The devil’s in the details
North Dakota’s largest natural lake is at once a dynamite fishery and a time bomb waiting to explode. Tick, tock. Tick, tock. Tick, tock …
In one of the cruel ironies of nature, South Dakota is parched, running out of water in its rivers and reservoirs. One state to the north, the region is drowning with rainfall of epic proportions.
Hence the watery curiosities of Devils Lake, N.D., a natural lake without an outlet that is overrunning its banks, flooding farms and fields in its path. The place is littered with flooded trees, farm implements and even a two-story gas station that has been underwater since the lake tripled in size to 150,000 acres following a wet cycle that started in 1993. According to a prediction by the United States Army Corps of Engineers, Devils Lake could explode to more than 500,000 acres by 2030.
It’s been like living in a different climate,” said Jim Schiele, museums director of the area’s Lake Region Heritage Center. “I grew up here, and we didn’t have three 7-inch rains in a summer. Now it rains for three days and won’t stop. To me, the lake is like a time bomb.”
The big bang may be a way’s off, but for the here and now more minor explosions of rainfall have precipitated a boom cycle not only in the water level but also in fish populations, which have exploded with the last decade’s infusion of fertility. This is good news, of course, to the field of anglers in the Wal-Mart RCL Walleye Tour, who will be competing June 18-21 for the second time in three years in a place with a changing landscape and waterscape.
“Places where past tournaments were won have become obsolete,” said Mark Martin, a Lund pro from Twin Lake, Mich. “We anglers have recently found productive fishing areas that didn’t even figure into the scenario because they were out of water.”
Case in point – Ron Gazvoda, a Ranger pro from Lakewood, Colo., explored a curious, newly created fishing hole the last time he was there. With his bow-mount trolling motor, Gazvoda eased up on a barn – one of more than 600 buildings entirely or partly underwater – casting jigs for walleyes in 4 feet of water.
“I even contemplated opening the barn door to see if there were any fish inside,” Gazvoda said. “It would have been a neat place to pitch a jig and try to lift the fish out of the window.”
With barns, forests, lakes and cattails now underwater, there’s nothing but possibility when it comes to catching walleyes. Possibility exists in both location and presentation. Cast crankbaits around weeds, slip-bobber with bait in the jungle of trees, troll open water, pull spinners on the edges of immersed roads, troll open water over cattail remnants – anything goes.
“Devils is one of my favorites because it’s different from any place I’ve ever been,” said Crestliner pro Eric Naig of Cylinder, Iowa. “If you go to the Great Lakes in spring, you know you’re going to troll. If you go to a river, you’re going to jig. There you never know where or how it’s going to be happening.”
That’s not to say it’s easy, although there are scads of willing walleyes. The fishing even borders on an extreme sport.
“It’s so bizarre to be driving in your boat around ’50s-vintage farm equipment – neat-looking stuff,” said Gazvoda, who caught walleyes everywhere and with every technique he tried. “You have to be careful you don’t run up onto a barbed-wire fence. When you slip-bobber, it’s commando slip-bobbering. You have to float your boat over deadheads and wiggle between stumps to get in the right shady spot.”
Even though everything looks fishy, little nuances make all the difference in the world. “If there’s a building, a farm or trees in the water, there may be fish in them, but it may not be a great spot,” Martin said. “You need a 2- to 4-foot drop-off in or around them to catch the nicer fish.”
If the anglers have had to adjust to Devils Lake’s changes, so has the community. Highways have been washed out and rebuilt. Homes have been relocated farther up the shore. They are stopgap measures at best in the face of future cataclysm. Without an outlet for all the water, which drains from much of North Dakota near the Canadian border, the lake level could rise 30 to 40 feet in the next two decades, flooding 100 more farms and displacing 50,000 to 75,000 people, Schiele said. He adds that a plan to drain the water out and into the Missouri River is mired in politics.
Solutions, including a possible ring dike around the lake, are uncertain. History is not. Devils Lake has suffered through nature’s boom-and-bust cycles ever since the area’s settlement. The time between 1818 and 1830 was a period of excessive flooding, with soil samples documenting the overflow of adjoining Stump Lake. Little more than a century later, the area suffered drought and dust storms that endured until the 1960s. The rain again came in the 1970s and in the 1990s put the lake over the top, with 3 feet of it between April and August of 1993 and a 12-foot climb of the water level in 1994. The rain is not forecast to abate anytime soon.
The fishing is a different story. The perch are jamming. The pike are slashing. The walleyes are going wild. The populations of perch and walleyes in particular have responded to a newfound fertility that has come with Devils’ tripling in size. Ice fishing is excellent for the perch, and the walleye action peaks in summertime – precisely when the RCL Tour arrives.
Despite the human displacement and foreboding future, Devils Lake is providing great sport in the here and now. It is not, however, without its sticky situations. Beware of the barbed wire and the minefields of flooded trees. But when opportunity knocks, don’t be afraid to open the barn door to find out what’s inside.
Devils Lake travel information
The following “Great Escapes” subsections provide specific information helpful to anyone visiting the Devils Lake area – including information about food, lodging, cultural opportunities and entertainment.
Beds, bunks and boat docks
Devils Lake is 110 miles southeast of Minot, N.D., and 90 miles west of Grand Forks. For places to stay and fisherman-friendly facilities, consider the following:
• Whistling Wings Outfitters has cabins on the lake with boat docks, plus fishing and hunting guide services. (701) 662-3541; wwings.com
• Woodland Resort offers waterfront cabins and motel units. It also has a marina with a boat ramp, a bait shop, a campground and a restaurant. (701) 662-5996; woodlandresort.com
• Spirit Lake Casino and Resort is seven miles south of the city of Devils Lake, with accommodations, gaming and entertainment. Spirit Lake Marina has a public launch, dock facilities, boat and pontoon rental, and bait shop. (800) 946-8238; spiritlakecasino.com
For more information on accommodations and attractions, contact the Devils Lake Visitors Bureau. (800) 233-8048; devilslakend.com
Beef: It’s what’s for (Martin’s) dinner
It’s safe to say no one on the pro walleye tour can mow through a meal like Mark Martin. You have to see what the 5-foot-8-inch omnivore weighing a self-respecting 180 pounds can do to a platter of food. “You can guarantee by the second day we’re in town he’ll know where the all-you-can-eat buffets or the best steakhouses are,” said friend and pro colleague Mike Gofron of Antioch, Ill. “If he can’t find them there, he’ll find them the next town over.” Herewith, Martin’s dining preferences in Devils Lake:
• The Cove Restaurant at Woodland Resort, Highway 19 West serves breakfast, lunch and dinner on weekends, and lunch and dinners on weekdays. Dinners are served starting at 4 p.m. Specialties: steak and seafood, including Saturday prime rib night – “I know where I’m going on Saturday night,” Martin said. They offer swordfish and halibut, too. Now-and-again specialties are beef and chicken Wellington and coconut shrimp with plum sauce. (701) 662-5996
• Hanson House 313, Highway 2 East. Closed Sundays, open for dinners the rest of the week. They offer traditional North Dakota fare, including a surfeit of steak, enormous popovers and a limited selection of pastas and seafood. “Excellent steaks and service,” Martin said. (701) 662-1032
• The Ranch Steakhouse, 1119 S. Highway 20. Known for steak and potatoes, this restaurant is right up Martin’s alley, including blackened ribeyes. All cuts of beef are cut on site to the chef’s specifications. Lobsters served, too. (701) 662-6630
Perch, picnic areas and pioneer life
Walleyes are not the be-all and end-all of the Devils Lake area. There’s great perch fishing as well as culture and diversions to boot.
• In wintertime, Perch Patrol Guide Service sets up Amtrak transportation to the Devils Lake area, arranges accommodations and puts guests up on ice in heated fish houses with all the tackle they need. (701) 351-3474
• Also in winter, Dosch’s Guide Service runs perch, pike and walleye trips. (701) 273-8669; doschguides.com
• Fort Totten State Historic Museum, a site built in 1867 to protect overland transportation and supply routes, is a historic site with an interpretive center and exhibits of pioneer life. The accompanying Pioneer Daughter’s Museum contains artifacts and uniforms of the officers once stationed at the fort. (701) 766-4441
• Grahams Island State Park has campgrounds, picnic areas and playground equipment, plus a fish-cleaning station and bait shop. (800) 807-4723; ndparks.com
• Sully’s Hill National Game Preserve was established in 1904 by President Roosevelt. Drive on a self-guided tour through the area for a look at bison, elk, deer, turkey and other wildlife. (701) 766-4272; r6.fws.gov