Slaying the Dragon

We have seen this same pattern repeat on so many different bodies of water. From the shorelines of Devils Lake to the back bays on some of the large reservoirs on the Missouri River System, this pattern happens like clock work and will hold fish in shallow water right in the middle of summer.

Regardless of lake, some bug hatches will create a shallow water bite in the middle of summer when water temperatures might convince some anglers to fish deep. One bug hatch that occurs in July is that of the big blue dragonflies. I don’t have the scientific Latin name for these large winged insects and I have to admit that I also don’t know an awful lot about dragonflies but I do know this. There is a period of about a week where fish go shallow and gorge themselves full of the dragon fly larvae and this pattern happens every July. Than one day, the air and sky is covered with clouds of bright blue dragonflies and the pattern shuts down. When you see swarms of dragonflies buzzing around the lake, you are about a day or two too late.

The larvae that the fish eat don’t look that much different than the adult dragonflies except they aren’t blue and don’t have any wings. From what I have been able to piece together, these larvae seem to like calm shallow water and this event often takes place over a mud bottom. This kind of spot in the middle of July often doesn’t look like walleye habitat to many anglers. The water is often green and may even appear stagnant. The water surface temperature readings can sometimes be as a warm as bath water. We often make this general assumption that fish start out the season shallow and progressively move deep and this general assumption is often true but some bug hatches and young of the year fish blooms can trigger shallow patterns right in the middle of the summer. This dragonfly pattern is pretty steady and happens every year.

I have to believe that these nymphs must spend much of their time in the mud or somewhere where fish can’t find or eat them efficiently most of their lives. There seems to be a week or so window where perhaps these larvae emerge from the mud and become vulnerable. Perhaps some of the trout anglers who are really bug experts can fill me in to the life cycle of these dragonflies. What I do know however is that walleye seem to find these larvae quite tasty. The dragonfly pattern might not be the most predominate pattern but it is a consistent pattern that can enable anglers to catch walleye in shallow water.

We often catch these fish by casting but the conditions that often coincide with this pattern often enable us to catch fish right below or behind the boat in pretty shallow water. Usually, the water is green or has some color. Usually, we can’t really see into the water more than a foot or so when this dragonfly fest happens. Pitching jigs are probably the most effective overall presentation once fish are found but there are a few other options that work well for finding fish. While the fish are feeding on nymphs, crankbaits are an option that can be extremely effective even though a crankbait probably more closely resembles a small fish versus an insect.

We often fish fast by pitching shallow running crankbaits to initially bump into these fish. Another option during the search phase is long lining light jigs or Lindy Rigs way behind the boat while motoring down stretches of shoreline with an electric trolling motor.

Once fish are found and the sweet spots get dialed in, you can really do a lot of damage by backing off the fish and scouring the spot with a jig. There seems to be days where you can pull practically every fish off the spot with a jig. Pitching a small weedless jig like a Lindy No-Snagg Veg-E-Jig tipped with either a whole or half crawler has probably been the most consistent in terms of effectively fishing shallow water and most importantly, catching fish. If pitching isn’t your forte or if you have anglers in the boat that don’t like to cast, you can still be productive below or behind the boat. We have caught fish many times by dragging a light jig or Lindy Rig way behind the boat. Actually, dragging probably isn’t the best description because the weight we are using is usually extremely small so the rig or jig just barely ticks bottom behind the boat. Most of the time, we are finding fish in six to two feet of water when we are targeting this pattern.

The most important factor to keep in mind is that this pattern often doesn’t look or feel right. Often, the shorelines that are productive are marshy. The air actually stinks like a swamp in some cases. You can smell the algae. Cattails and reeds often protrude from the mud along the shorelines. This scenario often doesn’t appear to be very conductive to walleye fishing in mid summer at first glance. Because many anglers don’t look for walleyes relating to this pattern, we often have the spots all to ourselves. This in itself is a huge advantage. Schools of untouched fish are usually more aggressive and easier to find and catch. While this pattern might not be noticed by the mainstream walleye angler and might not feel right, I can tell you that catching fish after fish with nobody around can be an incentive to leave some of the more heavily fished and obvious spots come July.

Editor's Note:  The author, Jason Mitchell is a legendary guide on North Dakota’s Devils Lake. Jason Mitchell’s Guide Service can be reached by calling their office at 701-662-6560. Jason is sponsored by Yar-Craft Boats, Salmo, Vexilar, Lindy Legendary Tackle, Beckman Nets, Berkely, Fenwick, Abu Garcia and Pro-Pointer Lake Maps.

Photo One (Lead Image):  Mike Haas of South Dakota Outdoors holds a 21 walleye caught on the Missouri River near Mobridge, SD.  Photo Two:  Darren VanHouten shows off his 6lb walleye that was also caught on Missouri River's Lake Oahe out of Mobridge, SD.