By Steve Weisman
I recently spent three days on an outdoor media trip to Devils Lake, ND. My tie to this trip was through Johnnie Candle, pro walleye angler, Devils Lake fishing guide and outdoor educator. Back in February of 2020, the Iowa Great Lakes Fishing Club (IGLFC) held its annual spring fishing seminar at the Hap Ketteleson Community Center in Everly. That night Candle spoke about developing a “A Winning Game Plan.” It was an awesome presentation, and Candle was well received by the club.
This past March he emailed me and asked if I would be interested in being part of an outdoor media trip to Devils Lake in May. The answer? YES! So, he sent my name to Suzie Kenner, Executive Director at Devils Lake Area Chamber of Commerce, and I soon received an invitation to be part of an outdoor media event hosting several outdoor communicators, along with leading experts in the fishing industry.
It was an awesome opportunity to experience the reason why the Devils Lake area is such a visitors’ destination. Amazing how 20 strangers can become fast friends in a matter of two full days. Our common bond and purpose: sharing our love for the outdoors with whomever we can! I can only imagine the planning and organizational work that Suzie and her events coordinator Pat Kalmerton, whose background as a fishing/hunting guide and co-owner and operator of Wolf Pack Adventures, LLC, was integral to this event’s success.
This area has a wide range of places to stay: several motels/hotels, resorts, cabins, campgrounds and RV parks. Our headquarters was Sleep Inn and Suites as you enter Devils Lake from the east. It was comfortable, quiet, offered a great hot breakfast, a meeting room large enough for all of us, ample parking and a separate fish cleaning building. In visiting with Suzie, her goal is to learn what visitors are looking for and helping them set up their “Devils Lakes” vacation.
About Devils Lake
Devils Lake (devilslakend.com), which is often ranked among the top five fishing lakes in the country, is the largest natural body of water in North Dakota, covering more than 160,000 acres with hundreds of miles of shoreline. It is an extremely fertile prairie lake with excellent populations of walleyes, large numbers of perch, northern pike and white bass.
When I saw the size of Devils Lake, I came to the conclusion that striking out on my own would be like finding a needle in a haystack. A guide for one day made a lot of sense. I mean where would you start?
In visiting with Candle, recent creel surveys show an incredible walleye population that grows quickly because of the freshwater shrimp. The spring (May/June) is the time when you will catch 20-30 and even more northern pike per day over 20 inches. If you want to target them, this time of the year is incredible for 12–17-inch white bass. Is it any wonder why I was excited? Here’s how the trip went.
Day I: walleye fishing with Johnnie Candle
That was my first hope. All the guides are top notch, but I really hoped to be paired with Candle at least one day. Sure enough, I got my wish. I had two anglers in the boat with me: Mike Jensen, outdoor promotions manager with North Dakota Tourism, and Brea Schellenberg (Jada), a Social Media Influencer from Manitoba, Canada. Also along was photographer Brooke Swenson, marketing and social media coordinator for the Raw Fish Creative Group that offers a wide selection of branding and marketing services.
From the get-go, Candle was sharing interesting history about the area, the lake and giving tips on fishing…definitely a fishing educator. It was a calm morning, so we slowly trolled parallel to the shoreline. We worked shallow areas in 7-10 feet of water using 1/4-ounce jigs tipped with plastic swim baits, casting towards shore and slowly reeling/jigging back to the boat. My problem? I was the snag master! I’ll bet I lost over 15 jigs in just the morning. At one point, Johnnie told me with a laugh, “Steve, I’m going to have to go home and make up a whole bunch of jigs tonight!”
Our first spot brought nothing, but the other three produced pretty well. By the time we were done, we had 14 walleyes between 16-20 inches. Oh, ya, the northern pike hit like crazy, right in the same area with the walleyes. My guess is at least 30 pike, along with maybe another 20 snapped lines. Most were in the 2–4-pound range.
The best of the morning was when Johnnie looked at his electronics/Livescope and saw a mark out toward Mike’ side. “There’s a fish there. Cast toward it.” The cast followed by three to four cranks and bam! Walleye on. That happened twice within five minutes.
With three other guides working with members of our media group, we ended up cleaning 63 walleyes, and a couple of groups threw back several smaller fish. The other groups used different strategies: casting jigs and swimbaits, casting crankbaits, trolling crankbaits and using slip bobber rigs. Different tactics; same results!
Day II: Free-lance shore fishing in the wind
While Tuesday was a calm day, Wednesday brought southeast winds at 20-30 mph. Three of the groups went out even though they were limited by the wind. Guide Jared Pokrzywinski of the Devils Lake Pro Staff helped Bob Krejci catch and release a 28” ‘eye on a slip bobber.
So, my quest was what are the options when it’s really windy? The answer this time of year is to head to the bridge areas and current areas where the white bass are in their spawning mode. Well, I hooked up with Roger Niesen from the Madison, WI area and Regional Sales Manager for Polar Craft and Danny Vue of Buffalo, MN near St. Cloud, MN., who is a year around outdoorsman, Clam Pro Staffer and You Tube contributor using his “being outdoors” as positive way to bring people of different nationalities together. Both Roger and Danny knew the ropes when it came to catching these 12-18 inchers. Tyler Chisholm, salesman for Polar Kraft/Angler Quest pontoons, made it four of us.
Oh my gosh, it was crazy! I would guess we caught up to 200 white bass in a little over three hours either on a jig/and ZMan plastic (dark & stormy) or on shallow running stick/jerk baits. All I can say is these white bass slash at the baits and fight like a freight train.
Trouble is the area was a 100-yard stretch between two bridges under the 4-lane highway with lots and lots of rocks descending a steep sidehill to the water. As a 75-year-old man, I couldn’t just walk down. I pretty much crawled down on all fours. Then my friends took me under their wing. Roger, Danny and Tyler got me to a flat rock, helped me with different baits, helped me get the treble hooks out without an accident and just plain took good care of an old man! Danny helped other anglers figure out how to better use these techniques so that they would have some nice white bass to take home.
We took enough back to Sleep Inn and Suites so that Danny had a nice bunch of fillets to take home. Both days Suzie brought lunches out for the anglers and lined up really great places to eat at night. The first was an order off the menu at The View at Spirit Lake Casino, while Wednesday night we met at The Woodland Resort’s Proz Lakeside on the shores of Devils Lake where we ate our freshly caught walleyes – both in breading and blackened…what an awesome meal!
As with so many fishing trips, the evening was about fish stories and other stories and lots of good-natured humor. We all departed on Thursday for destinations around the Midwest with the memory of another great destination trip: Devils Lake, North Dakota!
