Varilek's Guide Service

Name: Varilek's Guide Service
Address: Devils Lake, ND, 58301, US
Telephone: +17012701335

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Devils Lake, ND
Varilek's Guide Service

At Varilek’s Guide Service, we offer an inviting, fun environment, spending time in the great outdoors with family and friends.

06/16/2025

Another weekend of guiding in the books!

This week I teamed up with Big John's Guide Service to run a group from Minnesota. John hired me to take half the crew, and I’ll be honest—Friday’s prefish was pretty rough. I was feeling a bit discouraged heading into Saturday, but one thing this business always reminds me: every day is a new day—make it the best it can be.

Saturday morning started on some old shoreline spots, slip bobbering in 15–20 feet. No trophies, but we had a solid limit of walleyes in the boat by 11 a.m. From there, we shifted gears and tried for pike on some wind-blown shorelines… only to find more walleyes. Not a bad problem to have!

We boated several quality fish in the 18–22” range and even landed a beautiful 27” walleye—this 10-year-old’s personal best! Safe to say he’s officially hooked on walleye fishing.

We wrapped up the group Sunday morning with a quick 4-hour trip. On the water at 7, limits filled by 8:30. We spent the rest of the time chasing a pitching bite and boated 6 nice CPR walleyes before calling it a day.

Then, just as I’m heading home, my wife calls and says, “We’ll meet you at Six Mile Landing—the kids want to fish.”
Blessed to cap off the weekend on the water with Bentley and Briar. We caught a few more: 8 walleyes from 16–23” and a handful of white bass, then wrapped up the day with a fish fry and bonfire.

Fishing is heating up out here, and I’m excited to see what the next few weeks bring!

06/02/2025

🎣 Fishing Report: Spring Struggle Turned Slam Fest

It’s been a while since my last update—not because we haven’t been on the water, but because it’s been a tough spring bite. No skunks, but consistent limits on the big lake have been tough to come by.

Apparently, all I needed was the right crew to break the streak.

📍 Late Thursday night, I got home, hooked up the boat to do some scouting… launched… and within 3 minutes the Mercury Pro XS throws an alarm. 😬

Call goes out to my guy Marty @ Deep V Rigging Company. He tells me to bring it over, works his magic, and drops the boat off at 10PM. Tells me, “You’re good to go guide.” Unreal.

Friday we started in Pelican. One walleye and a few pike by noon. Ran into my buddy Big John's Guide Service who was picking up a few, so we shifted over. Wrapped the day with 7 quality walleyes—not limits, but we found a starting spot for Saturday.

Saturday, we ran back to the same zone and pulled 9 fish in a couple hours. I had a hunch there were more active fish elsewhere, so I gambled on a set of waypoints from 3 years ago—same water temps (65–68°), dead calm, and clear.

💥 20 minutes: 16 walleyes in the well
💥 15 more: limits filled
All in 8 ft of water, crushing cranks and plastics. Couldn’t have asked for better.

With the livewell full and it only being noon, we went chasing white bass. 4 spots, zero results. So we rolled one last Hail Mary into a gin-clear back bay I hadn’t fished in weeks.

Hopes were fading… until I spotted a downed tree in 6 feet of water—and 4 fish hanging around it.

Threw a jig. One peeled off to look. But something felt off. Got closer… they weren’t white bass. They were trophy crappies.

We spot-locked above that tree and picked off all 4 in 10 minutes. Sight fishing in aquarium-clear water—it felt like casting into a Bass Pro Shops tank. Absolutely unreal.

✅ Walleye limit
✅ Multi-species action
✅ Devils Lake trophy crappies
✅ Memories that’ll last forever

My Clients and I won’t forget this day anytime soon.

We’ve got a cool-down ahead, but don’t let that keep you off the water. You won’t catch fish from the couch. Get out there, explore, and try something new—you just might find your own log with a crappie waiting on it.

01/20/2025

Been a little bit since I last posted. Ice fishing is in full swing and it’s been a bit of roller coaster. Everywhere I have been has been 21-25” of ice with a fair amount of heaves/cracks. Nothing too crazy but we certainly saw a few more cracks today after a couple nights of excessive cold. For the fishing:When the barometer cooperates it is crazy good, but lately the barometer is either sky high or bottomed out. 9 out of 10 days we are getting our limit, but it’s taking the dawn and dusk bite to get it done. Quite small bite windows from what we’re used to the last couple years. You want to be ready with lines down 7:45-8:30am and 4:45-5:30.

Most of our walleye fishing is happening 9-15ft and moving out to 20-26ft mid day. Buckshots and tingler spoons seemed to work the best the last couple days. When these fish are negative, don’t be afraid to just lay the lure on the bottom when you are seeing fish. I caught 4 nice walleyes this AM doing exactly that.

I appreciate all the calls from potential customers but I am fully booked through end of February! I can’t thank all my existing clients enough for their business and support.

08/10/2024

For those that don’t know, I upgraded boats last month and got into a new Ranger 620! After a fair amount of research, I decided to get a ceramic coating installed today by Joseph Armey. This thing turned out sick! I thought it sparkled before, but now it’ll catch everyone’s eye! Check him out for any of your vehicle or boat needs.

07/28/2024

Great day with the Frith family today! This has turned into an annual trip for them and I look forward to it each year. The morning started off slow, with many of my spots from the last two weeks virtually fishless. Finally found a few on deep rocks and broke the ice. From then on, we found fish in most every spot we checked out. Ended the trip on my favorite big fish spot, and old faithful produced again. Thanks again Danny Frith, look forward to fishing with you guys again!

07/16/2024

Wrapped up my favorite weekend of the summer yesterday! Spent a few days taking some great people out with Devils Lake - Fishing Has No Boundaries. My group was eager to get out fishing, so we were able to get out for a bit before the storms hit on Saturday-5 nice fish later, we decided we should head back to shore and wait it out. After the rain we went back out and continued the beat down. Sunday was much of the same, with 15 keepers in about 90 minutes! Can’t wait until next year!

07/07/2024

Crushed some walleyes this morning with Bentley and the neighbor boys (Ryan, Rex and Bear). Things got a bit chaotic when multiple bobbers were going down at once, but the boys got it done. 25 good ones this morning and back home by nap time-for me anyways…

06/26/2024

Bentley and I are headed home from an incredible five-day fishing trip at Lac Seul Wilderness Resort with my dad and Mac. The weather was mostly excellent, and Bentley quickly became a skilled angler. Bentley is already asking when we get to go back.

06/19/2024

Had a fantastic Saturday guiding with a group from Hometown Heroes. This is my second year doing a trip with them and continue to have an amazing time. These 3 men were great to fish with and had strong camaraderie in the boat all day. The morning started off a bit slow, but we ended up finding some beautiful fish and filled their coolers. The wind continues to blow so that was a challenge, but once the guys got their sea legs established, they were casting machines. As the water warmed throughout the day we got bit more frequently and had several follows. All in all it was a great day and I can’t wait for my next trip with Hometown Heroes. And most importantly, thank you all for your service!

05/13/2024

Beautiful weekend here in Devils Lake. Latest report is up, and stay tuned for the first official guide trip of the year, next weekend!
https://dlfishingguide.com/2024/05/12/5-12-24-report/

05/05/2024

Scouted some new water today with my little fishing crew. Wind was chilly, but the fishing was hot. Found some beautiful walleyes today. Perch scatter raps were the ticket and definitely cut down on the pesky pike bites too! 5-6 ft of water paired with 50 degree surface temp=hungry walleyes :)

Address

Devils Lake, ND
58301

Telephone

+17012701335

Website

http://dlfishingguide.com/

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