Across the border into North Dakota lies one of the premier ice-fishing destinations in the country -- Devils Lake. The lake has been on fire for several years because of expanding water levels and huge year-classes of game fish being produced in the newly flooded vegetation.

At this venue made famous by jumbo perch, it has been the tremendous walleye and pike action that has taken top billing the past few years as easy limits of quality fish have hit the ice -- but that situation may be changing.

“We had a real surprise last winter,” reported Kyle Blanchfield at the Woodland Resort on the famed lake. “We had our first good perch run in several years, and it looks like our perch populations may have turned the corner. It wasn’t the heyday of the 1980s, but we had six or seven very good runs with a lot of quality fish put on the ice.

“The past few years, you really had to look around and work for these fish with limited success, but last year the perch really cooperated and acted like they are supposed to. We are pretty anxious to get on the ice and see how things go this year.”

According to Blanchfield, lots of perch over a pound and a few hitting that magical 2-pound mark were pulled through the ice. “The fish averaged anywhere from a half-pound to a pound and a quarter,” he said, “with plenty of jumbos in the mix. Of course, around here nobody gets excited unless a perch is over a pound and three quarters, but everyone is excited about perch fishing again, and it’s good to see.”

Which isn’t to say that the fishing for pike and walleye has gone bust. “We are still seeing a lot of good walleyes in the system, and the pike population is incredible,” said Blanchfield. “But our walleye bite has simmered a bit, and you have to work harder for them. It’s still an amazing walleye fishery with lots of year-classes, including a lot of bread-and-butter fish in the 2- to 4-pound range, but even last summer the bite was tougher.

“It has been so easy to catch a limit of walleyes on the lake the past few years, I hate to say it is a tougher bite, because I don’t want people to the wrong idea. Walleye fishing is still alive and well -- but they won’t jump out of every hole you dig.”

The pike bite? Always good on Devils Lake, and people are finally hitting the ice in search of the bruisers.

“We have a ton of pike out there, with a lot of fish in the 4- to 6-pound range and beyond,” remarked Blanchfield. “It used to be hard to convince people to come up here just for the pike fishing, but now we have several groups who love to set up tip-ups and spend the day battling them.”