Spring Bling!  There’s gold to be had on the Missouri River in North Dakota, with big fish from Garrison Dam on down to the state line. DEO Photo by Mike Peluso.

 By Mike Peluso

The guide season is in full swing on the Missouri River right now, and the walleye fishing is incredible, there are lots of 14-to-20-inch fish in the system.  It definitely seems to be more numbers to the south, but fish are spread out from the state line all the way up to the tailrace.  So, if you don’t feel like fishing around a lot of boats, you can find areas to do so. 

The one thing I’m noticing this spring is that we are not seeing a bunch of giants yet.  I think there are a couple of reasons for this.  The first reason is that a lot of those big fish we have become accustomed to seeing in the 28-to-32-inch range are extremely old fish.   My guess is a lot of those big fish have passed on. 

Another thing I know that happened, is a bunch of those really big fish pushed up river and past the Bismarck area early. This actually occurred while the ice was still on the river here locally.  Lots of those mega giants were up in the stretch from near Washburn to the tailrace early on.  Will those fish retreat and come back south before the spawn?  My guess is probably not, as there is plenty of food up north in that stretch of river which will keep those fish up there. 

Now, we will get a push of those big fish here at some point like we always do.  I just don’t think it will be the same as in years past.  I hope I’m wrong.  This is not to say people aren’t catching some giants because with this many boats on the water there are some big ones being caught. 

A presentation of jigs and minnows or jigs and plastics pitched behind slower slack water areas is almost magic right out there right now.

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