Wow, these fish seem to  be getting bigger with each week that passes!  Spent a lot of time on the river this weekend with some easy limits coming Saturday, Sunday and Monday.  Even in the tough weather Saturday we got our fish, it was the slowest of the 3 days but we still managed 10 keepers pretty easy.  Sunday's nicer weather seemed to really make the fish aggressive with our 2 man limit in a couple hours.  Monday was a lot like Sunday with our 15 fish coming in just a few hours.  Most of the fish came on crankbaits in the 8-12 foot range and a few coming on a jig and a minnow, with the bigger ones caught on cranks.  Can't wait to see how the pro's do this week, there should be some impressive weights brought to the scale.  Hope everyone can get out and support this event and good luck to everyone fishing in the FLW Championship!

There is a pretty good bite going up and down the whole system right now, with walleyes getting caught from the tailrace all the way down to the stateline.  I spent quite a bit of time south of Bismarck this past weekend with most of our fish coming on crankbaits, which is a big change from the jig bite we had going last week. All the fish we kept were in the 17-20 inch range with lots of smaller ones and a few pike mixed in, which keeps a person pretty busy. I'm sure a person could still get em on jigs but we decided to go with the cranks to cover some new water and see if we could find a few different spots.  It will be interesting to see what happens this weekend with the Prairie Knights Casino tournament, should be some good weights brought in.  Good luck to everyone fishing in the tournament.

Fished south of Bismarck this long holiday weekend both Saturday and Monday.  Seems as if the fall bite may be starting a little earlier this year, with limits coming pretty easy both days. Most fish in the 15 to 18 inch range with a few bigger ones mixed in.  Most came on a jig and a minnow presentation and also heard  there are some fish getting caught on crankbaits.  If this is any indication of what is coming we should be in for a heck of a good fall!

Fishing activity near Bismarck remains very strong with numerous boats out catching fish.  The Big Muddy Walleye Tournament was held yesterday and anglers came in with very impressive weights to say the least.  The winners brought in a limit that averaged around 6lbs per walleye.  Other top 10 teams averaged 5lb per walleye.  Most anglers are using jigging techniques with minnows and plastic to boat fish.  Others are also using crank baits, but the majority are jigging.  The tourney folks did another impressive job running a great event.  This truly has become one of North Dakota’s great fishing tournaments with a large following.  Fishing should remain consistent near Bismarck for some time and the lake will be picking up real soon. 

 

And we're off.  The bite started up pretty hot and heavy last week with boats limiting easily for the most part.  Nice fish as well, many in the 20-23 inch range.  However, there still remains a great deal of uncertainty as to what the water is going to do over the next week with run-off still on it's way.  We'll have to wait and see.  Click here to look at a couple nice ones from last weekend. 

Despite the bitterly cold weather that’s been passing through that last couple weeks, we’ve still had guys out fishing in their bigger shacks.  The bite remains the same around the Beaver Bay area with an occasional fair walleye bite(click her to see Saturday’s action) and we have a few holes that have had a consistent perch bite going along with some good pike action.  The pike seem to be everywhere there are trees.  The perch have made for some fun though.  Action all day and lots of them.  Been able to keep quite a few in the 9-11 inch range with some smaller and a few bigger ones. 

The pike bite should definitely keep getting stronger in the bays with spring approaching.  It will be interesting to see how many big ones are pulled through.  And, I haven’t been able to predict anything with the walleye bite this year, so I’m not going to go there.   Anyways, good luck fishing.

 Walleye activity was pretty good around the beaver bay area and south this past weekend.  Seems as though some of the bigger walleye moved in and they were fairly active with some nice fish in the 18-23 inch range caught. There still were plenty of 10-13 inchers along with some nice perch, but made for great action.  We'll see what this low pressure system will do, but I would expect things to continue to improve as late ice moves through.  

All I can say is I can’t wait for another two years to pass – we’ve had guys fishing from Beaver to Langliers steadily since first ice.  This is without a doubt the toughest ice fishing for walleye (keeper walleye) that I’ve ever seen.  Not a lack there of, ice fishing for walleye has seen non-stop action of 8-10 inch walleye with some big ones mixed in, but very few of them.  We’ve also been seeing good numbers of 7-9 inch perch and good numbers of decent size northern pike.  It seems as though the Mobridge area is seeing some of the best walleye action on the Lake.  The Beaver Bay area has seen the bigger walleyes, but a little more traffic as well.  So, if you’re on goo fish in these areas, hats off to you. 

Ice conditions remain very good.  A lot of people are driving on at Beaver, but don’t venture too far out on the main lake in that area.  There have been some reports of thinner ice once you get closer to the main channel as this part of the lake has some pretty fast moving water yet.  The further south you go the better.  I would feel fairly safe driving a vehicle on at Cattail, but I’m still going to give it a week or so.  Make sure to stay away from the pressure ridges.

P.S., I started typing this report a couple days ago, but never finished it.  Came to Mobridge yesterday afternoon for Christmas, went out fishing last night and the action was fast and furious.  I’m going to go give it another try in about an hour. 

Merry Christmas.