The walleyes on Lake Sakakawea are starting to transition into summer patterns, which means a couple of things. First, bottom bouncers and night crawlers have become the dominant presentation, especially for catching numbers of fish, though we have occasionally gotten big fish pitching plastics up shallow. Second, the fish are sliding ever so slightly deeper. If the wind blows, I'm looking at 5-8 feet, sometimes ten, right above that first break. If it's calmer or the fish are more neutral, I tend to look 10-12, maybe 14, right below the break. Third, we are seeing more fishing moving towards the mouths of the major bays and filtering out onto the main points and flats just outside.
Deepwater Bay has been strong, and our best bite has been in the back of the bay, but that might start to slow down as fish move out. Rising water levels can keep them back there, though, so it's still worth checking the back. Van Hook is finally starting to see more migrating fish moving in from up north as well. The east end has a bite, but it's still not a heavy numbers game, and the migratory fish certainly haven't reached the area yet.
Also of note, we have a new leader in our Wall Hangers 2021 competition, Aubreigh McCall, with a beautiful 25.5 inch eye caught this week! Check out the full leaderboard to see the quality of fish coming in this year.
Finally, the hardcover and paperback versions of the book, Fishing for More, are ready for pre-order! You can check them out on Amazon by clicking the link here (Amazon book) and learn more about it and/or read the first four chapters on the books page of the website.
And more finally, if you want to get a firsthand look at what a guided fishing trip is like, check out the video below of the Beyer family's experience: