Devils Lake nd

[wallyhunter430]

I am thinking about going to devils lake and I have never been there before I would like to bring my 8X16 ice house.  I have been looking at some websites for some of the resorts but they do not post very much information about ice roads and such.  So does anyone have any suggestions on where to access the lake safely? And possibly a good area to start trying to catch fish? Any help would be appreciated.

[1lessdog]

Lots of snow up there and the ice is only about 11-12 inchs thick. Everytime there is a wind everthing blows in pretty bad.

[nxtgeneration]

Call Woodland Resort and Ed's Bait Shop.  They'll be able to help you out with ice/snow conditions.

[Hoyt4]

Not many place have roads plowed there. If a lot of snow your better off in a portable and sleds or wheelers. Call Woodland or lakeview sites

 

From Lakeview

 

Well it is that time of the year again! Ice fishing season is upon us and is about to get off into full swing here soon. Christmas time and the New Year usually bring the beginning of the much anticipated ice fishing season here in North Dakota. Last week we had quite a few days that were below zero, this really helped create a good foundation of ice. As of today, December 22nd people are reporting ice depths of 6-15 inches.

Some of the upper basin areas (Lake Irvine and Lake Alice) have some of the better ice depths, pushing upwards over a foot to 15 inches in those areas. The West end of the lake and the Flats have just over a foot of ice. Six Mile Bay and Creel Bay have varying depths from 7-12 inches. As far as ice travel goes right now, it is still highly recommended to stick to snowmobile, 4 wheeler, and sno-bear traffic. There are still some areas that are seeing only 6 inches of ice so make sure to check your ice depths every so often when venturing into new spots.

Walleye and pike fishing has been producing some good fish. For walleyes focus on the structure based areas and transition points. Lures that have been working are Jigging Raps and Buckshots, try tipping the buck shots with a minnow head.

The perch bite has been picking up, try fishing some shallower areas of the basin for perch right now as they have not moved to the really deep water yet. Make sure to use a small presentation and light or ultralight rod to feel to the light bite. Try using a small Tungeston Jig or Genz Worms tipped with Wax Worms.

[wallyhunter430]

ok thanks for the help

 

[Rick]

 This is a great time of year to fish close to shore chasing pike jigging and with tip-ups.An occasional walleye too. In as little as 2' of water. As you drive around you will see where folks are fishing.

[castmaster]

Just got back from Devils Lake. There is a LOT of snow on the ice, limiting travel to tracked vehicles for the most part. Saw several atv's and utv's without tracks stuck. Grahams Island access was plowed out and a ok trail beaten down heading out a couple hundred yards. Also a LOT of people fishing there, and sounded like the fishing really dropped off from Thursday-Sunday but might be worth checking out.

 

Woodlands resort does plow a road a ways out into Creel bay. Not sure if they are letting trucks with wheel houses out yet but would be worth checking. I believe they will also plow a spot to drop the wheel house for a fee. Best option may be to go out of there and use that as "base camp" while using snowmobiles and portables to try and find fish.

 

We had a tough go of it. Really had to work to put together a limit of eyes, and only picked up 32 perch in 3 days of fishing with 4 guys.

[nxtgeneration]

Was out behind Pop's Bar on Sunday afternoon for a little while.  Fishing was tough as was getting around.  We drove out a little ways until the snow got bad.  We had four wheelers (no tracks).  It was ok going but still lots of snow.  After last nights snowfall it will be extremely tough to get around.