Daily Edge for Sun. June 4

SUMMERY SUNDAY Winds subside for the weekend’s most ideal day – you might want to make it a long evening and call in late to work on Monday – as moon overhead and sunset align for a great night of fishing.  Don’t forget to mark your calendars for the DU Fun Shoot at Capital City…

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Daily Edge for Sat. June 3

WELCOME TO THE WEEKEND! After some rumbles in the east Friday night, warm conditions will facilitate a good deal of fishing statewide this weekend, as 80s dominate the highs across the Peace Garden State.  We get word from Devils Lake in today’s Three Things and apparently it IS easier (fishing) being green up on old…

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Daily Edge for Fri. June 2

HATCHING BIRDS, DRY CONDITIONS AND AN INVESTMENT OPPORTUNITY! Who’s up for starting the weekend early?  Bail on work this morning with a case of walleye fever and hammer some pre-frontal fish, as summerlike conditions persist until a cool swipe comes along and shifts the winds later this afternoon. If you can’t get loose, check out…

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Dakota Uplander: Crowing Counts Nearly Done, Nesting Underway

By Nick Simonson With the North Dakota Game & Fish Department (NDG&F) wrapping up their spring crowing count surveys for pheasants, agents are able to provide some insight into conditions meeting nesting birds, and what awaits hatching chicks. While some winter mortality of pheasants and other upland birds is expected after a tough start to…

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Daily Edge for Thu. June 1

A SHOT OF HOT, A NEW SHOW AND A CASE OF THE CRAWLS While it isn’t quite a summer pattern yet, this mid-week warm up will help get fish moving. Don’t forget to get your deer rifle applications in to the NDG&F Dept. by June 7.  Friend of the site and G&F Outreach Biologist, Doug…

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Go Online for Deer Lottery

By Doug Leier, NDG&F Dept. With North Dakota’s deer gun season license application deadline fast approaching, it’s a good time for a reminder to prospective hunters that the fastest and easiest way through the process is online via the state Game and Fish Department’s website. This is especially true for people who are eligible for…

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Daily Edge for Wed. May 31, 2017

Welcome to the Daily Edge for Wednesday, May 31 – the last day of meteorological spring, which means summer is here (sort of)!  You can turn that lucky fishin’ cap around, as winds are finally relenting over most of North Dakota and things will start REALLY heating up tomorrow!  Not that you’re counting (we know…

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Daily Edge for Tue. May 30, 2017

SHARPEN UP WITH THE DAILY EDGE – FREE FISHING DAYS & TAKE A KID TIPS Welcome back to the Daily Edge!  Here you’ll find everything you need to get the most out of your hunting, fishing and outdoor adventures in North Dakota and beyond! We’ll start with daily conditions and times each day, and go…

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Daily Edge for Mon. May 29, 2017

GET YOUR EDGE AND STAY SHARP EVERY DAY! Welcome to the Daily Edge!  As part of Dakota Edge Outdoors’ effort to help you get the most out of whatever you do in the great state of ND, these daily blog posts will focus on the conditions, times and news that drive your success on the…

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Our Outdoors: Krystal Crappie King

By Nick Simonson   The art of lure making and fly tying results in a good deal of B flies and seconds that, after a few tries on the water are relegated to the bottom of the box, and are filed away for future reference, simply because they failed to connect with the trout, walleye…

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Boat Ramp Courtesy is a Must

With the Memorial Day weekend underway, the North Dakota Game and Fish Department (NDG&F) reminds boaters to be patient, courteous and ready when launching or removing boats at the many launches in the state. North Dakota boaters are reminded to exercise patience and plan accordingly when heading to a lake or river this summer. The NDG&F receives…

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Early Season Muskie Advice

By Nick Simonson While the true muskie hunters are already fishing the handful of muskie lakes in North Dakota, the eyes of many die-hards will shift eastward in the coming days for the Minnesota Muskie Opener on Sat. June 3. With that date circled on their calendar, many are wondering what baits they’ll offer up…

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Shorebirds a Spring Highlight in ND

By Doug Leier, NDG&F Dept. North Dakota’s prairie potholes get a lot justifiable credit for their role in helping sustain the continent’s waterfowl populations. What we don’t often hear about is the equally important role that prairie wetlands play in the life cycle of more than 30 shorebird species that either pass through in spring…

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2016 Early Canada Goose Harvest Tallied

NDG&F Press Release For the sixth consecutive year, North Dakota early Canada goose season hunters bagged more than 36,000 birds, according to a recent harvest estimate released by the state Game and Fish Department. This is the combined harvest from the August Canada goose management take, and the September Canada goose hunting season. While the…

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It’s Important to Protect ND Waters

NDG&F Press Release Outdoor water recreationists are gearing up for another season on the open water. With that in mind, boaters and anglers are once again reminded to help prevent the introduction and spread of aquatic nuisance species in North Dakota. State Game and Fish Department ANS coordinator Jessica Howell said as other states continue…

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Our Outdoors: Give ‘Em the Slip

  By Nick Simonson   There’s a sort of silent excitement in watching the chartreuse top and orange spindle point of a slip float slide under the surface of the water, knowing (or maybe not knowing) exactly what comes next.  The sweep of the rod tip to set the hook, the protesting pull on the…

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First Mature Sturgeon Found in Red River Basin

By Nick Simonson   Twenty years ago, a collection of biologists and fisheries scientists set out to reestablish a population of lake sturgeon in the Red River basin straddling the North Dakota-Minnesota border; just this week members of the cooperative group began seeing their vision, which started with the stocking of fish two decades ago,…

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Paint It Black – Springtime Crappie Colors

By Nick Simonson   With the first green leaves starting the spring canopy above the lake shore, our boat glided over the shallow stretch of mud bottom along a backwater lobe just off of the main lake.  Through the glare-cutting view provided by a pair of polarized sunglasses, it was tough to miss the schools…

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Leave Baby Animals Alone

The North Dakota Game and Fish Department emphasizes a simple message to well-intentioned humans who want to pick up and rescue what appear to be orphaned baby animals this time of year – don’t touch them. Whether it is a young fawn, duckling, cottontail rabbit or a songbird, it is better to just leave them…

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Our Outdoors: Spring Shallows

It was fitting that the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band blared through the back doors of the pavilion, where the 10:30 crowd at the wedding reception sang along with each verse of “Fishin’ in the Dark” with growing rowdiness, especially on the well-known choruses of the song.  Just down the sandy shore of the lake, my…

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Flooded by Memories

By Doug Leier, NDG&F Dept. In the past couple of months, many media outlets in North Dakota, especially in the eastern part of the state, published or broadcast stories related to the 20th anniversary of the 1997 Red River flood. With all those historical accounts taking place, it seemed more appropriate to wait a few…

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54,500 Deer Firearm Licenses Available in 2017

NDG&F Press Release North Dakota’s 2017 deer season is set with 54,500 licenses available to hunters this fall, 5,500 more than last year. The number of licenses available for 2017 includes 2,750 for antlered mule deer, an increase of 200 from last year; 1,022 for muzzleloader, an increase of 94 from last year; and 245…

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Our Outdoors: Advanced Angling

By Nick Simonson Not every aspect of angling is as easy as sitting on the bank, casting out a bobber over a hook full of worms and hoping for a bite, the way many of us started out fishing.  With each varying twist on the sport, there is more to learn and practice than there…

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2017 Legislation Impacts Outdoors Activities

NDG&F Press Release The North Dakota Game and Fish Department tracked 28 outdoors-related bills during the 2017 legislative session, 11 of which were passed by both chambers and signed into law. The following bills take effect Aug. 1, unless the bill includes an emergency clause which indicates it is already in effect. HB 1017 – Appropriates…

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Bighorn History & Status

By Doug Leier, NDG&F Dept To understand the current North Dakota bighorn sheep population, it’s a good idea to try to understand the past. And really it’s a past highlighted by a “who’s who” in Midwest wildlife documentation. Writings describing these majestic bighorn sheep were first recorded by the Lewis and Clark expedition in 1805…

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Moose, Elk Lotteries Held, Bighorn in Sept.

NDG&F Dept. Press Release North Dakota’s moose and elk lottery results are available online at the state Game and Fish Department’s website.  Applicants can find individual results by clicking “my account” under the buy and apply link. Successful applicants will receive a letter the week of May 15, stating the license will be mailed after the successful…

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Our Outdoors: Welcome Notes

By Nick Simonson Coffee for the outdoorsman is more than just a morning drink.  It’s the dawn-delivered lifeblood of adventure, that sip that puts some pep in each step and kicks the adrenaline up a notch when that initial fish taps the line on a gorgeous spring day or the slightest crackling of leaves echoes…

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New Programs Fill CRP Void

By Doug Leier, NDG&F Dept. The rise and fall of acreage enrolled in the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Conservation Reserve Program is well documented. The CRP got its start in the mid-1980s as a program designed primarily to reduce nationwide crop production in an effort to turn around low commodity prices, and also to reduce…

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Paddlefish Snagging Opens May 1

NDG&F Press Release North Dakota’s paddlefish snagging season opens May 1 and is scheduled to continue through the end of May. However, depending on the overall harvest, an early in-season closure may occur with a 24-hour notice issued by the state Game and Fish Department. Although there are no regulation changes from last year, snaggers…

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