Back in the Saddle. The author hoists a nice Sakakawea walleye from a quick trip on the water following his recovery from health issues. DEO Photo by Mike Peluso.
By Mike Peluso
The good news is I’ve been able to limp out on the water for short stints of walleye fishing over the past week. But I’m still not in guiding shape so when I get tired or don’t feel good, I can get off.
The good part about not being out on the water long right now is that the walleyes are biting and you seem to get your fill of catching them in pretty short order right now on Lake Sakakawea.
I was thinking the dog days of summer would be upon us, but they haven’t shown up and from what I can tell, I don’t think they will, but fish are trending deeper. I’ve tried hard to stay shallower than the barotrauma threshold of 25 feet of water. You can definitely find fish up there, just not as many and they don’t seem to bite as fast.
When you slip out deeper, they bite; but you absolutely should keep those fish because the mortality after release is extremely high. So, I just tell myself if they are 12 or 24 inches you have to keep them. I’m seeing people throwing fish back right now coming out of 30-to-50 feet of water and those fish usually look like they swim away, but chances are they will die.
The ND Game & Fish Department has done such a tremendous job of taking care of this resource Iwould hate to see it jeopardized.
For me I’m still concentrating on pulling slow death rigs on heavier bottom bouncers. Mark the fish in an area and work them over. The bigger fish are mixed in tight and the best thing I’m seeing is we have a ton of different year classes right now. There is a lot of food for those year classes so the future is bright!
I’m hoping I get the green light from the doctors to start working again here at some point. My goal is to be okay to start fall guiding on the Missouri River near Bismarck. As soon as I know, I’ll begin to book some trips. Fingers are crossed! Again, thank you to everyone for all the support and the kind words on the water!
Mike Peluso is a Dakota Edge Outdoors contributing writer and a licensed ND fishing guide specializing in walleyes on the state’s premier waters.