No Takers.  The bite has been tough to close out summer on Lake Sakakawea, and adjusting to low flows on the Missouri River will make for an interesting fall of fishing. DEO Photo by Mike Peluso.

By Mike Peluso

It’s hard for me to believe that my guiding up on Sakakawea is now officially over for the season.  It feels like only yesterday that I was traveling across the state from Devils Lake with the excitement of getting back on the big lake. 

The interesting part for me is I’ve heard a few people say it was a tougher than usual season up there.  I can honestly say up until these last two weeks it was exceptionally good for me.  Sometimes that can also just be the stretch of lake a person fishes.

I think overall the one thing I really saw this summer was a lot of really shallow fish.  Even right now you can get them up in the 10-foot range.  In fact, in our AIM State Championship last weekend we caught all of our weigh-in fish in under 15 feet of water and as shallow as 5 feet of water. 

Of course, the one thing that scares me is that we are headed into fall with water levels extremely low.  They have dropped like a rock and if the mountains of Montana don’t get the snowpack this winter and we piggy back that with a hot dry summer next year, we will begin to lose some of our forage base. Fingers are crossed that things align and we get the moisture this winter out west. 

As for the bite at the moment, things are very confusing.  I’ve had the privilege of fishing Sakakawea now for over 40 years, and I’ve never seen it in this type of funk.  You can literally mark hundreds of fish in areas with very few takers.  

I do believe that once the water temps fall, things will fire back up! Until that time, I’m waiting for another doctor’s appointment (Oct. 6) to determine my fate for the fall.  I plan on starting my guiding down on the Missouri River south of Bismarck again and if I’m given the green light health wise, I’ll start opening up dates and booking fall river trips. 

I’m not sure what this fall will bring on the Mighty Mo quite yet.  The Corps of Engineers have recently dropped the river to one of the lowest levels I’ve seen in a very long time.  You never know what this will do to the fall migration.  Sometimes it doesn’t seem to matter; other times it holds the fish further south and they never really come upstream in numbers. Only time will tell.

If you are wanting to go fishing with me this fall, keep an eye on my Facebook pages.  You’ll know if I’m going!  If so, I’d love to get you on the water to catch some Missouri River gold!

Mike Pelsuo is a Dakota Edge Outdoors contributing writer and a licensed ND fishing guide specializing in walleyes on the state’s premier waters.