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Presented by Yamaha Motor Corp USA and Warrior\u00a0Boats LLC.<\/span><\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:\u00a0\u00a0July 10, 2020<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n Contact: Denny Fox, 920-505-0122<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n Anglers\u00a0Insight Marketing\u00a0LLC (AIM\u2122)<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n North Dakota AIM Goes To The Devil Sunday,<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n Teams Say Winner Will Need 30-Plus Pounds<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n North Dakota\u2019s Devils Lake is both huge, and quirky, and it\u2019s a good bet one team entered in this Sunday\u2019s (July 12)\u00a0<\/span>AIM Weekend Walleye Series<\/span><\/a>\/<\/span>Warrior Boats<\/span><\/a>\/<\/span>Mild 2 Wild<\/span><\/a>\u00a0Open\u00a0will put together a program to win big here, say members of three teams who will be trying everything from crawler and leech-haulin\u2019, and ice fishing jigs, to the simplest mode of fishing known, in the march towards the state championship and Team of The Year.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s hot on the plains and the fishing is reported to be Devils-ishly hot as well, just in time for AIM\u2019s visit,\u201d said Denny Fox, AIM national tournament director. \u201cThis was the site of the two-day state championship last season, and the teams are looking for some big fish this weekend to put check in the \u201cW\u201d column and take a check home.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n One of those teams will have Garrison ND\u2019s Loren Desjardins in a\u00a0<\/span>Mercury 250 Verado<\/span><\/a>-powered boat come Sunday morning.<\/span><\/p>\n He\u2019s fishing all AIM North Dakota tournaments this season, and says the lake is giving up nice numbers of fish right now. Like the others interviewed, he said this lake can be hot for one presentation in one area and a different one in another spot. Devils is also known for bobbering, so that\u2019s what he thinks he\u2019ll rely on to bring it home when he begins pre-fishing today.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cYou can fish it just about any way you like to fish, pulling cranks, pitching plastic, or good old -fashioned jig-a-rapping,\u201d he said.<\/span><\/p>\n That\u2019s Desjardins-speak for an increasingly popular technique of using a\u00a0<\/span>Rapala Jigging Rap<\/span><\/a>\u00a0normally seeing most duty during ice fishing, as a soft water walleye tool, whamming the thing up and down pretty violently to provoke walleye into taking a taste.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m a bobber fisherman and I\u2019ll know I\u2019ll also be pitching jigs, and we\u2019ll go on from there,\u201d he said.<\/span><\/p>\n Devils also is known for being wind-driven, and often depending on which way it comes, the fish will then be found on the wind-blown shallows.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cIf a person can play the wind, as soon as that changes around it changes the whole attitude of the lake, depending on which way it is blowing. Most people who win tournaments here use multiple tactics throughout the day,\u201d he said. He\u2019s guessing this will be won by someone posting a low 30-pound range on the card. \u201cBut it could easily be 10 pounds higher if the right pod of fish is found.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n David Watne of Grand Forks will be pre-fishing starting today as well in front of his\u00a0<\/span>Mercury 300 Pro XS four-stroke<\/span><\/a>. He has a home on the lake, so he\u2019s at it nearly every weekend, but he doesn\u2019t count that as an advantage. As many anglers have found out, \u201cIt\u2019s hard to do good on your home water,\u201d Watne explained.<\/span><\/p>\n But he\u2019s ready. \u201cI think the fishing is really hot there now. You can bobber fish over the rocks. You don\u2019t get a lot but you get quality fish,\u201d in other words the kind you need to win an AIM event.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cThe fish are starting to slide deep into the big mud flats, 35 or 40 feet deep, and pulling cranks there will be good. Pitching into the flooded trees and shallow weed lines, they\u2019re in there still too,\u201d he said.<\/span><\/p>\n But you\u2019ll probably see him on the water Sunday with a bobber rig, he said, or\u2026.. \u201cWe\u2019re going to be bobbering I believe and using Jigging Raps, and I think the east side of the lake will produce more quality fish.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cIf you\u2019re pitching, Pelican Lake (actually part of Devils Lake, at its northwest end) is where everybody goes. You can always also pull spinners, and catch a million fish, but you aren\u2019t going to get to the bigger fish. If you want the quality, you\u2019ll get the big ones in there with a bobber and a leech,\u201d he said.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cThe other day a buddy of mine released five fish over 25 inches in two hours on one of the spots I fish. It\u2019s a rock pile. You\u2019ll get\u2019em on the piles from 15 to 40 feet, and if you get one decent fish off each one, you\u2019ll be doing really well,\u201d he said.<\/span><\/p>\n Another hometown entrant is Jeff Trana of Devils Lake, who\u2019s been doing a little guiding on the lake for the last 25 years, but none this summer. He\u2019ll be in his craft powered by a Merc 225 ProXS. This will be his fourth AIM tournament.<\/span><\/p>\n He\u2019s testing the water starting today and also feels the lakes\u2019 eastern part will tell the tale. And unlike Watne, he may be pulling some lead core and crank baits deep.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019ll switch it up. We\u2019ll have everything from slip bobbers, leeches, cranks, plastics, Jigging Raps\u201d he said. Settling on one or two ways, he said, may not be the right way to go. \u201cSometimes it\u2019ll work Saturday, but it won\u2019t work Sunday.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cThe launch area is in the center of the lake, and some are probably going to fish Pelican, and that\u2019s a 20-mile-plus run, and if you go all the way to East Devils, that\u2019s another 20-mile run,\u201d he said.<\/span><\/p>\n Yup, it\u2019s a big lake, with plenty of chances to win, but it\u2019s all about choices. Should you put all your marbles on a simple technique you probably learned when you first started fishing. Should you make the run west, or east. Will the predicted light winds be enough to pile up the fish on one particular shoreline and produce the winning five?<\/span><\/p>\n Find out Sunday by following the action on\u00a0<\/span>AIM\u2019s Facebook Page\u00a0<\/span><\/a>\u00a0on not only Devils Lake, but on the second of two AIM qualifiers in two days one state east, on Minnesota\u2019s Leech Lake. It\u2019s a weekend filled with fishing, perfect for early\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0July.<\/span><\/p>\n Due to COVID-19 regulations, the Devils Lake team meeting and registration, as well as results, will be online at AIM\u2019s Facebook page. Look for those shortly after 6 p.m. Sunday.<\/span><\/p>\n Anglers Insight Marketing LLC (AIM\u2122)\u00a0<\/strong>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.<\/p>\n AIM is committed to marketing excellence on behalf of its tournament competitors, the tournament host communities, and the brands that partner with it. AIM is also committed to maintaining healthy fisheries across the nation by the development of the exclusive AIM Catch-Record-Release\u2122 format which is integral to its dynamic events and unparalleled consumer engagement. For more information about AIM\u2122, AIM Pro Walleye Series\u2122, AIM Weekend Walleye Series, AIM sponsors and AIM anglers, visit\u00a0www.aimfishing.com.<\/a><\/p>\n AIM Presenting Sponsors:\u00a0<\/strong>Yamaha Motor Corporation U.S.A. and Warrior Boats inc.<\/p>\n AIM Supporting Sponsors:<\/strong>\u00a0Mercury Marine, Garmin, Berkley, Abu-Garcia, Fenwick, Navionics, Power Pole, Worldwide Marine Insurance, AirWave Pedestals, Off Shore Tackle, Pro Chattrr, Quality Flow Systems, Gemini Sport Marketing, Oshkosh Visitors Bureau, Moonshine Lures Shiver Minnow, JT Outdoors Products, McQuoids Inn.<\/p>\n Tags:<\/p>\n