Just playing the waiting game…..Anyway, got down to the cabin Friday afternoon hoping to get the boat in the water for the start of some serious fishing for the weekend. Well….let’s just say things didn’t work out. Back to Friday….took two steps into the cabin and noticed that the freezer had been unplugged since we left from the previous weekend. Things were a bit of a mess if you can imagine. So, that took about an hour out of my time. Finally got down to the boat dock around 5pm, went to back the boat in the water and wouldn’t you know. The key and power switch had been left on for two weeks. So, of course there went Friday night’s fishing. Put the chargers on thinking that I’ll be good to early Saturday morning. Got up Saturday morning. Everything was working fine except the motors wouldn’t turn over, nor the trims, nor the radio or marine band.

Thankfully my Dad showed up as he’s pretty handy when it comes to this stuff. I mean, I could have figured it out – I think – but his thought process is much more mechanically inclined than mine is. Long story short – the main engine fuse was out, trim fuses, marine band fuse and radio fuse. Got em all replaced just in time to get the boat in the water when the temperature was peaking for the day. Needless to say, I made one pass with about 10 northern pike, one tiny walleye and one perch all on cranks.

It was back to the cabin to soak in the water the rest of the day. Sunday was out of the questions. This weekend’s game plan will be last weekend’s game plan providing everything goes right. I’m going to target deeper mid-lake tree lines with cranks pulling the tops and sides in 20-35 foot of water.

Again, cooler temps that were going through right now have to WAKE these walleyes up on the northern end. Sounds like the suicide bite is still going on in the Mobridge area.

 Had one boat out Sunday morning till noon and picked up eight nice walleye. The fish were scattered and there really was no patter other than pulling cranks and covering as much area as possible. The wind really picked up making fishing a bit rough. All things considered, there still are fish hanging around and is a little better than the previous couple weekends. Sounds like from the some of the other reports that fish are biting up to the Hazelton/Cannonball area which means there’s fish scattered all the way down. That’s a good thing for this time of year and we’ll expect things to really heat up as September approaches. Should be a fantastic September bite and one can expect that to go all through winter. And of course the pike are a bonus when pulling cranks – at least for us they are. Action is action in some cases.

Sounds like the SD walleye classic down in the Akaska/Mobridge area went pretty good fishing wise. The reports are LOTS of fish were caught which is really positive for the whole system. Can’t wait till see what the next few years will bring. It’s simply an amazing fishery to be around.

 Not much different to report on our end.  Fishing has slowed a bit and looks as though the "dog days" are upon us.  I'm not saying there's not fishing biting as some are catching a few limits here and there.  The window is surely a bit more closed than what it was.  It's kind of like clock work every year on this portion of the lake.  One could expect conditions to improve as water temps drop back down to the 60's in early to mid-September.  We'll keep reporting on a weekly basis.  

  Had boats out Friday and Saturday walleye fishing still remains good on the North Dakota side of Lake Oahe. Friday of course had a few obstacles thrown in the way with bad weather being producing all of them. A minor storm came through about 10:30 am and did produce lighting that was too close, which knocked one boat off the water for about an hour. The second set came through at around 3pm and that one was a dandy that put on quite the show and ended the day. The fish were there, just a little confused with all the bad weather. 

Saturday and Sunday brought much better weather and much better fishing with boats limiting fairly easily with nice walleye in a few different spots. Live bait and bouncers seemed to produce the best fish once again. 

Finally, we also had one guide (Jeff Enzminger) who fished the Dakota Walleye Classic Walleye Fishing Tournament on Lake Sakakawea this past weekend and ending up winning the tournament which was a $10,000 1st place pay-out. That’s Jeff’s 2nd major North Dakota Walleye Fishing Tournmanet win this year. His first win was the Big Muddy Walleye Tournament. Congrats to Jeff!

Had boats out Wednesday and Saturday of this past week walleye fishing Lake Oahe. The bite still remains to be fairly consistent for nice fish in the 17-20 inch range with a ton of smaller walleye mixed in. Half crawlers rigged up to plain hook and bottom bouncers along with spinners and bottom bouncers in 15-25 feet seem to be the ticket. I normally wouldn’t admit to a better live bait bite over pulling crank baits, but this year is surely proving to be just that. There is still a lot of fish hanging around and seems like when the picks up a notch, so does the bite. To see the fish from this past weekend, click on the picture links below.

Lake Oahe Walleye Fishing 7-19-10 (1)

Lake Oahe Walleye Fishing 7-19-10 (2)

Lake Oahe Walleye Fishing 7-19-10 (3)

Lake Oahe Walleye Fishing 7-19-10 (4)

We had boats out Thursday and Saturday with fair to excellent luck both days.  Thursday’s group of four fished the Stateline area doing very well and limiting in a half day of fishing.  Most fish were caught on crawlers and bottom bouncers in 18-25 foot of water.  Saturday was a little tougher in the calm conditions but still managed to boat 11 nice keeper walleyes and lots of smaller fish made for nice action as well.  Same techniques applied. 

There are still reports of good walleye action to the north as well which is good news for the next couple weeks.  The stable weather patterns should keep fish going steady.  

 Walleye fishing on the Missouri River / Lake Oahe this past week was some of the best of the summer had to offer thus far. Had a guide out Thursday fishing south of Beaver Bay and they had their three person limit in a half day using night crawler rigs in 10- 15 foot of water.

Friday seen better fishing yet. Again, fished out of Beaver Bay and had the lines in at 4:20 pm. At 5:15 we had a two person limit of very nice walleye pulling crank baits over the top of trees and vegetation in 9 – 13 foot of water.

Saturday and Sunday seen the same action and methods. Truly some of the best fishing we’ve seen this year and goes to show what kind of fishery Lake Oahe and Missouri River are.

Friday evening fishing picture

Saturday morning fishing picture

Had boats fishing north and south of Beaver this last weekend.  Saturday brought good fishing with limits by 1pm.  Most fish were caught Saturday south of Beaver live baiting with crawlers and bottom bouncers in 12-15 foot of water.  The boats we had up north seen a little tougher fishing but still caught some nice fish. 

Sunday was more of a lazy day on the water putting in about two hours before we had to call it quits. Still managed to pick up six nice walleyes pulling cranks south of Beaver. The northern pike didn't forget about us either, catching numerous with most caught pulling crank baits.  All in all the fishing is still great around the Beaver Bay area and should continue to do so as the nicer weather rolls in.  It was a great weekend to be on the water.