Normally my falls are reserved solely for hunting.  With so much going on and so many outdoor options to choose from, it’s hard to really do it all.  Typically, I only take out the boat to fish a couple times after hunting starts.  This month, I already have 7 days scheduled on Devils Lake and that’s before the fishing heats up out on the Missouri River outside of Bismarck.  So this will be a record breaking fall for me in terms of fishing time, which is timely since our waterfowl numbers and drought is so drastic.  So as I hitched the trailer after packing all my gear, I was heading to Devils Lake once again in search of big walleyes.

The reports leading up to my arrival wasn’t very positive.  Sure there was plenty of walleyes and pike being taken, but the size just wasn’t there.  That pretty much was the case for us this trip.  We based out of a cabin at the Spirit Lake Casino, and docked either there or trailered up to Pelican Lake to drop off the highway.  We spent most of our time out of the Casino but I wish I would’ve spent more time on Pelican as I usually do.  I’ve always had good luck finding pigs in the past there, but our gameplan timing wasn’t the best.  We were only limited to fish Pelican about 6 hours, and I did pick up my biggest fish there (only 10 minutes into my initial troll).  Most of our fish were in the 12-18″ range, which was unusual for my size range I get up there.  The Casino was worst in terms of size, we couldn’t bank a 20″ fish there in 2 solid days of fishing.  There was an endless number of walleyes coming around the bridges with slip bobbers and jigs, but the size just wasn’t there.  We pulled our biggest fish on #7 Rapala Shads (regular and jointed) in 14 foot of water with boards running up to 9 and down to 20.  It didn’t seem to matter if you were on a windblown shoreline or not, there was about an equal number of fish everywhere we went along the rocks.  Not bad for action, just not what we were looking for.

The cranks that produced and their colors changed both days.  One day the new Yellow Perch in #5 and #7’s by Rapala were the ticket, the next day it would be Purpledescent or Blue.  The jointed shads in equal colors worked equally as well, better deep.  We used a few Salmo’s and Berkley Flicker Shads and at times they worked well, but the Rapala’s were the most steady producers.

Overall I’d say we took over 100 walleyes and maybe a dozen pike, as well as some white bass and a sucker (not sure they’re supposed to be in there). A good trip despite rains, cold weather and wind.