How about Perch fishing Devil's Lake ND??

[bigwalleye1]

A Devil's Lake Perch trip has been on the bucket list for me and a friend. Any input from the group re: outfitters/guides, as well as accommodations, best time to go for results?

Looking for actual experiences, good and bad.

Thank you

[stjoeguy]

Here's my report from last year:
https://www.walleyecentral.com/forum...d.php?t=690948

Last year was my first time and we had a great time with Bry's Guide Service. We're going again Feb 24-27.

[BigEye]

My buddy and I are going to try for the 1st week in March...if there is any ice on the lake.

[Juls]

Capt Mitch Dougherty, who guides here on Lake Erie from spring to fall, guides on Devils Lake for Haybale Heights, and has been posting the perch/walleye trip pics on his Facebook page this winter. Looks like they're catching some fattys out there.

You can check his FB page here: https://www.facebook.com/mitch.dougherty.3

And, Haybale Heights here... https://www.haybaleheights.com/index.html

I've never iced fished out there, but have fished there during open water, and love it there.

A little something about Mitch I want to mention...

During the fall here on Lake Erie, there is a tournament that runs from mid October through the first Saturday in December.

Registration is 30.00 to enter and it pays out 5 places with the top two spots paying out fully rigged boats (Warrior and HewsCraft).
There were over 12K registrations...

Mitch won first prize, with a 12+ pound walleye.

He left shortly after, to start his guide season on the ice out there on Devils Lake. He's a great guide, and you wouldn't be disappointed with the services offered at Haybale Heights.

[Husker525]

Made my bucket list trip a few years ago in February. Feb 9th-13th, 2018 Brutally cold! High of -13F with lows of -32F.

Ice was 36-40" thick, so you must have a really good auger and an extension. We fished high percentage areas in the area of Creel Bay, Six Mile and Pelican Bay area.

We did not use a guide service, as most of the tackle stores, including Woodland Resorts were pretty open and had real time intel on where the bite was. In turn, we paid the daily access fee to drive out on the ice from Woodland Resorts.

There are tons of guide services, and most all of them share info between each other. Perch Patrol is a good one that is comprised of many great fishing guides that know the area as well.

It was an amazing time, but brutal to keep vehicles running and not get stuck in drifts off the beaten path or plowed "roads" on the lake. We were one of few that actually had portable huts, most had Snowbears or "permanent ice fishing shanties" out on the ice.

We fished in low light periods shallow 7-15 FOW for Walleye, then moved out over deeper 25+ water during the day for Perch.

I drove around, using my Lowrance that I pulled off my boat. Find the depth contours I wanted to fish, drilled a test hole outside my driver's side window, fished for 10 minutes and see if any action. No action, no fish on finder, move on. Find fish, have a bite or catch a fish while inside my truck, then get out, drill more holes, and set up the portable shelter.

We just stayed at a hotel in Devil's Lake, it was warm, clean, dry and cheap. Not a lot of places to eat in Devil's Lake except for fast food.

[Husker525]

Pics from 2018. I am not sure why the other 3 didn't load. I had to let my Duramax idle all day to make sure it would start again. I hooked an inverter to one of my batteries to charge up my drill batteries between use. It was so cold the temperature would suck the juice out of the batteries. And a battery would last for 1.5 holes with as thick as the ice was. Now I have an IonX, so that is no longer an issue.

[Husker525]

More pics 2018

[Dacotah Eye]

When the Perch bite slows during the day one of my friends starts his Dodge diesel and lets it rattle them up. It does work.