A DEVIL OF A TIME

Brad Dokken called and invited me to go along with him to fish the Devil for white bass. It didn't take much arm twisting. Brad, who is a writer for the Grand Forks Herald, has invited me along on several other excursions but something would always come up and I couldn't go. This time, I made the most of it.

I was to meet Brad in Grand Forks for an evening of catfishing on the Red River of the North. That plan was scratched, as the water level had risen quite a bit recently, making the river fishing very tough and unpredictable. We would just concentrate on white bass, which was fine with me. The last time I had fished for these scrappers was on the St. Croix River a few years ago.

Head West

It's an easy trip. From Nashwauk Minnesota, Where I live, all one has to do is hook up with Highway 2 in Grand Rapids and stay on it all the way to Devils lake. It's 200 miles to Grand Forks and then another 90 to Devils Lake. It's mainly four-lane driving, so the trip doesn't take very long.

Our Guides

We were fortunate enough to be taken under the wings of "North Country Guide Service." Owned and operated by Rick Darling and Jeff Trans. North Country offers the best fishing and goose hunting available in the area.

Rick and Jeff run guided fishing trips until goose season begins, when Rick leaves the lake and takes to the fields in search of geese. Jeff, meanwhile, continues to fish until freeze up. When the hunting is over, Rick joins Jeff on the big lake for ice fishing.

Rick and Jeff are some pretty good guys and they're good at what they do. Anyone venturing to Devils Lake that needs the services of a guide can contact North Country Guide service at 1-701-466-2436.

Devils Lake (The City)

With a population of almost 8,000, this small city has a lot to offer the traveler. You'll have your choice of several restaurants and motels. Devils Lake has a diverse environment that provides home to a large variety of species. The area is best known for its goose and waterfowl hunting.

The beautiful Sully's Hill National Game Preserve is home to buffalo and other wildlife for you to see from your car on nature trails. For more information call the Chamber of Commerce at 1-701-662-4903.

Devils Lake (The Lake)

Fishing on Devils Lake is an anglers haven all year round. Field and Stream magazine list Devils Lake among the top 25 fishing trips in the United States. It is home to some of the best white bass and perch fishing in the world. And Let's not forget the excellent walleye, northern pike and the odd hybrid muskie that shows up from time to time.

It also has a population of big crappies that don't seem to receive a lot of attention. Devils Lake is odd in the fact that it hardly has any rough fish. It does, however, have excellent forage for its game fish.

Fishing White Bass

The guides might have been a little surprised at our need to catch a bunch of white bass. Most people hire them for walleye trips. Well, you can catch some nice walleye in the Nashwauk area but you sure aren't going to find any white bass. And what a blast it was.

I actually got "fished out." Toward the end of the day, I was sitting down, casting every once in a while, I was tired and beat up.

Most of the fish were caught by casting crankbaits toward certain shorelines. "Fire-Tiger's color baits produced the best. I caught a ton of them on a Mepps "Flying C" in-line spinner, chartreuse in color. As a matter of fact, that's what I caught "the big one" on. It was a white bass measuring 17 1/2 inches long and was large enough to qualify for an In-Fisherman Master Angler Award. Rick said it looked to be almost 3 3/4 pounds. The fish was released.

Rising Waters

Back in the 1980's, the drought years, the water level began a drastic decline in Devils Lake. They were worried about losing the entire fishery. Nowadays, it's just the opposite. There is no inlet or outlet, so if there is a lot of precipitation, the water level rises in a hurry, Devils Lake originally had a size of 70,000 acres. Recently it has grown to nearly 100,000 acres. Some homes have been abandoned and the slow flooding continues. Oddly enough, it hasn't hurt the fishing and because of the extra spawning areas created, the fishing on Devils lake looks to be better than ever.

Bloodworms and freshwater shrimp are very plentiful and keep these jumbo perch looking like small footballs. All the fish we caught (white bass, northern pike and muskie) were in very good shape and looked to be nice, healthy, chunky fish.

Devils Lake has bragging rights to four of the North Dakota state record fish. The white bass tips the scale at four pounds, five and one half ounces. The bullhead--four pounds, one ounce; yellow perch, two pounds, 15 ounces and they even have a few stripers. One of which is the state record at 18 pounds. Walleyes over 12 pounds and northerns over 20 have been pulled from the waters of Devils Lake as well.

Licenses and Limits

My non-resident, three-day fishing license (and certificate) cost $12. Each angler is allowed to use two rods in the summer and can use up to four in winter. I wouldn't dare use more than one rod when fishing white bass. They hit so hard, you have trouble handing on to it the way it is. On two occasions, I almost had my rod knocked out of my hands. And, I wasn't the only one.

As far as seasons go, there aren't any. Or maybe I should say there is just one and it's never closed. That amazes me. Can you imaging the hog walleyes and northerns that could be taken during the pre-spawn. Wow!

Another thing that amazes me is the "no limit" on white bass, perch and crappie. There are limits, however, on walleye (5) northern (3), and muskie (1). We could have filled the boat with white bass. We caught over 200 fish but only kept 10 for eating. That's enough.

We met our guides, launched the boat and purchased licenses at "Towers Bait", which is located about 50 feet from the lake. It is run by a nice guy named Al Bergan, who also has a campground available. For any information call Al at 1-701-662-2860.

Note: The author, Greg Clusiau is a member of the Fish / Tec seminar staff, the Outdoor Editor of The Eastern Itascan Newspaper, and the founder of Minnesota's famous Jaw Breaker Guide Service. You can visit Greg on the webb at the Adventure Net (http://www.AdventureNet.com/go4it) or e-mail him at clusiau@uslink.net.