HOOKED.  It was a solid weekend of ice fishing for many as conditions aligned for great trips on the hardwater.  Those temps and light winds will stick around for another couple of days before a front sweeps over the region, plunging us into the deep freeze at least for a spell.  Snow models for the…

NICE ON ICE. With the settling in of more temperate weather, many have turned their attention to the ice and trucks loaded with augers, buckets, rods and houses were a common sight on many roads yesterday and will be today as well as anglers make their way to the region’s hardwater.  We talk more about…

By Doug Leier, NDG&F Dept. As a student of biology in high school and through college, and into my professional career as a biologist, I’ve always appreciated the complexities of nature, such as each individual fish and wildlife species and their connection to the food, water, space and shelter, or habitat, that they call home….

PERFECT TIMING.  We return you to your regularly scheduled awesome weekend!  The weather aligns to make the weekend the best part of the week, much like the pre-holiday stretch we experienced in November and December.  Take advantage of this upturn and get out after some fish or the final shot in the field. We talk…

By Nick Simonson “The greatest teacher, failure is.” In the newest installment of Star Wars (sorry…spoiler alert, skip this paragraph if you haven’t seen it yet) the wisdom of Yoda shines through once again as he counsels a conflicted Luke Skywalker struggling to overcome the self-imposed exile from society and the force, which resulted from…

JANUARY (ALMOST) THAW.  A warm up is coming this weekend to help you get outdoors to close out the hunting season or get back on the ice. Make it through today, and you’re golden.  We talk past, present and future in today’s Three Things and some safety for the hardwater season and final hunts for…

PARTY TIME!  Late winter and spring are banquet time around the region.  Check out the great national and local sportsmen’s and conservation groups near you, become a member and contribute to habitat efforts to keep hunting and angling options wide and varied in ND.  We talk about that in today’s Three Things. (Featured Photo: A…

SURPRISE!  Gusty winds hampered true enjoyment of the outdoors yesterday afternoon, despite temps in the 20s.  Lower highs, but calmer winds the next two days should facilitate that ice trip you’re looking to take. Play hooky with some hungry fish through this weekend! In the meantime, we find the oddest things in Wal-Mart, and this…

NDG&F Press Release Individuals interested in darkhouse spearfishing can sign up for a workshop offered Feb. 3 from 10 a.m. – 4 p.m. at the Upper Souris National Wildlife Refuge office northwest of Minot. Sponsored by the North Dakota Game and Fish Department and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, participants will learn about ice safety,…

SUPER START!  The full moon and warming conditions will improve opportunities to get outdoors whether finishing off the last week of upland hunting (ends 1/7), or getting out on the ice in earnest after some challenging cold conditions.  The power of the waning supermoon should spur some solid strikes, so take advantage of temps in…

HAPPY NEW YEAR!  With the ball dropping, the Daily Edge is popping up as usual at 12:01 a.m. to wish you a safe, successful and happy 2018.  Whether it’s to shoot a perfect 25 on the clay range, travel to an exotic location for saltwater fly fishing, hunting elk the Rockies, or just losing the…

LAST DAY IN THE DEEP FREEZE. Fitting that the final day of the year is the last day in this cold snap.  Warmth flows in on southwest breezes overnight.   We’re double-digits above all week for highs, so break out the tank tops and board shorts. Today we get a little science nerdy and talk about…

LET’S GO FISHING!  It’s a free fishing weekend in North Dakota – perfect timing with the holiday, a little rough with the weather.  Temperatures might once again relegate the mobile ice angler to indoor activities today as the worst of this week’s arctic air settles in for the weekend, but promises of a warm up…

By Doug Leier, NDG&F Dept. If your winter ice fishing or spearing success and satisfaction lean more toward a limit of walleye, or a trophy pike, I’m not the guy to talk to. Same goes for furbearer hunting or trapping. While I enjoy and appreciate these pursuits, I’m no expert. But I do know that…

BIG CHILL COMING. If you thought any of the last week was bone-chilling, just wait until tomorrow!  With highs in the negative teens and lows in the negative 20s, we’re calling Saturday an “inside day.”  Signals for a warm up are strengthening and (don’t get your hopes up) next weekend might see highs above freezing….

By Nick Simonson Few firearms symbolize the holidays more than the Red Ryder BB gun received by Ralphie in the classic yuletide movie A Christmas Story. While his first experience with the peacemaker does not go well – nearly shooting his eye out as forewarned by his mother, teacher and even Santa Claus – the…

INSIDE INSIGHTS.  With the windchill advisory extended for much of the state into mid-day today, now is the time to finalize all those last-minute items and gear checks for ice fishing.  Charge those batteries, prep your permanent house and re-line a few reels, because the end of this cold snap is in sight, and good…

CHILLED.  Today might be your “get out there day” with temps creeping back above zero.  Finish off some late season upland hunting, or venture out on those newly (re)frozen waters, but dress warm, as winds will keep those chills below zero. Alternatively, stay in tie up some flies or jigs, and think of spring, as…

By Nick Simonson The matuka is a streamer that can be tied with just about any long feather on the pheasant’s body, but traditionally it’s tied with the elongated church window feathers from the upper back. It makes for a shad-like profile so it looks like a big baitfish and has a subtle shimmy in…

THE BIG CHILL. Cold conditions continue today as we emerge from a post-Christmas-dinner coma.  No matter if it was turkey, ham or venison, it’s back to chilly reality as ice conditions improve and sub-zero highs keep us all inside.  Get those rods and tip-ups ready, however, as a warm up a week out looks to…

A COOL YULE!  Merry Christmas from all of us at Dakota Edge Outdoors.  It’s going to be a bit on the bitter side today, so snuggle up by the fireplace in the warmth of friends and family and celebrate this day. There will be time for the ice or field mid-week when things warm up…into…

NDG&F Press Release This month, the North Dakota Game and Fish Department honored its top-performing employees from around the state, working to protect and promote the incredible natural resources, hunting options, and angling opportunities. Kinzler Named Game and Fish Employee of the Year Russ Kinzler, Missouri River System fisheries biologist for the North Dakota Game…

AN ICE CHRISTMAS.  While we’re under freezing all day today, it’s about to get a whole lot colder!  In fact, for those worried about solid ice, rest assured that this week’s holiday chill will have a solid foot or so on most lakes by the time New Year’s Eve rolls around. Here’s hoping you didn’t…

ANCIENTS ON ICE.  The pursuit of sturgeon by rod is relatively new in the upper Midwest, but spearing a sturgeon has spawned songs and legends, especially in Wisconsin.  As we look forward to safe, hard water here in ND, we cast our gaze outward and into the future for sturgeon on ice in today’s Three…

LESS WAITING!  Welcome to the cold part of winter you’ve been waiting for…at least since the hints in early November.  Ice making season is upon us in the main part of ND and where there was just enough ice for angling,  we will have thicker stuff come Christmas.  As we await what’s to come, we…

By Nick Simonson Thirteen years ago, while walking the north side of the railroad fill at my grandmother’s farm on Christmas eve day, my old lab Gunnar gave me the best holiday gift.  Hard off our downhill sprint into the ten-foot wide cattail ditch that paralleled the blacktop highway, he crashed into the reeds, sending…

TIED DOWN.  What does a day with 25 mph winds, cold temps and the threat of snow spawn?  Indoors time and a couple hours to get some snells for walleye spinners tied up for friends’ and family’s stocking stuffers! Whatever your indoor projects were yesterday we hope you got them done, because today is a…

GRIN & BEAR IT.  The northern tier of the state is in the crosshairs for the approaching winter storm, with amounts up to 10 inches possible in some parts of northwestern ND.  The gradient sets up hard along the I-94 corridor, and Bismarck could see anywhere from a trace to four inches, depending on system…