West end sak where have the bigger Willie's gone theory!

[cooter00]

So I have fished West sak to pouch pretty much my whole life I realize that fish (walleye specific) go in cycles up and down nature is nature but I never remember such a drastic change in size caught. This winter I have caught more 11-14 inch walleye then I ever remember I mean you always catch them but usually you can weed them out and scratch a 19 my perfered eating size but this winter it hasn't happened out of 20 days of ice fishing this season I have caught 5 fish over 17 inches 1 of the five was a 20 incher I averaged about 20 to 40 fish each trip never a shortage of action never really a slow day but just no size I'm not complaining at all I had a great season better then average except size wise so here's my ponder where are they I've talked to many fellow anglers and they have had the same fishing lots of small walleye now for the previous summer and last winter I caught larger then average walleye where I had days where I couldn't catch a fish under 20 inches last winter specific I caught my pb Walter threw the ice and lots of other 20 pluserz I did have days where I caught smaller fish but never remember not taking home at least one nicer fish each trip..back to this winter now my theory #1 we had way better than average spawn last spring making those fish 11- 14 inchers now and they are hungry smelt are bigger then average so smaller Willie's are targeting smaller prey which isn't as plenty full as smelt making them overly aggressive and on the other note the biggins are eating all the smelt they want and are not in normal feeding patterns so they are not active hunting...theory 2-
I don't really have another theory but over a couple brews on the ice after a long day of catching 12inchers the conversation was struck and allot of theory's were discussed I won't share them all but one slightly got me thinking it was said that they migrate up river to spawn and because of a good food source in the river they never fully migrated back. But I don't 100% buy this one cause you would think there would an abundance of bigger fish caught in the river we had good ice and I heard of more then average people fishing the river West of Williston and not doin any better or worse then previous years.
So fellow anglers let's here the theories fishing tactics can't be blamed they haven't changed fishing spots haven't changed actually I searched more this year then ever in my life record #of holes drilled for me anyway I know there out there they didn't disappear why are they not getting caught like previous years.

 

[Kickemup]

Those 11 to 14 inch fish are probably 2 to 3 years old. If I recall they can grow up to 6inches a year the first couple years. Fish seem to travel in schools with the same size fish. I experience this quit often. I find I need to keep moving till bigger fish are found usually it involves moving shallower.

 

[cooter00]

I already stated it's not location depth or time of day it's been covered this year I usually never have had to actively search for bigger fish they are there last winter when I caught my pb I caught 2 little fish in a row then the big girl was caught on a rattle real before I unhooked the 2nd little guy so I know bigger fish travel with little in schools

 

[Casey Buchholz]

I have never fished Sakakawea. I think sometimes due to changes in forage big walleyes will split off from the larger schools of smaller sized fish. I do have a little input here though. This winter two of my favorite lakes have given me nothing but small fish. I have caught many big fish over the years including some very nice fish out of these two bodies of water as recent as this past fall. The big fish are still in there but I believe they are feeding in different areas and at much different times than they have in the past. As Kickemup said they are not swimming with the smaller fish and are instead spread out and feeding in aggressive sperts like you think of big pike or musky doing. I have witnessed this behavior in summer before too from walleye and if you can get on them it can be very rewarding! You still might not get the numbers you hope for but the fish are usually the healthiest/fattest that you will have ever seen them. Several winter's ago I was fishing a couple different lakes near my childhood stomping grounds. I knew there were big walleyes in them but I was struggling to find them. Unlike this winter I actually put a pattern together that winter on both lakes and found the fish feeding only at night in very shallow water when we had an almost full moon. I wish I could figure my two lakes out this year but i will probably have to wait until long rod season to catch some piggly wigglies again.

 

[pointer]

Welcome to what has become Oahe

 

[scrotcaster]

They're all in freezers in Minn. and Wisconson.

 

[honkerslayer]

They are just in a different area of the lake and or feeding in different areas. There are plenty of nice fish left in the system, and frankly it’s really good to see a strong group of those smaller fish. We were seeing so many 20+” fish i was starting to wonder what the more recent year classes looked like. I fish farther east and still saw good sized fish (20”+ this winter mixed with some 9-12”. Really nothing in between. The biomass of fish taken out the last 2 years is mind blowing, but I think we still have a really healthy fishery right now.

 

[remm]

Fishing is good for a number of years, word gets out, people keep coming and soon the fish numbers will decline. I don't give a dam what the biologists/g&F say. You can't keep taking fish out of a lake and expect to keep catching them. DL has been on the decline as far as numbers of nice fish for the past few years. A few years back you had a hard time catching walleyes under 18'' on the west end of the lake, then the pelican boat landing opened, parking lot filled up for a couple months, people kept every fish, now those 18-25" fish are much harder to come by up there- still there, but not nearly as plentiful as when it was harder for people to get there. That's about the time people starting catching bigger fish east, won't be long and they'll pull em all out of there too. Check with the guides this winter and ask how perch fishing has been, then look at the pics of perch getting shoveled out of snobears everyday last winter. Huh... wonder why they can't find those fish this winter. Sak is going to go through the same cycle. I know it's not completely fishing pressure that does it, but it plays a much bigger part than the "experts" and tourism departments want to admit. I haven't fished Sak in quite a number of years and I know your question was directed there, but I think they are similar circumstances.

 

[eyexer]

There were dandy fish caught the last couple years throughout the lake. Last year they were not in locations you normally find them. But on average the last two years were much better than previous few years

 

[MarbleEyez]

We need Slot Limits..

 

[Brian Renville]

Shut down the snagging.

 

[Fisherman25]

This is not product of overfishing, it’s a product of a changing system. We have such an abundance of smelt, young white Bass, perch etc etc. It’s the downside to having massive spawning hatches the past 3 or more years. If you drive around and graph out in 40-80 fow, there’s fish everywhere. At some point, things will change enough again and the cycle will change. Also, with all the years of high water, vegetation is virtually non existent in the shallows when you get west of Douglas bay. So the majority of the fish as a whole are deeper.

And yes, the younger walleyes are shallower because they need smaller forage, and probably because they are the prey if they go deeper. Things could change this summer with more normal water levels. We’ll see.

 

[Brian Renville]

This is not product of overfishing, it’s a product of a changing system. We have such an abundance of smelt, young white Bass, perch etc etc. It’s the downside to having massive spawning hatches the past 3 or more years. If you drive around and graph out in 40-80 fow, there’s fish everywhere. At some point, things will change enough again and the cycle will change. Also, with all the years of high water, vegetation is virtually non existent in the shallows when you get west of Douglas bay. So the majority of the fish as a whole are deeper.

That's true, the smallmouth explosion may have it's effect as well.

 

[MarbleEyez]

And if you don't like smacking a few smallies, just get the hell out of here!

They are a riot to catch with the kids!!

 

[Brian Renville]

And if you don't like smacking a few smallies, just get the hell out of here!

They are a riot to catch with the kids!!

I agree 100%, like trying to leash a mini bull.

 

[NDSportsman]

My guess is there are just more smaller fish and they are more aggressive.

 

[MuleyMadness]

I am just your average Joe fisherman but grew up fishing Sak my whole life. Took me a while to figure it out but there is a definate trend in big fish spots and small fish spots during winter. Not saying they dont hang out or you cant watch anything from 6-24" all in the same spot. The same spots produce big fish winter after winter. By big I am talking 20+ inches.
I used to follow the crowd because I was scared of the ice when I started. Now I have a 4 wheeler and go away from that where I found big fish in summer and also found them in winter.

I went to one of these spots this year with a buddy and we spent the night and fished about 18-20 hours. Fishing was terrible. Had 6 bites. But one of them was 22". Seems like this spot doesn't always produce numbers but always size. We knew the chances of catching a bunch of fish was probably not good but we were after those bigger fish. nothing excites me more than seeing a bobber go down on sakakawea because you just never know.

Only fished once this winter with too many small kid activites

 

[wslayer]

Not exactly sure what it is but I think it has to do with high waters this season. I am retired now so have ample time to fish. My main bodies of water for ice fishing both perch and walleye just have not produced any bigger fish. I have only caught 2 walleye that would have been worthy of the knife. Both where 17" . Luck for others seem to be the same of those I have talked with. I have tried all different areas of the water column.
I'm an early riser so usually set up Well before sunrise. Don't do the evening fish anymore , but may need to start.
Oh well, I just enjoy the outdoors.