By Nick Simonson There’s an encounter each spring that reminds me of how lucky we are to have ugly fish.  They don’t glisten in gold like walleyes, sparkle with silver like a white bass, or even bring up the base of the podium like a smallmouth bass bedecked in bronze.  Instead, they fight hard, provide…

By Nick Simonson We buzzed along the inside of the breakline, my buddy Kevin and I, watching the rhythmic ticking of the tips of the trolling rods strung out alongside his Alumacraft, with a second eye toward the graph behind the console he was manning for the blips and arcs which symbolized the post-spawn walleyes…

By Brad Durick The water temperature on the northern Red River has stayed fairly stable all week and is beginning to go up again with this week’s warm up. The water temperature as of May 12 registered 57 degrees, n some sections of the river this has the fish beginning to kick into high gear…

By Nick Simonson It’s a sure sign of spring when you begin to see the little mounds of dirt popping up between the segments of sidewalk, evidence of ants hard at work getting active and ready for the warm weather months.  As these industrious insects ramp up their efforts for the betterment of their colonies,…

By Nick Simonson When fish are active in the warming waters of spring, triggering a reaction strike can be one of the most exciting ways to explore new areas, locate fish quickly and create some memorable outings.  A classic lure that can be customized for all species from trout, to smallmouth bass, to pike and…

By Mike Peluso Old news is good news. The big walleyes are still lingering around the Missouri River near Bismarck, and that’s a great thing; especially if you have kids, as this is the best time to introduce a young person to fishing. I still have the remainder of May that I will be guiding…

By Nick Simonson Amidst all the discussion of global warming, climate change, and pollution on a level so great that a second landmass made of plastic floating in the Pacific Ocean can be seen from outer space, it’s the smaller areas where I encounter garbage that stick with me each spring.  After a winter under…

By Brad Durick The water temperature on the Red River finally reached 50 degrees last Friday (Apr. 30), and with that increase the bite has started improve a little each day. There has been lots of picking and pecking by catfish with  some good solid hits mixed in, showing an increase in activity. The big…

By Doug Leier When I was a kid, I thought being a game warden would be a neat career, but certainly a difficult job to land.   As a former warden who understands the time commitment of the job, challenges and rewards I initially fell into the category of wrongly thinking I wouldn’t get hired. Yet,…

NDG&F Release North Dakota’s 2021 deer season is set, with 72,200 licenses available to hunters, 3,150 more than last year. In total, any-antlered licenses increased by 1,500 from last year, any-antlerless by 1,250, antlered whitetail by 100, antlerless whitetail by 100, antlerless mule deer by 200 and antlered mule deer licenses remained the same. In addition,…

NDG&F Release The North Dakota Game and Fish Department completed its annual spring mule deer survey in April, and results indicate western North Dakota’s mule deer population is similar to last year and 21 percent above the long-term average. In 2020 it was up 7 percent compared to 2019 and 22 percent compared to the…

By Mike Peluso The times they are a-changing and it looks like the weather is going to change as well, speeding up the transition which occurs around the spawn even more. As with last week, the walleyes on the Missouri River are still spawning and will be shifting their focus as we get closer to…

By Nick Simonson The warming waters of spring herald a movement for largemouth bass into the shallows of the lakes and reservoirs in which they reside.  Often, those dark bottoms releasing the first green-and-red curls of lily pads or sandy stretches with verdant spikes of emergent reeds and those locations’ elevated temperatures are the first…

By Nick Simonson I can recall my first smallmouth bass as clearly as the blue skies of the late spring day on which it came to my jig.  Sitting on the shoreline casting the eighth-ounce ballhead out over the small muddy point on the Sheyenne River just a few days after school had let out…

By Nick Simonson Perhaps it was because the spoken-word piece by Baz Luhrmann was in such high rotation on MTV’s video lineup in the summer of 1999 when I had just afternoon classes and the TV in my fraternity house room was just on all morning, but the newspaper column dubbed over instrumental music that…

By Brad Durick The recent warm up over the past couple days is also raising water temperatures.  The forecast for the next week looks great to get things kicked off for the catfishing season on the Red River in and around Grand Forks. Water temperature is currently up to 48 degrees and the magic number…

DEO Release Beginning April 29, Dakota Edge Outdoors is teaming up with experienced catfishing guide Brad Durick to share the exciting catfishing opportunities available to anglers on the Red River in northeastern North Dakota.  As a licensed catfish guide and promoter and supporter of the incredible fishing resource that is the northern Red River, Durick’s…

By Doug Leier North Dakota has a year-round fishing season including for game fish. The harvest of big fish in spring before walleye or northern pike have spawned is a common coffee-shop topic. Some anglers wonder whether we should have a closed season, or alternately, whether we should have some type of fish-length restriction that would reduce harvest of…

By Mike Peluso The spawn is on! While I was hoping it would hold off a little longer for the spring, we all know Mother Nature has her way, and her way is right now, and walleye spawning activity is peaking on the Missouri River.  We are catching some big hen walleyes still full of…

By Nick Simonson With lakes and rivers in the southeastern portion of North Dakota coming down from record high water levels in the fall and winter of 2019-2020, fishing for a variety of species in the region should still be good according to BJ Kratz, North Dakota Game & Fish Department (NDG&F) District Fisheries Supervisor. …

By Nick Simonson Dragging my jig over the subtle pull of the shifting river bottom, I felt a dead weight sensation and lifted the rod tip to see the slight bend confirm what my cold and glove-covered hands could barely detect.  I completed the raise with all due haste and the point of the hook…

By Doug Leier The 2020 closing of the paddlefish take season (a limited catch and release was offered) was one of the few outdoors cancellations I recall over the past year. Game and Fish fisheries chief Greg Power said safety of snaggers, caviar processors and data collection staff were a major concern.   “Paddlefish snaggers concentrate in…

NDG&F Release A total of 58,146 North Dakota deer hunters took approximately 39,322 deer during the 2020 deer gun hunting season, according to a post-season survey conducted by the state Game and Fish Department. Game and Fish made available 68,650 deer gun licenses last year. Overall hunter success was 68%, with each hunter spending an…

By Mike Peluso Busy is an understatement right now for Mike Peluso Outdoors and Guide Service. Being a full-time guide, even if I do get an off day, I’m out scouting to make sure I stay on top of changes which can occur quickly, and lots of things are beginning to change on the Missouri…

DEO Release Dakota Edge Outdoors is proud to announce a partnership with renowned fishing guide Mike Peluso, beginning April 19. Peluso will be providing weekly updates on some of the state’s best walleye fishing and the tactics that are working from the Missouri River to Lake Sakakawea to Devils Lake, with timely reports on these…

By John Bradley Each year sportsmen and sportswomen look forward with anticipation to hunting season.  Even in spring we wait with hope for the email from Game and Fish Department notifying that we were drawn for one of the “big three:” once in a lifetime tags for moose, elk, and bighorn sheep.  Later we hope…

By Nick Simonson Hunting and fishing license sales by the North Dakota Game and Fish Department (NDG&F) increased by more than 10 percent across the board in the most recent licensing year of Apr. 1 2020 to Mar. 31 2021.  With the addition of approximately 5,000 firearms deer tags and about 800 spring turkey tags,…

By Nick Simonson I can’t tell you what I was reaching for in the boat when I set my rod down.  Likely, in the chill of the start to an otherwise perfect Saturday, it was the blue coffee tumbler I had borrowed from my mom when meeting my brother and a buddy for a drift…

By Doug Leier With boat fishing season picking up and recreational boating just around the corner, we need to again focus on the role anglers and boaters play in reducing the impact of zebra mussels and other invasive species.  Ben Holen, North Dakota Game and Fish Department aquatic nuisance species coordinator, answers some common ANS questions.  Q: What can water recreationists…

NDG&F Dept. Release A 16-pound, 6-ounce walleye caught March 13 by Dickinson angler Jared Shypkoski is the new state record, according to North Dakota Game and Fish Department personnel. Shypkoski reeled in the 33-inch fish in the Eckroth Bottoms area of upper Lake Oahe. The previous record of 15 pounds, 13 ounces was taken in…