SO LONG WINTER! Welcome to the last day of a season which has challenged outdoorsmen and wildlife alike, we’re glad you made it this far with us.  Spring starts tomorrow, and nothing major is showing up on our mid-term forecasts and the melt looks to be slow and steady, at least for the next week….

By Nick Simonson The average male lifespan in the United States is right around 78 years.  That puts me at about halftime, assuming I have the average game clock allotted to me, and if I have less, this midpoint message is all the more important.  Because, caught up in the madness of March, I’m recharged…

BLAST AWAY!  We’re less than two weeks out from the start of the North Dakota State High School Clay Target League spring season, and all around the state young shooters are getting ready for competition.  We walk through some spring shooting prep in today’s Three Things. Featured Photo: Shooters take aim at a new clay…

By Nick Simonson The prototype for the Pheasant Tail Nymph was created by British river keeper Frank Sawyer and combines the weight and flash of copper wire and the bugginess of pheasant tail fibers.  While not as famous as the PTN he would go on to create, the Copper Sawyer is still widely used, particularly…

LIKE A LION.  We review our Winter Severity Index today, focusing on the continued cold and snowy conditions that the back half of winter has brought.  We also turn our eyes to the end of the month and predict whether March will leave like a lamb as wildlife feel the sting of winter at the…

THAT’S ALL FOLKS! The last of the big low has shot out of the region, leaving up to 17 inches of snow in some parts of SE ND.  With it goes what may be the last real dose of winter, as long-range forecasts show a spring-like shift! We get you geared up for the season…

By Nick Simonson A person never knows what’s lurking in various waters.  I’ve seen tiger muskies caught in lakes where they’ve never been stocked and read reports of eels somehow making it hundreds of miles up small rivers and drainage ditches to waters far from their origin point.  Gar have snapped at the orange foam…

BLOWING & SNOWING.  Winds rise in the back half of the day as you (and wildlife) get one more shot of snow tonight before things take on a more springlike feel.  We check out what’s to come, barbless hook tips and more in today’s Three Things. Featured Photo: Keep the angle on fish and manage…

LOOKS WARM. Our first day near 40 in over a month will continue the melting process as we move into mid-week.  One more storm stands between us and spring (the “back breaker” we needed to shift the pattern). We talk about that, monarchs and more in today’s Three Things. Featured Photo:  This year’s ND park…

SUN’S OUT.  A mostly clear day will help get a start on melting the weekend’s dumping of snow.  We look ahead to spring, open water and more in today’s Three Things. Featured Photo:  The sun sets over a snowy Missouri River valley. Simonson Photo   WEATHER (Bismarck Forecast): Today: Mon 3/11 – Begin Melting – Hi…

By Nick Simonson There’s something special about taming a charging bull bluegill on line as thin as a spider web.  Few fishing sensations are wilder than a white bass tearing up the sunset reflecting off the surface of a lake.  Even a ten-inch trout brings a wondrous battle as it twists and turns in the…

SNOW WAY.  The southern stretch of ND found itself dumped on again, as totals from 6 to 12 inches blanketed the region yesterday.  We review those numbers and have some spring ahead tips in today’s Three Things. Featured Photo:  White Wall.  Drifts of snow grow following yesterday’s storm. Simonson Photo.   WEATHER (Bismarck Forecast): Today: Sun…