By Mike Peluso

The past week has been a battle fishing for perch and walleyes on Devils Lake. I think all those nice December days finally caught up to us. Old man winter needed to remind us of that. Not only did he get our attention, but he also made the fish mad, especially the perch over this past week.

Now don’t get me wrong, we are still scratching a few perch here and there. Overall, the perch bite just hasn’t been setting up like we had hoped. On the other hand, the walleyes at are able at times to keep our spirits and the action up.

For my groups we downsized all of our tackle on our super-sensitive Walleye Slayer rods. The smaller buckshot spoons, Lindy Flyers and tikka minnows with tiny minnow heads and wax worms have done best.

I’m hoping for the perch bite to pick up a little with the better weather on the horizon. Only time will tell!

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: Quad!  Using downsized offerings and the author’s Walleye Slayer line of rods, this group of anglers brought up four walleyes at once during a flurry of good fishing during the recent cold conditions on Devils Lake.