By Mike Peluso

Today I am super sad to report that I’m done guiding for walleyes on Lake Sakakawea for the 2026 open water season.  That doesn’t mean I won’t go up to fish the lake a bit here and there. Last September on the eastern portion was absolutely top notch and currently, the lake is full of 16-to-18 inch walleyes! Those are perfect fish in my opinion, and they can be caught relatively easy using a slow death, prop rig, or lindy rig with a crawler.  As the water cools down in the near future, minnows on these same rigs will work. 

This season was definitely one for the record books! From the moment I arrived on June 11, the fishing was stellar. It continues to be an amazing bite and it’s hard to leave it.  I fished my last guide trip yesterday and it was excellent. My guiding season isn’t over quite yet.  I will begin probing the Missouri River near Bismarck and I will fire up the guide trips starting Oct. 1. 

Before I close out this report let’s talk a little about the National Walleye Trail (NWT) Championship that was held on the eastern portion of Sakakawea.  If you were following the event closely, either in person or online, you saw that 99 percent of the tournament anglers were using forward facing sonar (FFS). 

For some folks this is discouraging, but I’m here to tell you from an everyday perspective you can catch plenty of fish on Sakakawea using traditional methods – even on the east side where the tournament was held!

Just because you heard a lot of interviews during this past event on how difficult it was to get the fish to bite, remember, these guys are targeting the bigger fish.  Those fish didn’t get bigger by accident.  So yes, once pressured with boats and FFS, they will and do get a little skittish. 

So, with all this said, and the season on Sak drawing to a close, if you want to get out on the river near Bismarck this fall, please get ahold of me!

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: So Long Sakakawea.  The author closed out a strong summer on Lake Sakakawea, where plenty of quality walleyes remain for anyone looking for them. DEO Photo by Mike Peluso.