Devils Lake ND – Surrounding Lakes/Ponds

I have an upcoming trip for 2 days of fishing in Devils Lake with my wife. Without knowing the area, I set up with a guide the first day and the second day we rented a fish house thru Woodland Resort where we are staying. We are now 2 1/2 weeks away and most of Devils Lake seems to be open water yet. I’ve been watching the forecast and it looks pretty good for making ice, I just don’t know if there is enough time for there to be safe ice on the main lake

The first day (1/2/16) I am set up with Perch Patrol, so I expect that they would take us to places with safe ice where we can catch fish. This could be some back bays off Devils Lake or one of the surrounding lakes, either way I’m good with it if the ice is safe and we catch some fish (not expecting to limit, just enough to have fun)

The second day (1/3/16) we are set up for one of the fish houses thru Woodland. This has me more concerned. I know that they wont take the houses out if the ice isn’t safe, so I’m wondering if I should bring my portable as a back up and we would spend the 2nd day exploring on our own. I have been on contact with them and plan to do so again a few days before we leave to check on conditions

If we end up bringing the flip over, my question is that I see there are a lot of small lakes/ponds and some lakes that look good size a few miles north of Devils Lake (Sweetwater, Morrison, Dry, Alice). Would we be able to access these by foot? Are some of the small lakes/ ponds on the side of the road worth trying or can I legally park along side the road and walk out on these?

Thanks in advance, I’m just trying to come up with a backup plan in case the houses aren’t out on Devils Lake

Talk to your guide(s) with the Perch Patrol and with Woodland. They’ll be in the know better than anyone else on where is safe and how to get there. Since you’re a paying client I would think they would be happy to share information.

Ya I was going to do that if we aren’t able to go in a fish house thru Woodland, I was just checking if anyone here was able to answer my questions or give advice if we end up having to use the flip over

You will have a good time with perch patrol. They do a good job of keeping you on fish. Fishing out of permanents can be tough to stay on perch. I would bring your portable either way.

The main reason we got a house thru Woodland was that it would allow us to have a more relaxed fishing day, knowing that the fishing would most likely be not as good as with the guides and the run & gun approach, we wanted a relaxing day with just enough fish to keep it interesting (walleyes or perch or whatever swims by) after spending the first day with guides and moving around as needed

If their houses aren’t out yet, I will bring the portable and figure something out. I will know if they have the houses out before we leave so I can put the portable in the back if needed

If you have acess to a small trailer and atv or snowmobile, I would look at going that route, there is access to the lakes noth but alot of them can be a pretty good hike, probly a good chance your gonna be fishing those lakes anyways.Friday when I drove south of town eastbay, mission bay, and the main bay were all open.Were going into a cold snap so it wont take long to make walkable/atv ice.
Kyle, Zip and company will do you right.

Ya, I’ve been thinking about trailering my ATV if we end up having to use the portable on the 2nd day. I guess we’ll see as it gets closer if Woodland is able to set out their fish houses