By Nick Simonson Upland hunters in North Dakota will likely see more rooster pheasants in the field this fall according to recent data collected from the North Dakota Game & Fish Department (NDG&F) as part of its summer roadside surveys which tally the number of adult and juvenile pheasants along with brood numbers and sizes…

By Doug Leier The 2026 archery deer season opened Sept. 4, and  regular deer gun season opens at noon Friday, Nov. 6. Before hunters head afield this year, North Dakota Game and Fish Department officials are reminding sportsmen and women that protecting the state’s deer herd remains a shared responsibility. The department’s chronic wasting disease…

By Mike Peluso The reason I don’t love to guide in September is already showing itself a little.  The walleyes, especially on Sakakawea, can become extremely difficult to catch.  They do this every September for some reason.   I have my theories as to why, but it’s too long to put into this post.  I’m…

By Nick Simonson While soaking up the last rays of the summer sun on the cabin deck and watching the boat of four anglers explore the breakline just out from the dock, that familiar loud ‘slurp, slurp, slurp,’ of my old lab drinking water broke the afternoon silence. Of course it wasn’t from the elevated,…

By Nick Simonson As the premier destination in the upper Midwest for upland hunters seeking ruffed grouse, Minnesota sports millions of acres of public land in the form of national and state forests, state Wildlife Management Areas (WMA), along with abundant county land which harbor the loud flushing species which is subject to a natural…

By Brad Durick When it comes to catfishing on the Red River in this late and low water portion of the 2026 season, the only boat ramp that is truly safe and reliable right now is the one in East Grand Forks. Any others in the area will require that you utilize extreme caution when…

By Doug Leier  The Report All Poachers call I received when I was a game warden was from an elderly lady who watched a young man intentionally run over a couple of squirrels. Doesn’t sound like a big poaching crime but I’ll never forget how angry she was. This “poacher” swerved to run over one…

By Mike Peluso Today I am super sad to report that I’m done guiding for walleyes on Lake Sakakawea for the 2026 open water season.  That doesn’t mean I won’t go up to fish the lake a bit here and there. Last September on the eastern portion was absolutely top notch and currently, the lake…

By Nick Simonson The uptick on my miles walked and ran in my fitness tracker app spikes every May.  Right around Memorial Day weekend, the number of minutes for exercise jumps accordingly too and stays high straight through the balance of summer and into fall.  While lamenting the purchase of a new pair of running…

NDG&F Dept. Release Hunters and others enjoying the outdoors this fall should be aware of the daily fire index, take precaution and be prepared. Many parts of the state remain dry with ample fuel for wildfire.  Fall remains a risk period due to increased human activity outdoors in rural areas, drying ground vegetation and high…

By Nick Simonson Late summer brings with it warmer waters, and as temperatures go up, predator fish typically go down in the water column in pursuit of their prey seeking cooler environs until fall settles in.  As those gamefish like walleyes go after baitfish species like smelt, anglers follow suit and put their presentations in…

By Brad Durick When it comes to catfishing on the Red River, nothing has changed in terms of water river levels, but I believe I have pinpointed just about where these fish are hanging out. Going back to the really low water year of 2021, I noticed while imaging for hours that catfish were stacking…

By Doug Leier With fall fast approaching, North Dakota’s hunting seasons have already opened. The 2026 season officially kicked off Aug. 15 with the early Canada goose management season. Depending on the hunting zone, the first closure is Sept. 7 in the Missouri River zone, followed by Sept. 15 in the western zone and Sept….

By Mike Peluso What an interesting week of walleye fishing it has been on Lake Sakakawea.  There are lots of things happening all at the same time and in my line of work, it definitely keeps me on my toes.  The fish have decided to go deep! Or have they? I’ll get to this in a…

By Nick Simonson Your opener is coming up soon.  I don’t care if you’re a waterfowler, a pheasant hunter or have that coveted firearms deer tag for this autumn, opening day is approaching faster than a set of mallards with cupped wings descending on your decoy setup. Which is why now is the time to…

By Nick Simonson Continuing recent uptrends, the North Dakota Game & Fish Department’s (NDG&F) Private Lands Section added nearly 45,000 acres of public access to its Private Land Open to Sportsmen program (PLOTS) ahead of the fall 2026 hunting season.  With a goal set in 2023 of returning to 1 million or more PLOTS acres…

By Brad Durick The Red River is currently the second lowest level I have seen in my entire catfishing career on the water. That means some sections are unacceptable to bigger boats and others have no current. Right now, the pattern is more of a poke and hope strategy. With very little current you can’t…

By Nick Simonson Before you gear up to do your autumn blasting, don’t forget to add in a bit of fall casting as well.  One of the region’s best autumn targets in those warm afternoons after a cool morning of bow hunting, upland pursuits, or waterfowling are stocked trout that have weathered the warmth of…

By Mike Peluso I spent most of this week guiding on Devils Lake. I know Devils has gotten a bad rap as of late, but I do think it is a tad unfair to categorize it  this way.  I touched on it a bit in last week’s report, but I’ll touch on it again.  The…

By Nick Simonson The transition of summer into fall brings with it the first upland season of the year with mourning dove hunting beginning on Sept. 1. While I can recall endlessly entertaining afternoons walking shelterbelts to flush these fast-flying birds from their daytime roosts, the most memorable hunts came from around favorite water holes…

NDG&F Release The number of roosters heard during the North Dakota Game and Fish Department’s 2026 spring pheasant crowing count survey was 23.2 crows per stop, up 9% statewide from last year. “Overwinter survival of adult pheasants has been outstanding. Typically, we lose up to 75% of our pheasant population each winter, but that has…

By Doug Leier Farmers, ranchers and all landowners should be aware of a key deadline: July 1, 2026. This date serves as the cutoff for the North Dakota Game and Fish Department’s electronic posting system. Electronic posting allows landowners to designate land as “posted” via a digital database. For these digital designations to be legal…

By Brad Durick We just can’t catch a break this season when it comes to conditions on the Red River for catfishing. All that heat got the spawn into full motion early – as we were about 10 to 14 days ahead of normal for that process – then Mother Nature decided to cool things…

By Nick Simonson The mallard is perhaps the most noted duck species among hunters and conservationists, known for its shimmering emerald head, large migratory flocks in fall that fuel legendary hunts, and the “quack” often associated with waterfowl in movies, TV shows and other media, including that cell phone ringtone tied to that one die-hard…

By Mike Peluso With the goofy weather throughout this spring, even in the late season with summer approaching,  the walleye fishing on Devils Lake has been a little up and down also.  I have been on the water pretty much every day since March 15and  I have never seen such tough weather – especially the…

By Nick Simonson When it comes to just about any species of fish, an element of structure is often key in catching them, especially in summer.  Even the roving schools of white bass on the waters that hosted my formative years of fishing related to nearby weed edges established in the summer months, against which…

NDG&F Release The North Dakota Game and Fish Department’s 79th annual spring breeding duck survey conducted in May showed an index of about 2.4 million birds, down 9.5% from 2.66 million birds in 2025 and 2.9 million in 2024. The 2026 breeding duck index dipped below the 1948-2025 average for the first time since 1993, according…

By Doug Leier In North Dakota, summer’s arrival has always been a bit of a tease. I was visiting with an old friend on the sidewalk the other evening and it didn’t take long before the conversation turned the way it usually does this time of year — toward the weather and then getting back…

By Brad Durick The spawn is on when it comes to the channel catfish on the Red River in and around the Grand Forks area, and likely much of the flow in North Dakota. As predicted, the hot temperatures we have had have pushed the catfish to the nest and they are spawning. Water temperature…

By Nick Simonson Since 2002, lake sturgeon have staged a miraculous comeback in the Red River and its tributaries with the help of a coalition of state, federal and tribal fish and wildlife agencies repopulating the flow.  This spring, the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources (DNR) documented a female fish topping 75 inches in the…