# Devils Lake Fishing Report



## Ed's Bait

*Devils Lake Fishing Report*

High winds, cool temps, and rain this past week made for tough fishing 
conditions on Devils Lake. With water temps remaining mostly in the 50's 
those anglers going out reported only fair fishing. On the few days that the 
weather did cooperate, anglers reported some excellent fishing though in the 
typical spots for this time of year. Finding the warmest water has been the 
key this spring. Some of the spots that are producing fish have been New Mil 
Bay, Old Mil Bay, the Howard Farm area, north of Stromme Addition, Skadsen's 
Bay, the bridges, and many of the other smaller bays that warm up quickly when 
the weather cooperates. In these areas anglers are pitching cranks such as 
shad raps and countdown, jigs with minnow, leeches, or plastic, or slip 
bobbering the trees and humps. Pike continue to be caught throughout the lake 
and on most all presentations. Boat fisherman are mainly pitching cranks or 
jigs with plastic while shore fisherman are using smelt, herring, or leeches. 
White bass are being found in good sized pockets throughout the lake as well. 
However, some of the better spots have been Channel A and the windy rip rap 
areas along the highways. Firetiger or blue cranks and jigs tipped with 
minnows or plastic have all been working well. Shore fisherman are reporting 
good success of walleyes in the early morning and evening hours while bass and 
pike fisherman are having success throughout the day. Some of the better 
areas continue to be the bridges, the north end of Creel Bay along Hwy 19, the 
Hwy 19/281 area, and the bridges of the Mauvee. This weekend is the Spirit 
Lake Walleye Tournament and we wish all anglers the best of luck. Good Luck & Good Fishing!!!


----------



## Ed's Bait

Welcome tournament fisherman to ND's longest running fishing tournament, the 
Annual Devils Lake Chamber Walleye Tournament. We wish you all a safe and 
enjoyable weekend. This week anglers are reporting good to excellent fishing, 
but they're having to move around and work a little harder to find the more 
active fish. Some of the better walleye fishing has been around weedbeds and 
cattails or in the trees. In the weedbeds anglers are pitching cranks such as 
shad raps, countdowns, eskos, and jigs tipped with plastic. In the trees, 
anglers are mainly slip bobbering with leeches and crawlers. Anglers are also 
finding some fish out a bit deeper with bottom bouncers and spinners. As 
water temps increase these areas should pick up. Some of the better areas 
have been Pelican Lake, Monkey Ridge, Howards Bay, Doc Hagens, Bud Bay, Old 
Mill & New Mill bays, Mission Bay, the Storm Sewer area, and East Devils 
Lake. Pike continue to be caught along with walleyes in most areas. White 
bass fishing continues to be excellent with large schools being found in most 
all areas of the lake. Jigs with minnows, blue cranks, & firetiger cranks all 
work well. Shore fisherman are reporting a good bite in the early morning and 
later evening hours. Some of the better spots have been the rip rap along Hwy 
57 south of DL, the bridges, the north end of Creel Bay, and the Hwy 19/281 
intersection area. Lindy rigs with leeches, crawlers, or minnows and small 
cranks or jigs have all worked at times.


----------



## Ed's Bait

*Devils Lake Fishing Report*

Anglers are reporting catching a lot of smaller walleyes this past week, but 
finding larger fish has been a bit tougher. Action on walleyes has been 
excellent and most all presentations have been working. Anglers are pitching 
cranks, running live bait rigs, or trolling cranks along the edges of 
weedbeds. Some of the better areas have been Pelican Lake, Six Mile Bay, Doc 
Hagens, Bud Bay, Old & New Mill Bays, the bridges, and probably the hottest 
areas being Stromme Addition, Skadsens, Penny, & Black Tiger Bays in East 
Bay. Pike continue to be caught along with walleyes but their action has 
slowed a bit. White bass are being caught throughout the lake as anglers are 
finding large schools almost everywhere. Shorefisherman continue to report 
some excellent fishing along the rip rap on Hwy 57 near Acorn Ridge, the north 
end of Creel Bay on Hwy 19, and the Hwy 281/19 intersection area. Lindy type 
rigs or jigs have been working the best for shore fisherman. Don't forget to 
enter that big fish in our monthly contests. The largest walleye wins a $50 
gift certificate and the largest pike a $25 gift certificate.


----------



## Ed's Bait

*Devils Lake Fishing Report*

Welcome MWC anglers to the Lake Region. We wish you all the best of luck. 
Anglers have been reporting some excellent walleye fishing the past couple 
weeks. While many fish are small, sorting through them or trying a different 
color or pattern can often be the trick that gets you a bit larger fish. 
Anglers are reporting catching some fish pitching cranks, but most anglers are 
either trolling the edges of weedbeds or old shorelines, or slip bobbering 
these edges or the trees. Those trolling are using cranks such as jointed 
rapalas, salmo hornets, or bottom bouncers with spinners and crawlers or 
leeches. Some of the better areas have been the Stromme Addition area, Haleys 
Hump, Pelican Lake, Foughty's Point, the Ft. Totten/Cactus area, Bud Bay, Doc 
Hagens, and Skadsens Bay. Pike continue to be caught along with walleyes, but 
their action is somewhat slower this time of year. White bass are being found 
everywhere along with walleyes. Shorefisherman continue to report excellent 
fishing as well. The highway near Acorn Ridge, north end of hwy 19 in Creel, 
and the 281/19 area have all been producing a lot of fish. Lindy rigs with 
leeches and crawlers are working well. Good Luck & Good Fishing!!!


----------



## Ed's Bait

*Devils Lake Fishing Report*

Fishing on Devils Lake continues to be excellent. Anglers are reporting 
catching lots of smaller walleyes with many eating sized and some larger fish 
mixed in. The two key productive areas have been the edges of weedbeds and 
sunken rocky areas and points. Some of the better weedbed areas have been in 
Pelican Lake, the Doc Hagens area, and Stromme Addition. Some of the more 
productive rocky areas have been the sunken roads in Pelican and the Flats, 
Patience Point, Haleys Hump, Scooters Point, Foughty's Point, and Birklands 
Point. In these areas anglers are trolling cranks such as jointed shads and 
salmos or bottom bouncers and spinners tipped with crawlers or leeches. Pike 
and white bass continue to be found along with walleyes in most areas of the 
lake with better action in the shallower areas. Shore fisherman continue to 
report excellent walleye fishing near Acorn Ridge, the north end of Creel Bay, 
and in the Hwy 281/19 area. Lindy rigs, jigs, or cranks such as shad raps 
have all been working. This Saturday the Lake Region Anglers will be having 
their annual Walleye Widows outing at Grahams Island. Cost is $25.00/two 
person team (one male/one female) and each boat can have up to two couples. 
Hours are 9-3 with a steak fry afterwards. If you happen to get "the big 
one", don't forget our monthly big fish contest. The largest walleye wins a 
$50 gift certificate and the largest pike a $25 gift certificate.


----------



## Ed's Bait

*Devils Lake Fishing Report*

Not much has changed this past week as fishing on Devils Lake continues to be 
excellent. Anglers continue to report catching lots of smaller walleyes with 
many eating sized and some larger fish mixed in. The two key productive areas 
have been the edges of weedbeds and sunken rocky areas and points. Some of 
the better weedbed areas have been in Pelican Lake, the Doc Hagens area, and 
Stromme Addition. Some of the more productive rocky areas have been the 
sunken roads in Pelican and the Flats, Patience Point, Haleys Hump, Scooters 
Point, Foughty's Point, and Birklands Point. In these areas anglers are 
trolling cranks such as jointed shads and salmos or bottom bouncers and 
spinners tipped with crawlers or leeches. Pike and white bass continue to be 
found along with walleyes in most areas of the lake with better action in the 
shallower areas. Shore fisherman continue to report excellent walleye fishing 
near Acorn Ridge, the north end of Creel Bay, and in the Hwy 281/19 area. 
Lindy rigs, jigs, or cranks such as shad raps have all been working.


----------



## Ed's Bait

*Devils Lake Fishing Report*

Anglers continue to report some excellent fishing. While cold fronts moving 
through have made the bite change some from day to day, most anglers are still 
finding a lot of walleyes. The key patterns continue to be working the outer 
edges of weedbeds by trolling the deeper beds with cranks or bottom bouncers 
and spinners and cranking the shallower beds; or try trolling the gravel/rocky 
structure of sunken points, old shorelines, and sunken roads. The better 
areas continue to be the Stromme Addition area, Pelican Lake, Haley's Hump, 
Patience Point, the golden highway, Doc Hagens, the bridges, Five Crows, and 
Foughtys Point. Pike and bass continue to be caught along with walleyes in 
most areas. Shorefishing continues to be excellent as well. The Acorn Ridge 
area and Hwy 19/281 intersection area have been the better spots. Pitching 
cranks or jigs, or fishing Lindy rigs have been the best presentations. 
Working the windswept shores has been the best for walleyes. Pike and white 
bass are biting well in these areas.


----------



## nodakoutdoors.com

Fished for the past 3 days on Devils Lake. We fished all over the lake from Pelican, M. Coulee, Golden Highway and all around Graham's Island, and over towards Spirit Lake Casino. My buddies spent most of their time slip bobber fishing with jumbo leeches (my buddy got his hands on 2 lbs. of them, tough to find), and they pulled a ton of fish...mostly small with a few kickers. I spent most of my time pulling cranks between 10-15' of water on the edge of the trees and on rocky shorelines. Didn't pull the numbers as live bait but got all sizes of walleyes up to 25 inches and got my fill every day.

It seems the same crank never is the hot color each day. One day it was the #4 Salmo in Clown, one day it was the #5 Rapala Purple, and one day it didn't seem to matter as long as it was blue (#5 jointed Shad Rap blue probably the best).

The landings were mostly empty, I'm finding my past 2 trips this month that September is a heck of a good time to get up there.


----------



## Gooseman678

Hustad. If you can make it up during the end of oct. Or nov the fishing shoud be going better than it is now. Just hard to find that time in the middle of hunting season. Have you ever fished devils into late fall?


----------



## gunattic

Off topic a little bit..... but can anyone tell me if there is any kind of underwater visibility at devil lake? do you think a person could see over 3' if they went in with mask and snorkel? or are there any bays or areas with more gravel or sand that maybe a person would have even better visibility?

I really want to dive there but hate to make the trip if it's only muck and 0' of vis as it's quite a long drive from here.


----------



## greenc

i will have to admit the bigger fish in my last two trips came on carnk baits hands down 2 live bait givn props 2 ya huey thanks for the goodtimes


----------



## Rick Acker

Gooseman, I usually try to get one fishing day in end of October/early November...Jiggin' at the bridges...Money for the hogs...


----------



## nodakoutdoors.com

Gooseman678 said:


> Hustad. If you can make it up during the end of oct. Or nov the fishing shoud be going better than it is now. Just hard to find that time in the middle of hunting season. Have you ever fished devils into late fall?


This is actually the latest I've ever fished Devils Lake. You're right...it's always hard with the hunting season. I'm not sure I'll make it up in October since the Missouri River will be hot in the backyard.


----------



## Ed's Bait

Walleye fishing on Devils Lake continues to be excellent. With the recent 
heavy rains in the area, there's a fair amount of moving water in the coulees 
and bridge areas. Many anglers have been working these moving water areas 
such as the Mauvee, Six Mile, & 57 bridges and doing quite well. Anglers are 
also reporting good fishing using normal fall patterns. Those include jigging 
the deeper rocky points such as 5 Crows, Ft. Totten/Cactus Point, Patience 
Point, Doc Hagens, & Foughty's Point; and cranking windswept rocky 
shorelines. Some of the better areas for that are in Pelican Lake, Bud Bay, 
Mission Bay, East Bay, & East Devils Lake. Pike and bass continue to be 
caught along with walleyes in most areas.


----------



## Ed's Bait

*Devils Lake Fishing Report*

Recent cold weather has definitely helped when it comes to ice conditions. We 
still don't advise any vehicle traffic and only limited atv or snowmobile 
traffic. Some of the areas on the Main bay, Mission Bay, East Devils Lake, 
and the moving water bridge areas just recently froze and I would expect ice 
conditions in those areas to be quite marginal if not unsafe. However, in the 
shallower areas and smaller bays that froze earlier, anglers are reporting 
from 6-9 inches of ice. In the north end of Creel Bay near the Country Club 
and north of it and in Black Tiger anglers are reporting a few perch. No real 
numbers but they are catching some. As for walleyes, we've had some reports 
of good catches of eating sized fish in the trees near the Casino and gravel 
pits in Mission Bay, the Acorn/Stromme Addition area, Foughty's Point, and 
Black Tiger. Pike fisherman are reporting some good action on 
Sweetwater/Morrison. Spear fisherman are also reporting some good fishing. 
The Wolfords Bay and Jerusalem Bay in East Devils have been the better areas. 
As we said, ice conditions are improving, but anglers still need to use 
caution and common sense. Good Luck and Good Fishing!!!


----------



## Ed's Bait

Sub zero temps continue to improve ice conditions, but winds and storms have 
been hampering fisherman from making it out. Those going are report from 10-
15 inches of ice in many of the smaller and earlier freezing bays. However, 
some areas such as the Main Bay, Dome house area, middle of Mission Bay, area 
near mouth of Creel Bay, and East Devils lake froze late and ice conditions in 
those areas are much less. Also, heavy fall rains resulted in a lot of moving 
water and extreme care should be used around the bridges, coulees, and Channel 
A area. As for fishing, anglers are reporting some excellent walleye fishing 
in the 10-20 ft depth in the early morning and evening hours. The better 
areas have been the gravel pits in Mission Bay, Stromme Addition, East Bay 
across from Camp Grafton, and Black Tiger Bay. Sonars or buckshots and raps 
tipped with minnows or minnow heads have been working well. Perch fishing's 
been quite slow with few reports coming in. A few are being found in Creel 
Bay near the Country Club and the south end of Black Tiger. But anglers 
haven't been finding any numbers. Pike fisherman are reporting some good 
action on Sweetwater/Morrison. Spear fisherman are also reporting some good 
fishing. The Wolfords Bay and Jerusalem Bay in East Devils continue to be the 
better areas. As we said, ice conditions are improving, but anglers still 
need to use caution and common sense. Some people are starting to drive on 
the ice, but we still recommend traffic be limited to snowmobiles and atvs.


----------



## Ed's Bait

Cold temps continue to improve ice conditions on Devils Lake. Anglers are 
reporting 14-18 inches of ice in most areas an many anglers are now driving on 
the lake. For those wishing to venture, we still advise atv's or snowmobiles 
and extreme care must be used near moving water bridge areas and the many 
pressure ridges forming on the lake. Perch fishing remains slow with some 
fish being caught in the Country Club area, near the Casino, and in Black 
Tiger. Walleye fishing however continues to be good. Some of the better 
areas include the Country Club, Beer Can Island, Wolfords Bay, Mission Bay 
near the gravel pits and sunken railroad bed, Stromme Addition, the sunken 
road and south end of Black Tiger. Raps, sonars, and buckshots have all been 
working well with most anglers targeting the 10-24 foot depths. Pike fishing 
and spearing have been excellent in Wolfords Bay and Jerusalem Bay. Also, the 
Sweetwater/Morrison area to the north is also producing fish. Good Luck and 
we wish everyone Happy Holidays and a Great New
Year!!!


----------

