By Mike Peluso

The walleyes and anglers have been waiting for fall to show up on the Missouri River and I think it’s finally presenting itself. Cooler temperatures, a little frost, and wind have definitely been on this week’s menu for weather.

The fishing here on the Missouri River around Bismarck has stayed about the same, however. You can definitely catch a few fish. I do think with the cooler temperatures the fish are going to start to feed a little more.

The river here locally will get better and better as time wears on. I have seen that a number of docks at public accesses along the flow have been pulled, making loading and unloading extremely difficult. I’m not sure why they do this so early. It literally takes minutes to do and I’ve never seen this river freeze up in October or November. Snow, yes, but you can still pull docks with some snow on the ground.

So, make sure, if you are docking alone to check on that. In my situation where I’m still guiding, I almost need a dock in order to load clients in my boat. Especially the older folks.

For baits and presentations, this past week jigs and minnows both pitched and fished vertically have been working the best. Walleyes are all over the place as far as where you catch them. Lots of baitfish in the river this fall have fish spread out. Though it seems like it’s best near backwaters of some sort.

I do have a couple busy weeks on tap for guiding so I will continue to report on the bite. So far we have actually had a fall and I’m praying we continue to see good weather well into November.

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

Featured Photo: Here and there.  An abundance of young-of-the-year baitfish has walleyes scattered in this early stretch of fall, expect things to come together on the Missouri River as fish feed in the late season. DEO Photo by Mike Peluso.