By Nick Simonson

The angling on Devils Lake will likely provide anglers with consistent action this spring as the ice recedes and the first runs of pike and walleyes make their way up into the shallows of the massive water.  Throughout the season anglers can expect to find increased numbers of eater-sized walleyes, along with a good population of pike and white bass for their openwater efforts, according to Todd Caspers, Fisheries Biologist for the North Dakota Game & Fish Department (NDG&F) out of the agency’s Devils Lake Office.

With several strong year classes, anglers will find a good sampling of walleyes over 15 inches on Devils Lake, where its plentiful sunken structure such as trees, roads, rockpiles and other submerged transitions provide refuge for the fish and likely trolling and casting targets for sportspeople. 

“Our netting survey in 2024 showed that walleye numbers were about normal, about average roughly.  The total abundance in the various size classes that anglers are generally concerned with were about normal, with the exception of the 15-to-20-inch size class fish they were still a a bit above average,” Caspers explains.

The lake’s pike population, often the first to fire up and get biting at this time of year as areas such as Channel A open up and provide shore angling opportunities, remains solid with the majority of fish in the 20- to 30-inch range.  Caspers details some larger fish nearing the 40-inch mark are still present on the lake.  Additionally, anglers will find plentiful populations of up-and-coming white bass, with a strong 2020 year class cranking out big schools of silvers around 14 inches, which can provide fast action as spring waters warm and the fish begin to roam the lake’s basins and feed aggressively into summer.

What’s more, the NDG&F will be conducting a tagging study beginning this year and carrying on into 2027 which will help biologists better understand the catch rate and utilization of walleyes by the angling public.  Via a numbered tag system, anglers can report those fish caught to the NDG&F to help them determine the status of walleyes and angling efforts for them on Devils Lake.

“The goal of that study is to get a current estimate of exploitation, or basically the percentage of walleyes that anglers are keeping in a given year,” Caspers details, continuing, “for anybody that happens to catch one of those tagged fish in the future, just record the tag number and report that tag to the NDG&F, either through our website or calling the department at the Devils Lake office.  Don’t treat those tagged fish any differently than any other fish you might catch.  If you want to keep it, go ahead and keep it and report the number.  If you want to release it, just go ahead and do that, but write that number down and report it to the department.”

While snowpack this season in the Devils Lake area was modest, water levels remain stable with most boat ramps useable throughout the lake, with perhaps some a bit higher in the Round Lake region of the water.  Caspers recommends that anglers focus on the west end of the lake in spring, where waters warm up a bit faster and the bite gets going a bit quicker when compared to the eastern end.  A strong forage base remains intact on Devils Lake anchored by the water’s well known freshwater shrimp, and plenty of small baitfish such as minnows and sticklebacks, along with young-of-the-year perch and white bass, helping to fuel the growth of popular gamefish that anglers pursue.

Simonson is the lead writer and editor of Dakota Edge Outdoors.

Featured Photo: Classy.  Anglers can expect a couple of good year classes to bolster walleyes in the 15-to-20-inch size range this summer, providing great action for keeper-sized fish on Devils Lake. Simonson Photo.