Devils Lake Ice Reports

[ThatFishingGuy]

Anyone got any ice conditions reports on Devils Lake, ND? I cant find anything anywhere......

Im looking to head up in the next 2 weeks and thinking of the West end  for fishing.

 

thanks,

 

ThatFishingGuy

[ThatFishingGuy]

Really! Nobodies got anything?

anybody got any other forums that hay info???

[UMC]

Not sure, you could call one of the dozens of bait shops/resorts in the area, I'm sure they could give you ice conditions.  

[MuskieFever]

Anywhere from 12"-20" where I was: creel bay and the main lake between creel and six mile. Check woodlands page for ice conditions as well. Use caution if driving, check often!

[busse3775]

You have any luck fishing MuskieFever?

[MuskieFever]

Yes. Was out all weekend as well. Morning walleye bite was very good, a few perch mixed in as well. Midday perch bite was decent, overall size of fish varied. A lot of smaller perch with a few 12-14" in the mix. I will be out this weekend as well.

[magic_minnow]

Hey MuskieF:  Thanks for the report.  Gonna get out there this weekend.  Can you chime in on the snow cover on the lake?  Can I get around with a truck?  thanks!

Busse:  you get out there this year at all?  It was nice to exchange reports last time, although fishing su*ked and it was -30.

[MuskieFever]

The snow is very bare after last weeks warm up. Getting around in a truck shouldn't be a problem at all. People just started driving on six mile and i've heard the flats have some thinner ice spots. Other than that I found 15"-20" almost everywhere.

[magic_minnow]

MF:  Appreciate the prompt reply!  I hardly frequent DL so i'm not familiar with where the "flats" are.  Can you elaborate?  I have fished black tiger and in front of the casino, thats pretty much it.  Never caught anything substantial but ran into a good pod of perch last year and one that was as thick as a 1 lb propane tank.  Do you mind giving me the depth you are finding the eyes at?  I usually go shallow (sub 12fow) but just can't figure it out on that lake.  Thanks again in advance!

[busse3775]

Spent the weekend fishing Devils Lake and what a beautiful weekend it was.
Day 1: My dad and I left Fargo early early Saturday morning and got set up for the morning walleye bite in Black Tiger Bay in 15-18 feet. Caught a couple eyes but only ended up keeping one. From there we set out searching for perch in East Devils, which was pretty tough. Couldn't find any schools, only loner perch which was somewhat odd to me. Moved at least 10 times and drilled 50 in East Devils and ranged in depth from 20' to 45' with only a couple perch and eyes to show for it. Decided to head to far East Devils around noon on Saturday and it was a small city out there. There were people every where and the Perch Patrol guides were driving everywhere in search of the schools. Didn't seem like many people were having much luck in the bigger groups so we decided to go out on our own and fish in the 35'-40' range. Did happen to get on a decent school that was actually aggressive and picked up 15 perch in about 20 minutes before they left and we couldn't find them again. Went back to Black Tiger Bay for the evening walleye bite because I have done well there quite a few times and again did not have much luck. Ended day 1 with 15 nice perch and 4 walleyes.

Day 2: We decided to go straight back to far East Devils and search for perch Sunday morning again. The warmer weather really helped us stay mobile because we did not have to set the house up every time we moved, which was ALOT. We moved 5 or 6 times before we set up in another spot that was roughly 30'. We were just about ready to leave after ten minutes of not marking a thing and a large school of aggressive perch moved in and it was lights out! For the next half hour it was one after another and the best thing about it was there was no one even close to us! We ended up catching around 50+ perch in the time and kept 30. Finally all our hard work payed off! The school ended up leaving and we couldn't find them again so we moved several other times. Around 1:00pm we decided to head to Stump since it was on the way home and we wanted to check it out. We moved half a dozen times on the lake and put a 17" walleye topside and that was it. Was surprised that there weren't many people out there. Over the two days we moved countless times and stayed very mobile and drilled 100+ holes but in the end it payed off in the end. Overall, it was a fun and gorgeous weekend spent on Devils Lake and already looking forward to heading back out!

[magic_minnow]

that perch in the middle is a hawg!  Good job and nice report!  I'll post my trip results when I go this weekend.  Seems the cold snap is gonna hold off til Monday.

[busse3775]

Good luck!!

[MuskieFever]

On February 1, 2016 at 1:09 PM, magic_minnow said:

MF:  Appreciate the prompt reply!  I hardly frequent DL so i'm not familiar with where the "flats" are.  Can you elaborate?  I have fished black tiger and in front of the casino, thats pretty much it.  Never caught anything substantial but ran into a good pod of perch last year and one that was as thick as a 1 lb propane tank.  Do you mind giving me the depth you are finding the eyes at?  I usually go shallow (sub 12fow) but just can't figure it out on that lake.  Thanks again in advance!

The flats are located north of grahams island, west of 72nd ave (the road that runs on the western shore of six mile bay). For walleyes I was doing well in the 14'-20' range. I've found it really depends on the spot and what structure is on it. Any sort of transition (rock to sand, mud to sand, trees to sand) are always good starting spots. 

Got out today with a buddy. The devils lake gods were not kind to us. Tried new spots in East Devils and only caught small perch. We started out on what we thought were good looking humps that didn't produce. Moved deeper, nothing. Moved to a 8-10' flat, nothing. The walleyes were a mystery today and I still am scratching my head. Fished 7 or so spots for perch from 27'-51'. The only schools we found were small in number and in size. Frustrating but small fish are better than no fish. One tip I would like to give when looking for perch is start with a rattling spoon and keep it pounding! Pound the bottom, jig up 5' or so and then drop it to the bottom. A key perch trigger for me is jigging aggressive to move the fish in. If it doesn't eat or chase hard, I will drop the bait to the bottom for a few seconds and jig (more like constantly shaking the rod tip) my spoon up about 2-3 feet off the bottom. This tactic triggers a lot of bites for picky perch. 

Best of luck everyone!

Busse: Nice pile of perch!

[magic_minnow]

bummer!  I've had one too many of those kind of days myself.  This is the part when I usually break out the grill and get some steaks goin!  The only way to salvage a bad day fishing.  I certainly appreciate the tips.  I've never consistently ran into any walleyes on DL, only 1 or 2 here and there while fishing for perch.  I guess I have to go shallower.

[busse3775]

MuskieFever we found about the same type of results on East Devils when we fished it last weekend as well. We would move to a new spot and mark and catch just 1 or 2 perch then nothing after that. I thought perch were schooling fish, which I still think they are, but these ones seemed to be loners and almost by themselves.

[Rick]

One bites, then another, then another.  Most years that eruption results in limits or near limits and a good day is had.

So far, this year, those eruptions are short-lived, and 4-6 Perch is the result.  Either the numbers just aren’t there to sustain a bite or they aren’t schooled up into big pods, either way, it is the condition that we are in right now on the big lake.

Depths

We are finding most of our biting Perch in those intermediate depth levels.  Mostly 20-35 feet of water, up on the contours, not away from them out in the basin.  Walleyes on the other hand, have been everywhere.

10-50 feet!!

I know that sounds a little crazy but it is what we are finding.  Size varies as well, one 19 incher followed by 3 12 inchers followed by another 20 inch bruiser.

White Bass Abound!

We are finding a lot of White Bass out there, sometimes too many.  We had a mixed school last week that was loaded with White Bass and Perch and we couldn’t get out lure down to the Perch at the bottom in 36 feet of water.  The White bass above were just too active.

 

Techniques

When we are finding Perch, the best technique to getting them to bite is to call them in with big, get them to bite with small.  We are jigging pretty big buckshots or Gold Varmints (1/8 ounce and 1/4 ounce) to call them in, then dropping small Tungstens with Spikes to get them to bite.  We have gotten a few bigger Perch on the initial, big lure drop but the numbers have come from the subtle, Tungsten and spikes.

 

We are finding most of our biting Perch in those intermediate depth levels.  Mostly 20-35 feet of water, up on the contours, not away from them out in the basin.  Walleyes on the other hand, have been everywhere.

 

10-50 feet!!

 

I know that sounds a little crazy but it is what we are finding.  Size varies as well, one 19 incher followed by 3 12 inchers followed by another 20 inch bruiser.

White Bass Abound!

We are finding a lot of White Bass out there, sometimes too many.  We had a mixed school last week that was loaded with White Bass and Perch and we couldn’t get out lure down to the Perch at the bottom in 36 feet of water.  The White bass above were just too active.

 

Techniques

When we are finding Perch, the best technique to getting them to bite is to call them in with big, get them to bite with small.  We are jigging pretty big buckshots or Gold Varmints (1/8 ounce and 1/4 ounce) to call them in, then dropping small Tungstens with Spikes to get them to bite.  We have gotten a few bigger Perch on the initial, big lure drop but the numbers have come from the subtle, Tungsten and spikes.

 

They ARE There!

Don’t get us wrong, it is not like we aren’t finding Perch marks, just about everywhere.  The problem is, getting those marks to turn into biters is not happening frequently enough right now.

Not schooled up

Not hungry due to ever abundant shrimp

Too much variable weather

Whatever the reason, feeding frenzies have been pretty few and far between.  We can only hope that as the winter gets longer in the tooth, the snow stays away and those small Perch pods turn into big schools and they get hungry, only time will tell!!

Best Lures Lately!

Aside from the one you know, the JBLures Gold Varmint, we are also having luck with:

Red Buck Shot (minnow head)

Blue Busk shot (minnow head)

Wonderbread Tungsten (spikes)

Green/Chartreuse Tungsten (spikes)

[PurpleFloyd]

I need to get up there one of these years