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