Devils Lake...Where to start????

[walleyes133]

I'm heading to devild lake in middle May for a long weekend. I was wonderig if anyone could lead me to where to start based on years past. I'm very versatile and am willing to fish anywhere and any way. Thanks.

[Hawgeye]

My recommendation will be to start at the local baitshop and check with them, as from my experience, that lake tends to change and never allow for a consistent bite for any particular method. In mid may, you will want to find the warm water areas and rocky areas which are all over. Try some jigging tipped with a crawler or minnow. Keep checking for updates on Fishing reports on-line and you will get some great information.

Good luck!

[REW]

I agree with the other post on this one.
As a matter of fact, due to the size of the lake and the changing conditions that will occur on a lake of this type, you might save your pennies and hire a guide for the first day.

The money that you spend on an excellent guide for a days fishing will really help you enjoy the rest of your vacation.

They should get you dialed in very quickly on local conditions, depths, fishing style and locations for this large body of water at this time of the year.

Any good fisherman can figure out any body of water -- GIVEN ENOUGH TIME.

However, when you come into a large body of water for the first time, it often makes a huge amount of sense to hire a guide and pay for this education - rather than burning up your entire vacation to figure out the current conditons, and finally start catching good fish on the last day of your trip.

Take care
REW

[notsotough]

walleyes, you don't need a guide on devils lake. Start in the trees fishing with a bobber and a crawler or leech. you will see many locals there this time of year. do what they do. watch what the other anglers are doing as far as fishing in the trees and over submerged stumps, trees, etc... use 1/8 to 1/4 oz jigs with good hooks. the trees and stumps will cause you some trouble. don't worry, adjust the game plan and move forward. if you like, pull spinner or live bait along the drop offs or old road beds, etc... you can always catch walleyes on this lake. it is simple. refining the bite takes a long time. catching some walleyes and getting in the game is simple. there are tons of fish and many nice ones. rigging on the rock piles and fishing the rocks piles with bottom bouncers is very effective. The nice thing about Devils is - you can decide how you want to fish and go catch fish that time of year. May is great there. Now, if you like crank baits, pull or pitch those also. Have fun.

[Burr]

I agree with notsotough, no need to get a guide, but there may be reason to wait until we are a little closer to the middle of May. Devils Lake in May can be significantly different from year to year depending on the weather leading up to that day.

Generally, I would expect the fish to be pretty shallow. Casting, jigging, and slip bobber presentations are common. Weed growth will be in the early stages, so some of the shallow back bays may have the warmest water and best action.

Many of the fisherman in ND are just getting started in Mid May, so information may be a little lacking. Especially if it is a cold spring.