North Dakota walleye fishing is excellent and most anytime is a good time to seek out this species. Nevertheless, many anglers look forward to the pre-spawning season when the ice is beginning to melt and the walleyes are moving closer to shore. They’re hungry and very aggressive during this time of year. The pre-spawning usually starts in the early part of May and the action continues all the way through October.
Walleyes have a white, flaky meat that tastes delicious and this is one of the reasons why they’re so popular. Of course, many anglers simply enjoy the challenge of trying to catch this species. With their subtle bite and aggressive nature, they can be very exciting to reel in. Walleyes prefer cold water lakes with gravel, sandy or rocky bottoms but they can be found in warm water as well.
They’re attracted to shad, minnows and worms the most but crankbait and spinners are excellent artificial baits that can be used. When presenting your bait, use a slow retrieval method to give the walleyes time to focus and take your bait. They can see very well but they’ll often take their time when it comes to actually taking the bait.
You can also lift the tip of the rod and lower it again allowing the bait to drop back down slowly and this usually gets lots of action. Play around with your presentation until you find what works best for you and your unique situation.
There are a number of different tactics and techniques used to catch walleyes in North Dakota. You’ll have to decide which ones to use based on the type of equipment you have along with when you’re fishing and where you decide to go fishing. Here are three of the tactics and techniques many anglers have found to be very productive in these waters.
3 tactics to use when fishing in North Dakota:
1. Start fishing for walleyes in the late evening and continue until about midnight for the best results. This is when they’re the most active and aggressively feeding so, it’s the best time to be on the water.
2. Be prepared to use different baits and techniques each time you go fishing. This way, if one thing is not getting the results you’re after, you can easily switch to something else. You never know what mood the fish will be in on any given occasion so being prepared for anything will increase your odds of reeling in more fish.
3. Choose your fishing spot carefully. When you pick the prime spots to fish, you automatically get better results. The walleyes are usually abundant in areas that are dimly lit and filled with structures, drop-offs and rocks. When fishing these areas use bright colored jigs for the best results. Glow-in-the-dark, green, orange and chartreuse are excellent choices. If using live bait try shad, minnows and worms.
The technique you use can make a huge difference in the amount of success you can have as well so here are a few suggestions you can try.
3 techniques that work great when fishing for walleyes in North Dakota:
1. Jigging- Jigging makes it easy to drop your bait right in the middle of the walleyes without disturbing them and scaring them away. There are also many different jigs to choose from so finding something that attracts this species is easy to do.
2. Drift Fishing- When you drift fish, your bait will slowly float through the strike zone along with the current in a very natural way. This action gets the attention of the walleyes very quickly.
3. Trolling- This technique makes it easy to catch the walleyes when they’re out in the deeper parts of the water. You can cover more ground faster, fish different depths and use a variety of baits all at the same time.
All three of these techniques can be effective and yield excellent results so choose the one that suits you the best.
The lakes in North Dakota have sunken islands, submerged timber and other structures that are perfect for this species to grow and thrive. This means that there are many hotspots for anglers to do some excellent fishing.
Some of the best places to fish in this state are listed below:
* Devil’s Lake
* Jamestown Reservoir
* Yellowstone River
* Red River
* Lake Ashtabula
* Missouri River
* Dry Lake
* Arrowwood Lake
* Buffalo Lodge Lake
* Lake Metigoshe
* Bowman-Haley Lake
* Lake Sakakawea
* Lake Audubon
* Powers Lake
When fishing in unfamiliar territory it’s a good idea to hire a guide to show you around a few times before heading out on your own. This way they can show you the best places to fish and give you some pointers on which baits are getting the best results and other useful information.
