Northern techniques for Valentine NWR

So, how do you catch those Northern at the Valentine NWR?

Let me say to start out with that I have been going there at the same time each year for 3 years now (early to middle May). The first year was good, the second great, the third below average.

The first year I went (2006) we spent a day and a half on the lakes fishing, mostly on Dewey. There were three of us in kayaks and one-person pontoons. The bite was slow at first. The Pike were not in the reeds like they had been the previous year (according to my friend), so we moved to deeper water. Not that it gets much deeper than 6-8 feet in those lakes.

We fished mostly medium/small spoons. When we moved to the deeper water, we slowed down our retrieves and that is when we started catching the Pike. We didn’t catch a lot. I brought in 6 or 7 in a day and a half of fishing, but the biggest was about 28 inches long. I foul-hooked him near the reeds and my boat-mate very carefully tried to keep the kayak out of the reeds while I reeled him in. That one fish made the 6 hour trip worth it.

Have you had success at the Valentine refuge lakes? We would love to hear about it. Please comment below or email heartlandfishing@gmail.com. If you have good tips, we will post it.

Jason

Heartland Fishing