Thursday July 16 pm

One of the best parts of ND Live is my opportunity to fish all over ND. The Van Hook Arm is legendary for walleye fishing and Brendles Bay Resort is nestled into the NE corner with great access. Just across the road are two ramps with great protection from the wind. Brendles covers everything from cabins to lake store with all you will need for a week’s vacation including gas, bait and a freezer for the fish. Lisa pulled early shift at the store and from what I can tell by the smiles, cheerful presence and friendly hello she must be a morning person.

If you have been following along, this is day 4 of 6 on Sakakawea. Monday started with wind and cold front conditions that didn’t let up until today. In fact we clocked the wind this afternoon at 21.1 and were amazed at how nice it was. Normally 20 is a little stiff for me but winds have been over 30 making 2O a light breeze. Our total for the past 3 days of hard fishing is 8 walleyes. Yah, I know my Grandma could do better from shore as well.

A couple of friends passed on some info that we went right to first thing this morning. Fish are in 40-45 feet, jig and crawler. Wind was down this morning so we headed straight for 8 lb Island and did just that. The very pleasant surprise was walleye marks on the screen in 35 to 40 feet.  It has been tuff just to mark a fish this week so I sat up and paid attention. An hour later and 25 plus arches slipping across the screen; a move was in order. Off to Rick’s and the exact duplicate, fish in 35 + but not a single bite.

Thank God for friends, Craig called and put me onto a possible bite in 18 feet in a back bay basin. Basically, a huge flat with little to no distinct structure. Cranks came out and in 10 minutes we had an 18 incher on a #9 Shad Rap at 85 feet back. For the next hour and a half I switched every crank and color I had, which is a lot! Up shallower, out deeper, slower, faster, stall out, fast turns, I tried it all. Cold fronts can be brutal.

The best way to understand what happens to walleyes in cold fronts is to remember what it’s like trying to use the key to open your car door when you’re so cold it takes two hands to turn the key. Even when they want to bite they don’t seem able to close their mouth and hang on. The other really frustrating aspect is walleyes often drop to the bottom and sink in the sediment. So no catchy, no marky, little stinkers, play fair will yah?

When Bomber 24a’s don’t get ‘em on cold front conditions I will often pull out the leadcore and if it is really tuff, hook on RS4’s all around. That wasn’t the answer but I got lots of small cranks to work through so before long we get #2 on a Firetiger Rip Shad. Then it starts to get predictable so I put on two Firetiger Rip Shads, only the original caught fish though. This happens all the time, one catches, one don’t, go figure. The other two lines ran the gamut of small cranks from jointed 5’s to plain old balsa wood Shad Raps. Nothing doing.

By mid afternoon I was catching on to the Rip Shad idea that the walleyes have been insisting on for the past hour. I start the color switching with all Rip Shads. I hardly ever pull all 4 lines with the same lure so it takes a mental adjustment to go all Rip Shads. The Firetiger has died, can’t buy a fish. Same lure, same speed, same depth, no fish. Digging around in the boxes a glow paint Rip Shad that looks like the old Salmon color catches my attention. Some days color matters and today is one of those days. After a couple of walleyes I get out another and we continue to catch fish on the original glow paint but nothing else is working, including the other glow paint I just hooked up. In fact every fish from then on except  one small walleye came on the same glow paint Rip Shad. We are fishing 4 lines but could just as well reel in the other 3 for the good they are doing us.

In a basin with no structure I often plot a trail and mark catches with icons. Today it paid off.  After 3 straight days of little to nothing to show for a day’s work it’s good to come in with fish. We did have to work hard but that’s what makes it rewarding. The farther we get from the nasty weather the more fishing will return to normal. Speaking of returning to normal, I’m back to myself after a good day on the water. Who’s to say if that is normal or not!

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