An Outdoorsman’s Journal
By: Mark Walters
Devils Lake, Hard Fishing, Hard Playing!
Hello friends: This past week I stayed in a 17-foot Ice Castle fishing shack on Stump and Devil’s lakes near Devil’s Lake, North Dakota. Dakota Jeffords, Ross Moll, Joey Weber and Weston Sexton all grew up near Niagara, Wis., and graduated in 2012. Dakota is stationed at Grand Forks Air Force Base and is the man responsible for hooking us up with the Ice Castle. This week’s column will be all over the map as there is a ton to write about.
Thursday, Feb. 25 High 26, low 12
We met on Stump Lake, which is a drainage lake that was created by Devil’s Lake. Dakota was pulling our home, Joey and Weston had arrived at daybreak and fished all day, and Ross and I made the solid 9-hour drive. After setting out four lines apiece (three tip-ups and a jig pole in the shack) the show began.
First, the fish-catching has been very slow, but we had high hopes by bed time, and tons of laughs. Later we had two walleye and a couple of perch.
Friday, Feb. 26 High 24, low 2 It is much colder in North Dakota than in Wisconsin and the wind kicks your rear end. We got up this morning and made the decision that we were relocating to Devil’s Lake. That sounds real simple, but Devil’s Lake is 95,624 acres and after a 6-mile drive on Stump, we did a 40-mile drive on the road and checked out three spots on Devil’s Lake before we settled into the area we would call home for the next three days. To put it simply, I was amazed at the size of this body of water, which has no natural outlet and did most of its growth in the mid-1990s when it gobbled up 140 square miles of farmland and 300 homes and farms.
Between all of us we had several contacts for the fishing and all our info and personal experience would not make the fish bite. The last hour of daylight, I caught a couple of walleyes and a perch, and had a great conversation with a retired guide who was staying on the ice for the weekend. I was told we were in an excellent spot and I learned a lot as he was fishing directly over a machine shed that vanished during the rise when this body of water rose 26 feet in four years. Here is the real story for this trip. The four guys whom I was with are great buddies who all have excellent careers, a work ethic, and love to give each other BS every chance they get. They grew up in what may be the last of the era where kids could be kids and they have more stories than there are pages in the Bible.
Saturday, Feb. 27
High 7, low minus 16
Talk about freeze your hands off. We were up before first light and with the wind and air temp it was minus 27. These yahoos decided it was time for refreshments before first light and what a show that was for me to watch. I fished hard as they kind of did, as well, but the wrestling matches, verbal abuse, and tying Ross’s shoe strings together with first 20-pound mono and then Gorilla Tape when he took a nap was a hoot.
Back in the day, I hunted elk in Montana and in reality, per capita, I honestly believe this part of the country has the most unassumingly good and tough people in the lower 48. Without trying, I became friends with two groups of North Dakotans who made it very clear I could hunt or fish with them anytime I wanted, and I was even given an offer to buy a piece of property for $2,500 for a base camp.
Back to fishing. We tried, that is for sure. The perch bite was next to dead, but the one ray of hope was tip-ups that were well-tended and it was for the most part northern pike.
There was a good 36 inches of ice and we worked hard and thought hard, but as it was for everyone whom we spoke with on this body of water, a non-bite.
We broke camp at sun-up the next morning. The temp was minus 8 and to be perfectly honest, every one of us was exhausted.
As soon as this is sent out, I am packing for a 4-day trip on Little Bay de Noc of camping and hopefully catching extremely long, fat walleye that take a long time to ice and make me dream all summer of a winter on the ice.
Rest is for the dead! Sunset
The Four Yahoos from Niagara living it up in our ice shack!
Our home for the weekend.
(left to right) Dakota Jeffords, Weston Sexton, Ross Moll and Joey Weber enjoying life on Devils Lake.
