> Was trolling a #7 Berkley FlickerShad on a spot I marked a bunch of fish on my Lowrance HDS Gen 3 earlier in the morning. She was pre-spawn, about 31″…a dandy, but I didn’t have a scale to weigh her. Caught and released.

> One of Korey’s big players was a 4-inch Ripple Shad on a 3/4-oz jig — firetiger shallow and pearl-white deep. A stinger treble was important for getting more hookups.

> A standard 4″ minnow bait in smelt color was another go-to bait. He didn’t use any live bait.

> Terry Leffel is a hardcore walleye angler. His reputation for catching big walleye is only preceded by his reputation for his big heart. Late last fall, Terry contributed his time and talent as a walleye guide to a fund-raiser for a young woman who is fighting cancer, Amber Johnson. At Terry’s request, Mepps produced and contributed custom-finished Trolling Rigs to raise awareness and much needed funds.

> Mepps only made a limited number of those rigs for the benefit last fall.

Events

Not a walleye but a zander from Holland. Wow!

How to catch giant pike at Devil’s Lake.

> …more than 100 pike exceeding 40 inches for the LaFleur team [local residents Boyd LaFleur and sons Blake and Nathan] in the past 3 years. That compares to 87 trophy pike that size or bigger caught and released in the state’s release program from all state waters from 2008 to 2012.

> “After wondering where these top predators hid out, we started fishing them exclusively about 10 years ago. We went everywhere; fished every lure imaginable; cast and cast; searched and searched; and for the first 3 years caught zero pike over 40 inches.”

> The breakthrough came when he asked his sons to pick up the gaudiest, most obnoxious large lures possible on a trip to Fargo. They returned and dumped out a 3-blade spinnerbait weighing 2 oz on his desk. He laughed, but took it to the lake. Fishing an 8-foot-deep weedline on a big flat, he flung the hardware as far as he could. “Three cranks of the reel handle, and a fish hit. It was a 44-inch pike. I caught three that day over 40 inches, and the game was on.”

> The discovery led them to narrow down typical big pike spots to large expansive flats, usually quite a ways from shore with weed growth being the key. Deep water must be nearby. These are “rolling flats” in about 6 to 10 feet of water.

> “They like large lures, and we fish 7 ½ to 9 foot rods with at least 40-pound braided line and a 100-pound fluorocarbon leader. Top lures have been the size 15 Glide Rap (not being produced, but available on the internet); the 7-8” Shallow Raider; and the Lil Hustler 2- to 2 1/2-oz spinnerbaits with gold blades and cream/brown skirts. [Interesting!]

> The largest pike the family landed and photographed (and released of course) was a 48-inch trophy. “I know a ’50’ is swimming in Devils Lake,” Boyd said, “And I’m amazed how many trophy walleyes we catch on these large lures.”