddy pulled me out onto the ice with his snowmobile near Minnewaukan yesterday afternoon. Fished for 3 hours and caught 11 walleyes. Bad news only two were of keeper size - a 16 and 17 incher. I wasn't very mobile but I fished the dump out of one hump.

Angler activity was up. Results mixed. Not a major bite but, everyone was having fun.

Still only 8 inches if ice.

------------------
Kevin Neve's Devils Lake Guide Service
fishingminnesota.com/kevin-neve-guiding/
e-mail: [email protected]
Phone: 701-473-5411 or 701-351-4989
Minnewaukan ND

[This message has been edited by kevin neve (edited 12-16-2001).]

[Guest]

The fishing is better than last year, however the ice conditions could go to hell if this weather keeps up.

It continues to be a variable bite. Most folks find em here today not as many tomorrow. There is not agreat deal of out-of-staters yet but historically that activity picks up in late Feb.

Fish are being found in all the usuall places with slight variations. I won't list them. If you have been here before, fish your old spots and venture out from there. If your new, get a guide, ask the bait shops or use the Wisconsin Fishfinding method.

Keep the vehicle gased. You might want to make a run to Stump Lake or Cavanaugh. Stump was hot this time last year.

------------------
Kevin Neve's Devils Lake Guide Service
fishingminnesota.com/kevin-neve-guiding/
e-mail: [email protected]
Phone: 701-473-5411 or 701-351-4989
Minnewaukan ND

[This message has been edited by kevin neve (edited 01-09-2002).]

[Sheephead]

What's the Wisconsin fish finding method? Sitting in the bar drunk and ordering the walleye,french-fry basket?"do I get toast with that?"

[Guest]

Kevin, is there any info that you can give me about what area lakes there are to fish. I was wondering what small lakes around our area I could go to find some perch or maybe even some northerns, they are always fun to catch anyway. thanks

[Guest]

Sheephead, glad you enjoyed my post. You know someone from Wisconsin?

Of course you get white toast and coleslaw.

Not a bad suggestion for dinner tonight.

Wishin

Try the ND game and fish HSOforum. They have a map and the species in each lake.

I don't fish the smaller lakes in the area and don't hear anything about them. Most guys who fish smaller lakes and dams don't share any information. Sorry I can't give you any info. The only smaller lakes around the Devils Lake area anyone I know fish are Stump Lake, south of Lakota and Cavanaugh, north of Devils Lake. Stump will be busy this weekend.

------------------
Kevin Neve's Devils Lake Guide Service
fishingminnesota.com/kevin-neve-guiding/
e-mail: [email protected]
Phone: 701-473-5411 or 701-351-4989
Minnewaukan ND

[fishlips]

Stump lake was hot last year?
that got my curiosity going...when I lived in Grand Forks in the 1970's (I'm in the twin cities now), we used to hunt that area. Stump didn't have any fish in it back then, that I know of. It was way too shallow and alkaline.
What's in there now??
thanks

[Guest]

Grumpys right!

If you haven't seen Stump in a while you'll be shocked. The best fishing is on the west end, the water is fresher. Shrimp are the main forage there too.

The flooding in the Devils Lake basin is something you can only appreciate if you see it. DL is over 40 miles long now. It is a hard lake to fish if only because it is so large and new. No real patterns exist do to the flucuating water and the changing conditions of the bottom.

I do most of my open water fishing in less than 12 feet of water. The land under it was farmed, pastured or homes 5 years ago. If you fish in less than 26 feet of water you are fishing "new" water. I caught the ND state record white bass in a "hayfield" of an employee of mine.

------------------
Kevin Neve's Devils Lake Guide Service
fishingminnesota.com/kevin-neve-guiding/
e-mail: [email protected]
Phone: 701-473-5411 or 701-351-4989
Minnewaukan ND

[Guest]

Perch fishing was pretty good this weekend.
Everyone I talked to caught fish or if they didn't fish knew someone who caught fish.

A lot of rigs, well over a hundered, fished Camp Grafton. I heard a vehicle went through on a presure ridge somewhere in the Cason area.

I had success away from the crowd. The bite was on whole minnows. After I wised up and used em, my success improved. I had been using heads and perch eyes. The bite was light. I missed way more than I caught. Should have had 3 dozen everyday, but that's fishing!!!

------------------
Kevin Neve's Devils Lake Guide Service
fishingminnesota.com/kevin-neve-guiding/
e-mail: [email protected]
Phone: 701-473-5411 or 701-351-4989
Minnewaukan ND

[Grumpy]

Fishlips,

The wet cycle that has raised Devils Lake has affected Stump Lake also. All that fresh water entering the system has improved water quality to where fish are doing quite well in Stump Lake. Fish and Game stocked it with perch a few years back and they have done quite well. Also Devils Lake is spilling over into Stump, so that plus waterfowl moving between lakes could mean that almost any species could be present, but mainly perch from what I understand.

[Sheephead]

Kevin, do you fish a lot of the old sunken roads roads or ditches? Is having a GPS a good idea to have? Just wondering,my buddy just got one and wanted to know if their are any maps availble for them. Thanks, Sheephead.

[Guest]

Sheephead - I am not aware of any map with GPS coordinates of Devils Lake. The local baitshops have good aerial maps of the area. You can use them to orient yourself to the roads. You can also sight back down the roads from the ice to find the top of the bed.

What is good about GPS is that you can find yesterdays holes. Nothing burns me more than when folks use garbage to mark their spots.

Since Devils Lake is so big, it can be confusing as to how to even get to a given bay, road, point or hump. Don't be afraid to ask detailed questions if you fish here. Most guys will give you info on the community holes freely. It will be tougher to info as to the spots on the spots.

I don't fish the roads much myself as a rule. I'll troll the tops in summer for pike. In calm conditions I'll jig the adjacent ditch for eye's. The sunken road coming out of Minnewaukan can get good. Major structure like roads tend to become community holes

------------------
Kevin Neve's Devils Lake Guide Service
fishingminnesota.com/kevin-neve-guiding/
e-mail: [email protected]
Phone: 701-473-5411 or 701-351-4989
Minnewaukan ND

[Sheephead]

Are you reffering community holes as lots of people? Places that are fished heavy? I take it your're recommending staying away from the crowds? Thanks again Kevin for your quick and helpful advice.

[Guest]

Hey everybody, we are making ice big time!!!

Community holes are the popular spots, the one you hear about time after time on a lake. They generally are fished by the crowds.

Baitshops and fishing reports will direct you first to them. You need to branch out from there. Nobody gives up their honey holes voluntarily.

You seldom see the hardcores by em. If you do, you know the bite is tough every where else or there actually fish down there!!!

------------------
Kevin Neve's Devils Lake Guide Service
fishingminnesota.com/kevin-neve-guiding/
e-mail: [email protected]
Phone: 701-473-5411 or 701-351-4989
Minnewaukan ND

[Guest]

There are a good population of nice fish at the Casino all the way to the highway. I marked fish every hole I cut for three days. Move around in 100-300 yard increments until you find some biters. When the action stops, make 50 yard movements in a circle until you locate the better fish again.

I used a buckshot rattle jig, 3 inch dropper and a minnow head. Perch eyes didn't seem to work for me. The biggest perch for the month registered at the Casino baitshop is 1.8#'s. Nice one.

I had one report of crappies being caught 6 foot off bottom. If you get a flash higher up, pull the lure up and give it a try.

------------------
Kevin Neve's Devils Lake Guide Service
fishingminnesota.com/kevin-neve-guiding/
e-mail: [email protected]
Phone: 701-473-5411 or 701-351-4989
Minnewaukan ND

[Guest]

This weekend was some god awful weather. Cold, snow flurries and wind. Fishing was tough.

As usual someone always has a good catch. The best catch I heard was of a 5 gallon bucket full of pounders from a larger guided party. Extreme stealth was the name of the game for them. Slipbobbers and minnows in one hole, the other partner would call em with a buckshot rattle and stop all movement when the perch became visible on the electronics. The bobber must have just the right amount of weight so that when a perch blows it, it sinks. You had to be over fish, in a shack, have a clean hole and be willing to sit it out.

It wasn't fun to move on Sunday. We found fish and stuck on top of them trying to coax them in. We had our share of hits but couldn't land enough of them to be real overjoyed. They loved to look at whole minnows. I did best on waxies and a small genz worm in 44 foot of water.

If you caught around ten you had a good day.

------------------
Kevin Neve's Devils Lake Guide Service
fishingminnesota.com/kevin-neve-guiding/
e-mail: [email protected]
Phone: 701-473-5411 or 701-351-4989
Minnewaukan ND

[Guest]

I guess we shoul have called Kevin Neve's Devils Lake Guide Service.
Instead we used Sportsman Paradise!
What a bummer!
Our experience at Devils Lake was a real bummer. The guide from ‘Sportsman’s Paradise” didn’t show up with the portable shelters and heaters so we had no way to stay out on the lake – let alone know where to go. We really had only two days for fishing and tried to fish on Sunday but it was to windy to sit outside. We spent $80.00 in gas and $15.00 in bait, plus taking off a day of vacation, all for naught, zilch, zero…..WHAT A WASTED TRIP! Mike Jelle shouldn’t be running a business.
If you get a chance to use Sportsman's Paradise DON'T!

[Guest]

You should have been here yesterday, we caught perch all day and got a bucket and a half full. But today...

The bite is real spotty or should I say the catching is real spotty. I had several reports of bucket catches with everyone surronding them getting nearly skunked.

We did OK using a plain hook and slipbobber rig with small minnows. Rattle spoons and plain hook droppers with waxies or small minnnows at times out produced it. Rattle your rigs until the red moves off the bottom. Let the minnow or the spin in the line be the only movement.

Several areas are producing nice catches of perch from time-to-time... Rocky Ridge, Casino, Skadsems and Black Tiger.

Walleyes and Pike are still in the treelines. Please release the larger fish.

------------------
Kevin Neve's Devils Lake Guide Service
fishingminnesota.com/kevin-neve-guiding/
e-mail: [email protected]
Phone: 701-473-5411 or 701-351-4989
Minnewaukan ND

[Sheephead]

Are there a lot of areas with the flooded treelines? Any good depths for Walleyes by the trees? Perch hanging out around there too? Thanks Kevin for all your great info!! Sheephead. Hopefully we'll see ya this weekend!

[Guest]

That's one thing Devils Lake does not lack is flooded trees. Fish the edges. The depths next to the trees are somewhat uniform around the lake at the deep edge. The perch generally are deeper than walleyes but several large females roam the 40 foot stuff. The bad thing about that is that any fish brought up from such deep water is a dead fish. Catch and release is not an option.

------------------
Kevin Neve's Devils Lake Guide Service
fishingminnesota.com/kevin-neve-guiding/
e-mail: [email protected]
Phone: 701-473-5411 or 701-351-4989
Minnewaukan ND

[Guest]

Ah, North Dakota wind.

There are loads of perch out there to be caught all over the lake. Keep moving. Adapt to the Devil. Finesse. Spring bobbers, properly weighted slipbobbers, and droprigs tipped with the bait du jour. No jigging. Remember you are in 40 foot of water. Read your electronics. Read the fish.

------------------
Kevin Neve's Devils Lake Guide Service
fishingminnesota.com/kevin-neve-guiding/
e-mail: [email protected]
Phone: 701-473-5411 or 701-351-4989
Minnewaukan ND