230 Guides licensed on Devils Lake

[5575]

Keep them over there, born and raised in ND and fish more than most...never been to DL..no need to I guess.

 

[8andcounting]

It'll get fished out and then they'll blame it on the weather

 

[Walleye202]

The problem with DL, especially on the walleye side. Yes, its a big lake but I would estimate that 20-25% of the lake area holds over 80% of the fish. So I do not think you can compare Devils Lake to a Lake of the Woods at all, so totally different

 

[SDMF]

I don't see it as such a problem. Guide and client numbers per square mile of water here pale in comparison to other lakes in Minnesota and canada.

Serious question, not trying to sound "snippy". I haven't ever looked for the info, so, as a shortcut, can you give some examples or do you have an information source for guides/sq mi? Is there any info regarding guiding days/yr or # of clients/guide?

I bet the fisheries biologists and ultimately the lake as a whole would benefit greatly if guides were required to report daily creel census data for themselves and their clients. Let's say that on any given day there are 50 guides w/3 clients each on DL. That's 200 people/day giving creel census data, data from folks who should be adept at catching fish. Imagine the data points that could be collected in studied. You could cross-reference general public creel census data with guiding creel data to gain a better understanding of catch rates, year classes, even narrow down the best "catching" days/periods for all times of the year. One could even extrapolate if fishing is better during the week when there's lower lake-traffic vs. weekends.

Think of the advertising the guides could do with the above info. They'd be able to know who truly is the "best" guide service for numbers, size, species, ice, and/or boat fishing.

 

[KDM]

Twould be interesting SDMF. I don't worry about guides to much as they are an indication of the fishing success for a given body of water IMO. More guides means there's better fishing. As far as fishing out DL, I'll worry about that when the number of guides crashes and I'm unable to catch walleyes just about anywhere using just about any technique I want. For now, every time I've gone up there, I've caught fish from 3 ft to 35 ft so at this point, I think thoughts of disappearing fish stocks might be a bit premature.

 

[guywhofishes]

momma says people like you are the devil

finished it

 

[Stan's Dad]

The problem with DL, especially on the walleye side. Yes, its a big lake but I would estimate that 20-25% of the lake area holds over 80% of the fish. So I do not think you can compare Devils Lake to a Lake of the Woods at all, so totally different

is this based on actual science or just arm chair?

 

[8andcounting]

Twould be interesting SDMF. I don't worry about guides to much as they are an indication of the fishing success for a given body of water IMO. More guides means there's better fishing. As far as fishing out DL, I'll worry about that when the number of guides crashes and I'm unable to catch walleyes just about anywhere using just about any technique I want. For now, every time I've gone up there, I've caught fish from 3 ft to 35 ft so at this point, I think thoughts of disappearing fish stocks might be a bit premature.

Have to disagree respectfully. I fish it every weekend may - September have for last 15 years . Fishing has declined . No doubt about it . The peak of the fishing was when water was at its peak . The good news is there's tons of young walleye , the future should be good but it has declined from 5-6 years ago

 

[SDMF]

Twould be interesting SDMF. I don't worry about guides to much as they are an indication of the fishing success for a given body of water IMO. More guides means there's better fishing. As far as fishing out DL, I'll worry about that when the number of guides crashes and I'm unable to catch walleyes just about anywhere using just about any technique I want. For now, every time I've gone up there, I've caught fish from 3 ft to 35 ft so at this point, I think thoughts of disappearing fish stocks might be a bit premature.

I'm not saying the lake is getting fished out, not by a long shot. I'm saying there are folks on the lake daily that could provide fisheries biologists exponentially more data than they're collecting via current data collection methods. Plus, imagine the advertising opportunity for the guides who consistently stay at the top of the list regarding success rates for a given species, size class, or time of year (ice vs. boat). The most successful guiding operations could EASILY monetize the data through more consistent bookings and potentially higher fees for their demonstrable increased chance of success.

 

[AaronJ]

I'm not saying the lake is getting fished out, not by a long shot. I'm saying there are folks on the lake daily that could provide fisheries biologists exponentially more data than they're collecting via current data collection methods. Plus, imagine the advertising opportunity for the guides who consistently stay at the top of the list regarding success rates for a given species, size class, or time of year (ice vs. boat). The most successful guiding operations could EASILY monetize the data through more consistent bookings and potentially higher fees for their demonstrable increased chance of success.

Guides are mandated to keep daily catch totals. If requested by Game and Fish they are to be turned over. In the years I guided I never had a review by Game and Fish though.

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Have to disagree respectfully. I fish it every weekend may - September have for last 15 years . Fishing has declined . No doubt about it . The peak of the fishing was when water was at its peak . The good news is there's tons of young walleye , the future should be good but it has declined from 5-6 years ago

I also have fished it 2-5 days/week open water and 1-2 days/week on the ice for about the same number of years. I do not see a decline in the fishery personally. What I have seen is a change in the fish habits and locations. Still plenty of big girls to be had; I just had to change with them.

 

[SDMF]

Guides are mandated to keep daily catch totals. If requested by Game and Fish they are to be turned over. In the years I guided I never had a review by Game and Fish though.

Sounds like there's plenty of data available to fisheries folks then if they'd just ask for it.

 

[KDM]

I'm not saying the lake is getting fished out, not by a long shot. I'm saying there are folks on the lake daily that could provide fisheries biologists exponentially more data than they're collecting via current data collection methods. Plus, imagine the advertising opportunity for the guides who consistently stay at the top of the list regarding success rates for a given species, size class, or time of year (ice vs. boat). The most successful guiding operations could EASILY monetize the data through more consistent bookings and potentially higher fees for their demonstrable increased chance of success.

Yep, I wasn't disagreeing with you. I was addressing the concerns from other posts about DL being fished out.

I agree with you 8. I've noticed that fishing isn't as easy as it has been in the past from just the few times I head that way. That being said, I've not had a problem catching all the fish I want during a day on the water, except of course the hardwater period. So from that standpoint, I have a difficult time questioning the fish stocks of DL and their ability to provide quality fishing.

 

[shorthairsrus]

The g&f stocked it for a reason in areas 1.7 million and they hadnt stocked it for a while - so something was happening

I also didnt make it up to dry - but how many rigs were parked at dry the one weekend???


I have fished it since the mid 90s - fishing was all over the place then water was coming up - it was fun but sometimes a challenge to find em. Now its finding quality fish. I caught some kickers last year in spots i would normally not think of.

Interesting a couple probably 3 years ago -- they had a gizzlillion 12 inchers int he lake -- it was thought wait till they grow up - now they are 9-10inchers. To me it reminds me of the lakes like ashtray and jamestown - where as soon as they hit 14" they are plucked from the water. Just when i say that though - i will pull out a nice one out.

I have set up a trip to go ice fishing on April 20 at big ole dl -- lookin for spawners

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here is a quote from G and F:

The Devils Lake basin reported relatively good catches of young-of-the-year walleye, after Game and Fish stocked 1.7 million fingerlings this spring.

Fall fishing update -- them fingers they grew alot in few months.

 

[deleted member]

actually SDMF, i will be honest, i completely pulled that out of thin air. sort of. it was just guessing based upon the few other places i've seen where guide boats full of clients seem to be all over the place. i've got no numbers.

but, anecdotally.... in devils lake, once a guy leaves the dock in the morning, you rarely see many other boats on the lake. yet alone a bunch of guide boats with clients in them. which tells me fish are relatively spread out. and they tend to be done fishing relatively early each day (of course cause they limit out). the one exception is dry lake. but, it small and its hard for me to tell how many are guides and how many aren't. but, it seems the fishing up there just never ends. and i would worry that place will winter kill some year anyway. so, might as well catch em whilst you can. it also seems to me that we also have a pretty big % of nonguided boats on devils all day long all summer long.

on the other hand, some of the more successful minnesota lakes seem to be guided boat after guided boat leaving the docks and all piled up in the same places where the fish hang out. but, truthfully, its hard to be certain if they are guided or not. everyone in blue plate land has sparkly boats and dress fancy. so....

regarding creel numbers: you certainly are on to something. they need to gather that information more often. probably some resistance from them to compiling or at least publishing locations. but, general locations like "east devils lake" should be an issue.

i guess i just don't see guiding being as big of an issue as most.

anyone got any idea how many guides we actually have operating on the lake on a given summer day? i know its not the same every day and i have a general guesstimate. but, it would be nice to know how far off i am.

 

[Allen]

Sak has always been a boom or bust fishery. One year away from a smelt die off of flood or drought. Devils lake on the other hand is a natural lake that is not so cyclic. Surprises me that the G&F doesn’t do a little more to protect ND’s pride and joy fishery.[/QUOTE]

You leave Goose Lake out of this, you...you...you bassturd!

 

[snow]

Careful what you wish for guyz,coming from experience here,if one day creel sensor folks show up around the lakes boat launch's whats coming next won't sit well with you guyz,1st they'll impose slots once they determine the lake walleye population is struggling,then they'll reduce the daily limit and might take away freezer limits in your state,might not happen on DL because you don't have native netting going on but ya never know.hook-n-lne hoards 12 months a year can do alot of damage to the walleye breeding population and with Mn crown jewel walleye lake (mille lacs)going into C&R only for a 3rd straight year folks are traveling further and not canada either,ontario walleye population is also screwed up with slots and two walleye daily limit (protected slot is all walleyes between 18"s to 26"s go back)

 

[8andcounting]

I don't see it as such a problem. Guide and client numbers per square mile of water here pale in comparison to other lakes in Minnesota and canada.

The lake gets pounded . Not just by guides . There's campgrounds all over the lake and it's getting the most fishing pressure it's ever had period .

 

[martinslanding]

So guides are increasing, buying equipment maybe land and turning a profit and catching fish.
North Dakotans are spending money fishing/camping/gas/ local establishments and catching fish.

I can see the problem here … should probably put together a grass roots petition and lobby it to lawmakers to close Devils Lake every other year to fishing, this way the lake has time to reproduce saving money for the G&F stocking it and all these people spending money trying to catch fish out of it … I mean that is essentially what most of you are saying… #skyisfalling

 

[Walleye202]

I think many are missing the point, the point being is there is a concern amongst many of us that the G&F is not being proactive. I would hate to see a situation similar to the deer situation where all of a sudden, boom, we have a problem, "How can that have happened". I do truly believe that business is influencing management of the lake. Business is good but the pressure of guiding seen especially in the winter months has changed immensely and I just really hope the G&F is ahead of things and doesn't have to respond with a knee jerk reaction in the future.

 

[guywhofishes]