Mike Peluso is a very accomplished tournament angler and fulltime guide spending a lot of time on both Devils Lake and Lake Sakakawea located in North Dakota. Peluso will guide on Lake Sakakawea late into the fall and points out that Sakakawea traditionally can fish well for walleye well into November for anglers who are still willing to brave the conditions. The past few years in particular, Sakakawea has been fishing very well with potential for big fish.
“Right now, on Lake Sakakawea in late October and early November, we are finding a lot of fish between Independence Point all the way up to New Town,” explains Peluso. Key locations often seem to be any main lake or primary points that are adjacent to the old river channel. “The key is to look for bait on your electronics, but I often don’t like to fish in the bait but around where I see bait,” stresses Peluso.
Many of these can be found deep but Peluso tries to find fish in less than twenty-five feet of water to avoid barotrauma. “Right now, fish are showing up well on electronics, so we typically just try to spot lock over fish. I have been finding some really nice fish in between fifteen and twenty feet of water so you don’t necessarily have to fish really deep,” adds Peluso.
Peluso likes to incorporate a two punch Jigging Rap program late into the fall. Step one is to find fish with your electronics and spot lock over the fish where you are dropping straight down to the fish. After spending some time right below the boat, Peluso than likes to cast around the boat to try and pick off a few extra fish. This road hunting technique requires a lot of scanning with electronics and enables you to move with the fish as these fish can move a lot.
The biggest adjustment Peluso makes with Jigging Raps late into the fall is to fish these baits not as aggressively. The key for Jigging Raps to work well is falling on slack line but Peluso believes toning down his cadence and jig stroke catches more walleye late into the fall when water temperatures drop below fifty degrees. “I often add a pause at the bottom of the stroke like I would when I ice fish and I might only snap the Jigging Rap a foot to a foot and a half. I just feel like these fish want a presentation that stays in front of them longer when we get really late into the fall,” stresses Peluso. Peluso typically uses a size seven or nine Jigging Rap and prefers to use a 12-pound Sunline Braid for his primary line with a three foot 10 pound mono leader.
