By Nick Simonson On the final day of vacation in the Black Hills, I knew it was possible.  Having landed my first brook trout along with many more and discovered swarms of willing and readily biting large rainbow trout in the same lake-and-stream complex near our cabin over the week; and staked out a small…

By Doug Leier The lack of winter snowpack created a bit of mystery as to when the spring snow goose migration would begin, which route the birds would take and if the lack of snow would slide the geese through without delay. Coming up with the answer was a combination of biology, gut feeling and…

NDG&F Release Very dry conditions, along with a decline in numbers of breeding ducks compared to last year, were found during the North Dakota Game and Fish Department’s 74th annual breeding duck survey. The 2021 May water index was down 80 percent from 2020, and nearly 68 percent below the 1948-2020 average. The percentage-based change…

By Mike Peluso I promised last week that the reports would switch over to mostly to Devils Lake and Lake Sakakawea for the next couple of months, so with that said, let’s get to it! First off, I’d like to let everyone know, in case you didn’t know already: we are extremely spoiled here in…

By Nick Simonson In all my fly fishing efforts, a brook trout has eluded me.  While I know some of the waters which I have fished, particularly small streams on the north shore of Lake Superior, have contained the fish so often found at the chilly head of creeks, I had yet to catch one. …

By Nick Simonson In the pool before me on Spearfish Creek sat so many trout I could hardly contain myself.  Having scouted the run the day before, my jaw dropped as brookies, browns and rainbows lazily sat all within a foot of each other, rising and picking off the unseen midges in the surface film…

By Nick Simonson My first experience with wild trout came in Montana just before my senior year of high school.  There, alongside a ditch that we were told was a trout stream by the man at the shop in the nearby town, I wandered out toward the bank and looked down to see a dark,…

By Doug Leier I’ll never be mistaken for a master gardener, and it really doesn’t bother me. Beyond borrowing the neighbor’s tiller and breaking up the ground, I lose interest in the garden even before the first spuds are planted.  But I also fully understand the pride many gardeners take in their summer produce, as time is measured in weeks…

By Brad Durick Get ready for some catfish shock. The forecast is everything we don’t want: nice stable comfortable weather shifting right to nasty hot. Water temperatures will be rising very fast into the 70s and shocking the fish for a few days and then I suspect the spawn will be close behind. In the…

By Mike Peluso This report is a combination fishing report for both the Missouri River near Bismarck and the east end of Lake Sakakawea. This will probably be my last river report until this fall. I do have to say this is very bittersweet for me. It feels like only yesterday I was rushing home…

By Nick Simonson The evolution of the fishing net in the past few decades has leapt from the one-size-fits-all model of an aluminum hoop with a nylon basket of one-inch squares into the branches of an evolutionary tree reaching out across the horizon of angling options.  From ergonomic grips for more stable solo landings, to…

By Nick Simonson Pulling the pheasant dummy down from the rafters from under the deck in the backyard, I whipped it twice in a circle before launching it across the greening grass, and it bounced with a clank against the metal fence.  On the rebound, my lab jumped up and snared the foam-and-plastic bird and…

By Nick Simonson I’ll be the first to tell you that I’m a homebody when it comes to the outdoors.  It doesn’t take much for me to get lost chasing walleyes along the river winding through town, casting after trout in the nearby lakes, or picking off a few hungry bass as summer progresses on…

By Doug Leier This is the time of year when North Dakota Game and Fish Department game wardens, biologists and other staff across the state handle an influx of calls about young animals. From seemingly abandoned deer fawns, to birds that fell from a nest, to a mother duck trying to lead her brood across…

By Brad Durick It’s been a wild week. We were blessed with rains in the northern Red River valley that gave the catfish a fresh drink. However, water levels remain seriously low from Oslo to the south and heavy rains brought Drayton up nearly four feet but the river is quickly falling now. The recent…

By Rachel Bush, ND State Coordinator, Pheasants Forever With spring turkey season wrapped up, our thoughts and anticipation await the next opening day, mine do at least. There is a lot of time between now and then, but now is the time of year that those wildlife species we enjoy pursuing so much each fall…

By Mike Peluso Just when I thought there was little chance left this spring for a really big walleye, boom goes the thump on a jig and presto, a 33 inch monster Missouri River walleye! The one thing this last string of big post spawn walleyes has taught me, is never count a big fish…

By Nick Simonson North Dakota’s upland bird populations came out of the mild winter relatively well.  With above average temperatures from December to March, and below average snowfall across the state, sharptailed grouse and ring-necked pheasants made it to spring with no significant mortality, according to RJ Gross, Upland Game Biologist with the North Dakota…

By John Bradley The 2021 Legislature was a busy one for issues affecting wildlife, habitat and access for hunters, anglers, and outdoor enthusiasts. As we have in years past, the North Dakota Wildlife Federation (NDWF) played a crucial role at the Capitol, monitoring key issues and speaking up for those issues and our outdoor heritage….

By Nick Simonson A shellacking. A beatdown. A butt-whooping.  All these terms paled in my young mind when describing a drubbing on the baseball field when compared to the term “getting creamed.”  That descriptor suggests that the opposing team had swung their bats so mightily and so frequently and with such success that they converted…

By Brad Durick The water temperatures have really come up the past few days in the northern reaches of the Red River. Some sections of the flow are producing fish better than others. Most areas are fishing like it is mid-summer as the lack of current seems to have not sparked the catfish to make…

By Doug Leier Most work or recreation plans follow the principle that you reap what you sow. The more planning and preparation, the better the odds are for success. Or, in other words, the time to start preparing for deer season isn’t the night before. The search for the misplaced deer tag, the rifle that…

NDG&F Release North Dakota has seen an increase in aquatic nuisance species in the last decade, yet the state remains in pretty good shape with the low number of waterbodies with invasive species. Even so, public awareness about ANS, including zebra mussels, and the actions that help prevent their spread, remains a priority of the…

By Mike Peluso Things on the Missouri River remain pretty solid following the spawn.  There are lots of fish to be caught, and many of them are being caught right now on a jig and minnow. The scary part for me at the moment is that the walleyes are moving extremely fast downstream. Upstream is…

By Nick Simonson Stocked trout don’t take long to acclimate to their surroundings.  Within a week or two of the recent dumps of rainbows and browns across the state, these fish spread out and stalk the water column for just about anything edible.  Whether that’s the first rising midge populations of the year, small nymphs…

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…