Many prominent patterns emerge for walleye each fall on Devils Lake. Historically, Devils Lake can fish extremely well in the fall but remember that each fall offers several stages as water temperatures lower. Many of the very best fall patterns are dependent on water temperatures cooling. Cooling water temperatures seem to enhance or accelerate many patterns that emerge in the fall while a warming trend that begins to creep water temperatures back up over consecutive days can dissolve or slow down many of these fall patterns. As water temperatures dip consecutively day after day, water temperatures will often creep up a temperature or two during the afternoon and that often coincides with some of the best fishing. In some ways, fall fishing can often feel similar to the spring in that regard. Many fall patterns do seem to peak at different times and then fall off. There is a pronounced trolling bite that happens on many of the flooded roads, for example each fall. This trolling bite seems to peak for some bigger fish but than seems to fall off when the water temperatures dip below forty degrees. At the same time, vertically jigging over deep boulders really seems to get even better as the water temperatures dip below forty degrees. So naturally early fall can fish much differently than late fall.
EARLY DEVILS LAKE FALL WALLEYE PATTERNS
Early fall can be an extension of many summer patterns but as the lake turns over, major transitions begin to happen, and the fishing can sometimes be difficult when fish get really scattered which often happens before the fall turnover. Trolling crankbaits on flooded roadbeds can be productive. Look at areas like the Golden Highway on the Minnewaukan Flats or the flooded roadbeds in Pelican Lake. Typically, these flooded highway patterns only get better as fall progresses as the average size of the fish seems to get nicer through mid to late October.
Because Devils Lake increased in size so dramatically over the past twenty-five years, there is an old shoreline in about 22 feet of water that often has a harder transition. Old shoreline contours in 19 to 24 feet of water are often good through the fall but these spots can be important when fish are transitioning because the spots are big, and you can cover a lot of water trolling crankbaits. Good locations can include the Strome Addition on East Bay and the Trough in East Devils Lake. The south shore along Highway 57 east of Fort Totten is another notable area but there are several good trolling locations. Look for clouds of small white bass on your electronics and scattered rock.
When trolling the old shorelines, trolling smaller cranks behind Lead Core can be tough to beat. Early fall, I am often trolling size five to seven shad profiled cranks behind lead core or snap weights. Historically, top lures include Shad Raps, Flicker Shads, Rumble Shads, Hornets and Flicker Minnows. As fall progresses, these locations can still be good, but we often do switch over to bigger cranks like size 9-11 Flicker Minnows, Rumble Sticks, Reef Runners and Bandits. Good colors historically include white, wonder bread, fire tiger, chartreuse and perch patterns but on sunny days especially, make sure to experiment with gold, chrome or holographic. When fish are scattered, fish through big areas and monitor how many fish you catch per hour.
Through all the change and turbulence of early fall, good green stands of weeds will often hold fish, but the productivity of weeds can vary from year to year and the locations can change. Because algae blooms, the water on Devils Lake can get really dark and turbid come late summer to early fall, this reduces light penetration and often kills the weeds. If you can find good tall green weeds in the fall, they will often hold fish. Because of light penetration, most weed lines stop in seven to twelve feet depending on what part of the lake you are in. As a rule of thumb, the water clarity is better on the east end of the lake where you will see deeper weed lines. Some anglers believe weeds will hold heat when overnight temperatures dip in the fall but for whatever reason, green weeds offer some consistency and stability in a very drastically changing underwater world. On Devils Lake, these weed patterns are generally in less than ten feet of water.
Running the outside edge with a bottom bouncer and spinner or plain snell can be extremely effective. You can also drag or pitch jigs with soft plastics or a half crawler. In some cases you can cast or troll cranks if you have open water above the weeds.
If you can find rock or gravel in proximity to good green weeds that are still standing tall, this combination of vegetation and rock can often be the best.
MID DEVILS LAKE FALL WALLEYE PATTERNS
After the fall turn over, fishing can often change and change quickly and usually for the better. Some of the patterns discussed above seem to only get better where the average size of the fish improves. Trolling crankbaits on the flooded highways for example. Also a consideration is that the fishing pressure really drops off as fall progresses because of hunting seasons and in some cases conditions and weather. As fall progresses, don’t overthink locations. Well-known community spots are often at their very best as fall progresses. Weed locations, however, can fizzle out once the weeds begin to break down and die.
The bridges on Devils Lake attract a lot of attention all year long. There is usually some type of current coming under the bridges which can attract fish. These bridge locations for the most part are well known community spots. Through much of the open water season, there are several boats sitting in front of the bridges every single day. As a rule of thumb, the bridges consistently produce numbers of small to eater size walleye through the summer and are an excellent choice to simply catch a few fish especially if you are not familiar with the lake. Come mid fall however, the bridges seem to fish better. The average size of the fish seems to improve over summer. As a rule of thumb, we find the best fishing out in front of the bridges over deeper water somewhere along the current seam if the current is ripping and right in the current if the current is soft. Rain and wind can vary the velocity of the current. On the Highway 19 bridge between the Minnewaukan Flats and Pelican Lake, we often catch fish on both sides but prefer the north side of the bridge the best. On the Highway 19 bridge in Six Mile Bay, we often find fish on both sides of the bridge but often do best on the south side. On the Highway 57 bridge, the west side is usually best. On the Highway 20 bridge, the south side is usually best. On the Woods Rutten Road bridge, the east side is usually the best. Other locations can produce current like the Zeibach Pass area can also be good. The culverts along old Highway 281 can also fire up. Moving water seems to attract a lot of walleye especially come fall.
There can also be shallow rock patterns that occur on Devils Lake, especially mid-fall. The indicator I use personally is to simply look at the shallow water when you are loading or unloading your boat. If you see big clouds of minnows up shallow, make sure to spend some time checking shallow water. For fishing shallow rocks, which are often along some type of shoreline versus anything offshore, look for big areas where there are big scattered boulders and rock. The southeast corner and the west side of Grahams Island can produce good shallow fall bites. Other areas can be found scattered throughout the lake. Typically, we are pitching jigs with either a half crawler or minnow or jigs and plastics. There are also times when we catch fish pitching crankbaits.
LATE FALL WALLEYE PATTERNS
When we get to the tail end, historically this is a prime time for catching some of the biggest fish we catch each fall. Cranks can work well close to the end but there are many falls where you just see the crankbait bite fall off before the lake freezes over. A location type that can be so productive through the fall but definitely seems to peak come late fall are deep rocks or boulders on structure. These locations can vary in depth depending on the depth of the basin so these locations might be in 18 feet in Pelican Lake for example and 32 feet on the Main Lake. Big boulders surrounded by scattered smaller rocks are prime. These types of locations can be found around Bird Island, Cactus Point and Rocky Point or Lost Jig but these deep rock spots exist throughout the lake. The best spots often coincide with a sharper break. The sides of the old lagoon for example in the Minnewaukan Flats or the south side of the Golden Highway east of Winchester Island are all locations worth checking late into the fall.
Because of snagging, these locations often require you to fish vertical. Snap jigging glide baits like Jigging Raps and Pitching Puppets can be extremely productive as well as the traditional jig and minnow. Late in the fall, I often find that bulking up the profile often catches more fish. Doesn’t matter if we are trolling cranks or using jigs. Increase the size of your presentation. With jigs and minnows, we often double up and use two minnows or bulk up with a soft plastic and tip with a minnow. There comes a point at the very end where live bait does seem to outproduce artificial baits or lures.
