Upper Souris ~ Lake Darling

[NDLive]

One more inch and you’re going over

Upper Souris, The Refuge, Lake Darling take your pick they are all the same. Darling is a great all around lake but as a perch lake is takes 2nd seat to no one including Devils Lake. The bonus is it has great ice fishing and a summer bite. Not many lakes can boast that claim.

It also is host to the “Special Needs Fishing Day” held each year in the downstream fishing area. Flood conditions have raised havoc with fishing conditions this year and not just Darling but the entire state. Special Needs Fishing Day has been moved to the State Fair Grounds fish pond. June 4th from 10 to 3, any special needs kids and their families, BBQ included. FREE, ya I know, I like the free part to. Call Duane at Upper Souris Refuge.

Back to flood conditions. The only easily usable ramp right now is Green. Others are closed, could be closed or are challenging. I called ahead and came prepared. We all had knee boots which proved to be useless. At last minute I tossed in the waders. Without them someone would have been very wet.

The buoy line that used to cut off much of the lake from fishing has been removed. That leaves miles of water open to explore this summer. We made the run to Grano crossing. The bridge is a fish magnate for two reasons. It is an area of constriction, if fish are going through they are confined to the area under the bridge. The other reason is current. If we have flows from CA or simply strong wind there is always current.

Grano is a fantastic fall fishery and right now the hot spot on Darling. The plus is you can fish form shore. In fact Darling is a great shore fishing lake and with high water and tuff access you may want to consider that. I’ve got three boats and my family still shore fishes. Any way we can get at’em we will try.

If I could pass on a fishing tip I would suggest – fish from shore – there are so many lakes filled to the brim and running over. With the cool spring, shore fishing will remain good for several weeks yet. The bonus to high water is the future looks bright. In fact I have never seen conditions looking better for the future of ND.

Fishing for us today was slow or as I like to say challenging. Northerns pulling cranks, pitching cranks and pitching jigs but no walleyes. It’s a little too early for perch to fire up. Water is 59and we need another 10 degrees. With the spring we have be experiencing it will be a while but when it happens I plan on being back.