IT’S A GOOD DAY TO TIE.  Odds are you’ll be inside today (when you’re not out plowing the driveway or shoveling the walkway) making it a perfect day to be at the vise.  With up to a foot of snow forecasted for the area, and more in some places, we’ll put the idea of an…

By Nick Simonson The temperature gauge on the truck read 39 degrees as I tore up the blacktop of Highway 25 north of Mandan. It was nice for late winter as the melting drifts in the ditches gave way to the matted beige grasses below.  The first symptoms of spring fever were beginning to creep…

BRACE FOR IMPACT! Yesterday and today should wipe the countryside pretty clean of snow deposits, just in time for Monday Morning’s Monster.  We track the storm, it’s possible positive impacts for area wildlife and talk about some favorite springtime fish in today’s Three Things. (Featured Photo:  The last remaining snow dapples the hills on the…

MODEL MOVING. All eyes are on Sunday’s forecast as models have wobbled a bit since yesterday.  Most runs are now putting the bulk of the snowfall along the Canadian border, with the Bismarck area expected to be on the southeastern accumulation gradient.  Still, it looks like 12-16 inches possible near Minot, and anywhere from four…

GREAT WHITE!  Just when you thought it was safe to go outdoors…well, it still is…but, come Sunday a familiar shade will return to the landscape as heavy snow is expected from a massive low pressure system out west and a deep jet stream pumping southern moisture up into the plains .   We talk about what…

FILLIN’ UP.  This evening’s full moon is the first of two again this month, and conditions are right for some great ice fishing in the near term.  Get out there and get on them and use the power of a full moon and stable weather to cross some ‘eyes! We talk more moon lore, eagle…

NDG&F Press Release Anglers have until midnight, March 15 to remove permanent fish houses from North Dakota waters, and from any state wildlife management area or federal refuge land. Fish houses may be used after March 15 if they are removed daily. Anglers are advised to use caution while accessing area lakes because mild weather…

THAT WAS COLD.  February strung together a number of consecutive cold days, and we look back on the month that was, and ahead to what remains of winter all while calculating our WSI at the 3/4-mark of the season, while checking out what’s in store for vernal flows and see that some spring turkey tags…

By Nick Simonson Each spring, the banks of area lakes and rivers are littered with pop bottles, chip bags, Styrofoam cups, plastic bait containers, beer cans, and my personal pet peeve, spent fishing line.  The snow that lines the gutters of city streets and highway ditches this week will slowly give way to reveal plastic,…

HOMEWARD SPRINT.  We’ve just about made the turn into winter’s final month.  With February nearly in the books we look at the current state of things under the water and on the landscape as we make our way into winter’s last few days. While it’s not over til the first robin sings, we’ll get a…

NDG&F Press Release Harvest statistics released by the North Dakota Game and Fish Department show overall hunter success during the 2017 season for bighorn sheep was 100 percent, 92 percent for moose and 58 percent for elk. The department issued four bighorn sheep licenses and auctioned one. All five hunters harvested a bighorn ram. The…

TAKING A SHINE.  Stabilization of the weather pattern has a gorgeous week setting up across the northern plains with highs in the low 30s, light winds and peaks at the sun every day until this weekend. If you’ve got a day to play hooky, this would be the week to do so. We wrap up…

DOUBLE UP! A second great weekend day in a row?  Wow! If you didn’t get out on the ice yesterday, today just might be your day! We start the color spectrum in today’s Three Things and capture most of them in our Featured Photo. (Featured Photo. The sun sets on Crimmins WPA north of Wing,…

KEEP IT GOING! A super Saturday is on tap for those hitting the ice.  Here’s hoping that whatever you’re after is on the bite.  With hundreds of fishable waters in ND, your odds are pretty good of finding a place with something that’s biting.  From bluegills and crappies to walleyes and pike, panfish and predator…

SOLID GOLD. A great stretch of weather starts the weekend off right, and light snow chances tomorrow shouldn’t dampen any travel or ice fishing plans.  Highs near 30 the next few days may spur a little melting too, as the sun’s angle steepens and gets stronger.  We talk guns and ammo in today’s Three Things….

SUN’S OUT! Guns out?  Pretty close!  While we’re not quite ready for snow goose or spring trap shooting seasons, we feel a little less like winter today as bright sunshine and warmer temps creep us closer to average for this time of year.  We look at the weekend forecast and some late season ice fishing…

RUFF HOUSING.  We take some time out from winter talk to look ahead to a favorite spring woodland bird, and a fun hunt every fall – the ruffed grouse.  From how they get their colors to their tell-tale spring drumming sound to what the future holds, we cover the bases in today’s Three Things. Featured…

MONITORING MIGRANTS.  While the white stuff will reappear overnight and early this morning, those white spring birds probably won’t make their way north for a few weeks, especially if things stay cool.  We talk about snow geese and other migrating birds seen in ND and where they are now in today’s Three Things. (Featured Photo:…

Following yesterday’s front and related snow squall, we drop into the single digits for highs for the next few days and winter settles back in.  We talk more about that and other chilly topics in today’s Three Things. (Featured Photo: A snow-covered hiking trail winds through a draw along the Missouri River valley. Simonson Photo)…

By Nick Simonson While it may not feel like it, spring is just around the corner, and with the six-to-ten weeks ahead, landowners and conservationists still have time to get their planting plans in place to help aid not only upland game species like pheasants and partridge, but also benefit songbirds, watchable wildlife and pollinators. …

FISH ON? Cold comes back, and the myth that spring is just around the corner fades into the dusty corners of the mind as we feel the touch of winter’s hand once more.  Speaking of myths we tap into the annals of the internet for some of our favorite internet hoaxes and questionable legends in…

It’s the ideal day of the weekend to get on the ice as temps stay in the upper 20s and snow isn’t forecast until after midnight, but if ice fishing isn’t your thing this weekend is for the birds as well with lots of avian-themed activities available in the region, which we discuss in depth…

By Nick Simonson The art of fly tying is creating a pattern that can easily simulate, or combines the best parts of, a number of potential prey items in the wild.  With over 14,000 species of caddisflies worldwide, good general imitators combine a number of their characteristics that fish key in on.  Whether it’s the…

We’ll be at the Bismarck Sports Show this afternoon helping out with the ND Clay Target League booth, so stop by and say hi!  This afternoon and Saturday will be conducive to good ice fishing, so get out there and give it a go.  We talk about the great access this winter has allowed for…

ROLL ON.  If you don’t like the weather here, wait ten minutes, it’ll change. (Then you’ll really hate it!)  From 40 above to 4 below in 40 hours, it’ll be an interesting swing, and again when we kick up near 30 tomorrow.  With the recent chill, we check in on the mid-month WSI and where…

MELT YOUR HEART. A spike to near 40 degrees today will get things melting, providing a brief reprieve from the recent chill.  Get your fishing in today though as light snow and gusty winds take over tonight and into tomorrow, dropping temps back into the single digits with nasty wind chills once again.  Bask in…

By Nick Simonson The days of first ice are well behind us, and the late ice pre-spawn surge is still a month or so away.  In between, a bite can still be had but it might take a little more elbow grease to add a few fillets to the frying pan.  The mid-winter stretch with…