Presented by Yamaha Motor Corp USA and Warrior Boats Inc.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Aug 9, 2024
Contact: Denny Fox, 920-505-0122
Anglers Insight Marketing LLC (AIM™)
AIM Weekend Walleye Series Returns To Lake Sak As
North Dakota’s Final 2024 Qualifier Focus Is On Van Hook
Van Hook Arm on North Dakota’s Lake Sakakawea looks like the place to be Sunday as AIM Weekend Walleye Series anglers vie for who will win the final North Dakota qualifier of the season at the Warrior Boats Open out of Parshall, Sunday, (Aug. 11).
“From what we’re hearing, that’s the place most of our teams will end up,” said Denny Fox, AIM national tournament director. “It’s always been a good bet to head to, and since Parshall where we launch is on the Arm, this event may also be won there.”
All three team members interviewed during pre-fish week agreed that they’ll be somewhere in the Arm, either around its islands or one in particular, Shell Island, at the Van Hook’s southern reach.
John Aarfor of West Fargo just spent 11 days on Lake Sak for another tournament and he and son Chandler of Wahpeton will be back Mercury 300 Pro XS-powered boat with Garmin in the mix aboard.
“Fishing has been very good. It’s been a different kind of bite. You catch them any way you want. But there’s all kinds of sizes. I know people catching them rigging, casting jigs, pulling crank baits, and there’s plenty, that’s for sure,” he said.
Problem is many are in the 18- to 20-inch range, not big enough to win an AIM event. But he’s planning to take a crash course in LiveScope 101 prior to Sunday.
“To a fault we pull crank baits and we need to get our noses into forward-facing sonar, so we’re going to use cranks here as a last resort. There’s definitely a lack of knowledge on our part and it’s nobody’s fault but our own. We’re going to use practice to learn our forward-facing sonar,” Aarfor said. And that classroom will be Van hook.
“Most definitely, the Arm. All the pros in last weekend’s tournament made the 50 to 65-mile run and that’s definitely where the hot bite is, and Parshall is in the dead center of it,” so it will be an easier trip Sunday. That, and that area where most eventually try, Shell Island, or Shell Village, depending on who you talk to.
“There will definitely be teams sitting on that. There always is. Historically, when you go practice you try to find something that’s better than Shell,” Aarfor said. But, it’s not produced for him.
“My son would agree with me. I have sat on that island next to boats that have caught 8, 9 and 10-pounders and that is very humbling. For some odd reason it typically holds big fish. Tournaments are often won on Shell and I’m not going to say we won’t fish it, but we’ll try to find something better. The Arm is very wind-dependent. With the right wind, it will make the Arm go on fire,” he said.
Matthew Liebel of Williston often guides on Sak, and like Aarfor, he’s been on the water for several days prior, and says Van Hook is THE place you’ll find him and partner Tory Hill of Minot in a Mercury 400 Verado-powered platform.
“We’re going to be in the Van Hook area. We’re not planning to make any crazy runs. I think it’s not any secret you’re going to need some big weights for this. You’ll need 35 pounds-plus, on the AIM scale.
“There’s also fish deep. We’ve got dropping water now. People will be rigging chubs and using Jigging Raps, and forward-facing sonar. Forward-facing sonar hasn’t quite taken off in North Dakota but it’s a matter of time, but it’s also not a cure-all either. I wouldn’t be surprised if it will be won in the 38- to 40-pound range.
He won’t be on the water at all to pre-fish, but his partner Hill will be out Saturday. Liebel’s got another tournament in another part of the lake with his wife Saturday.
“So I wouldn’t say we’re going in completely blind, but Tory will be out and we’ll have some intel. We’ll be ready to roll. Shell will definitely be a thing it if decides to go. It didn’t last weekend. One guy last weekend on day one, in one hour he got’em all, and day two, he had one fish. It’s always a factor you can’t count out, that’s for sure,” Liebel said.
Scot Swain of Minot is teamed with Jessie Schiele of Norwich, and also was there all last weekend. They’re not planning on moving far from where they were then, especially with good weather expected Sunday.
“We’ll be out Saturday, so they (the fish that is) are not going to move far from where they were. Last weekend it was blowing about 30 mph from the north. Sunday calls for southeast winds 10 to 15 so it should be a good one,” Swain said.
“There are a lot of 18- to 20-inch fish going to be caught. A lot are in 25 to 30 feet of water, big schools. Parshall’s right there. All the islands are holding fish on the lake. It depends on the wind. We’ll probably be trolling to cover more ground. We might pull crank baits or live bait, big minnows and jigs with leeches and crawlers,” he said. He also said cooler weather moving in may help.
“Right now, it’s 47 at night instead of 100 degrees here. Water temperature is cooling down and the water’s starting to drop. That takes the shallow bite away,” he added.
Lots of anglers, he points out, love fishing those shoreline gravel points, and whether they switch to those islands, head up into a creek mouth on Van Hook or try Shell will become clear Sunday afternoon during the awards presentation at the Parshall Bay Recreation Area.
Following Saturday’s online rules meeting, boats converge on the Recreation Area beginning at 5:30 a.m. Sunday. They get the “go” from Denny Fox starting at 7 a.m., and must return for check-in by 3 p.m. Good luck, all teams!
The next AIM event on the docket is the Minnesota state championship, Aug. 23-24 out of Wigwam Resort on Lake of the Woods. The NoDak Championship is on Devils Lake Sept. 6 and 7.
Attention, Rivers Division: Your next Mississippi River is Sept. 22 in Dubuque. There’s still time to get in. Just go to aimfishing.com. Follow all the fun Sunday from Lake Sak at AIM’s Facebook page.
You know you want to. You know you can.
Anglers Insight Marketing LLC (AIM™) is a unique tournament organization created and owned by many of the most accomplished and recognizable professional walleye anglers, along with others who share the mission of advancing competitive walleye fishing and making it sustainable into the future.
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