Lake Audubon

[NDLive]

Sometimes even X large

Tail dancing across the surface, drag squealing, hard pull under the boat, back to the other side for one last jump. That ain’t no walleye Schoneck!

Too excited to sleep, I was up and ready before sunrise. Jesse, my son and fishing partner could not believe it was light at that hour. Weather called for a beautiful day warming to 68 with light winds. There is so much of ND I have yet to fish. So much unexplored.

Lake Audubon is managed by North Dakota Game and Fish on the north and the south by Fish and Wildlife. A buoy marks the division, something to keep in mind since there is no summer fishing on Lake Audubon National Wildlife Refuge. Game and Fish have a great map showing the boundary.

The drive was half the trip. Every puddle had a pair of ducks. The crest of each hill exposed a new group of pheasants. I like to think I can identify many birds by their call. Not at Audubon I can’t, I’ve never seen so much life packed into one area.

It’s been a tuff lake to manage. Audubon has had a history of small fish. Sorting out a forage base being the major issue. That is ancient history now as cisco have moved in from Sakakawea and fish are growing like baseball players on steroids.

The lake is normally held at 1847 all summer, that is until 2011 hit. It is being used for storage right now and levels are up 3 feet and could go higher. Bad news if you have lakefront, but if you are a fish it means gourmet meals every day in the newly flooded vegetation.

The lake is defined by structure. Hundreds of small, medium and large islands both out of and under the water. First cast of the day and I was fighting a showoff Smallmouth. That pattern continued for most of the day.

I’m no expert on bass but it seems they like plastic. I tried a jig tipped with a fathead and caught fish but plastic won out every time. Gulp was ok, but Sliders were the best bet. I’m guessing it was the paddle tail.

Bass ain’t much to eat but they make up the shortfall by their style. Attitude start to finish. All star wrestlers of the water world. You don’t have to wonder what you got on. I was blown away by the quality of these fish. Just like their structure they come in small, medium and large. Sometimes even X large.

Water temps were in the upper 50’s and the forecasted calm winds were whipping up the waves. Air temp was lower than the water temp and I didn’t have nearly enough clothes. One of those days you wish you didn’t have a touch screen phone as it doesn’t like cold fingers.

It was bass after bass till late afternoon. Finally I got bit off by a northern and then managed my first small walleye. We talked about going deeper for walleye but the 7 foot mark was where the bass seemed to like it best.

ANS regulations don’t allow us to carry fish home in the livewell anymore, so remember to bring a cooler if you’re not launching next to a cleaning station. Check the boat and trailer for junk hanging on. Clean~Drain~Dry

I’m not a Smallmouth junkie but I will admit that was fun. Their aggressive attitude makes for fast hook sets and often I could not crank up the slack fast enough from a run straight at the boat. The showoffs do have some pretty spectacular aerial maneuvers. If we could do some of that cloning and get’em to taste like walleye we would really have something!

[NDLive]

Walleyes, Northern, Perch, Smallmouth. This lake has got it all.

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