Wall-Eyed: Idle Chatter and Received Wisdom on Area Fishing

The secrets of local fishing here in Valley County are a mystery to me. Thankfully, local sportsman Gene Moore from Lakeridge Motel and Tackle and Marc Kloker from the FWP have teamed-up to provide me with a balanced (if occasionally oppositional) short course on the ins-and-outs of dredge cuts, tempting bait, and local fishing hotspots. This is the first installment. Enjoy!

To begin with, I asked Gene for a little gossip and he delivered the dirt along with a touch of the obvious thrown in for good measure.

The typical question for customers at the Lakeridge seemed like a good place to start. Asked about what his customers claim are currently nibbling on their lines, Gene reports walleye (with a nod to the Rock Creek Walleye Tournament in Fort Peck). The bait recommendation that comes down from on high includes jigs, Lindy Rigs, some worm harnesses, minnows, leeches and crawlers.

Pressed on the subject of weather changes and water temps, he answers, "When the weather stabilizes, water temps on the lake will raise 15-20 degrees." If the thunderstorms miss us durning the weekend, in other words, better check in with Gene on your way to the water for a whole new report.

In the meantime, Gene recommends trying your luck in the Duck Creek area, as well as out at Flat Lake.

Last week, area resident Dave Combs met the usual query about his fishing plans while at the store with the following: "I'm going down to the Milk River right now! Those walleye and me are gonna have a come-to-Jesus moment." Whether these were high hopes or words of wisdom is as-yet unclear. Did you catch anything, Comby? I'm still waiting for some photos.

For a bit of official info about fishing for kids, see Marc Kloker's contribution to the fishing news at the bottom of this page.