By Nick Simonson When fishing a piece of moving water, whether it’s a small creek in the Black Hills or the swift flow along the grey sand bars of the Missouri River or any stretch of river in between, knowing how to read what the surface and other elements of it present is key in…

By Nick Simonson In addition to those Memorial Day barbecues, graduation parties, and first trips to the swimming pool, the unofficial start to summer likely includes some fishing for one of the season’s most iconic species: the largemouth bass.  This time of year, big, black-striped bucketmouths aren’t hard to find, if you know where to…

By Brad Durick Catfishing remains fast and furious this week on the Red River of the north. Water levels are still near perfect in and around the Grand Forks area with water temperatures in the low-60s. The bigger catfish are moving in, bulking up, and getting ready for the spawn which should still be weeks…

By Doug Leier Twenty years ago I wrote a column about technology. It was inspired by a walk through an early spring hunting and fishing expo. What I wrote then and what I’m thinking about today with forward-facing sonar and even more evolution really hasn’t changed much at all has it? Think back to your…

By Nick Simonson Variety is the spice of life, and like lemon pepper on a walleye fillet, or blackened Cajun seasoning on crappies, it’s also the spice of angling.  With so many fish to catch and so many fun ways to catch them, the North Dakota Game & Fish Department (NDG&F) is offering up a…

By Mike Peluso Sorry this Missouri River walleye report is a day late, but I’ve been traveling to get my boat wrapped down in Minnesota, so I’ve been burning the midnight oil. I am super excited to reveal the new look for Mike Peluso Outdoors & Guide Service. Anyway, my days are numbered here on…

By Nick Simonson As I waded deeper and deeper into the waters of angling with my good fishing buddy, we became focused each trip on the fish at hand.  Walleyes in the early goings of the season, then smallmouth when the spring warmed up, crappies in the emergent reeds and then largemouth under the red-and-green…

NDG&F Dept. Release North Dakota’s 2023 pheasant, sharp-tailed grouse and gray partridge harvests were up from 2022, according to the state Game and Fish Department. Upland game biologist RJ Gross said the overall harvest was likely a result of more hunters, more trips and more birds in the population. “Despite enduring one of the highest…

NDG&F Dept. Release The North Dakota Game and Fish Department completed its annual mule deer survey, and results indicate western North Dakota’s mule deer population is 1% higher than last year but 4% below the long-term average. Biologists counted 2,047 mule deer in 286.3 square miles. The overall mule deer density in the badlands was…

By Nick Simonson Few flies are as hardy and as hard to sink as the foam ant, and while spring has arrived and the real ants now on the ground herald the fact the season is likely to stick around, the social insects are also a harbinger of summer, but in a different form.  On…

By Brad Durick The 2024 catfishing season on the Red River in and around Grand Forks has started off with a bang! It is proof that stable conditions make for great fishing. Water levels have been the same for weeks until this past weekend when it came up a little from rains which will really…

By Doug Leier Unfortunately, my old hometown of LaMoure stakes the claim to being home to the first documented bighead carp identified in the James River about five years ago and also a couple of the only zebra mussel infested lakes – Twin Lake and Lake LaMoure. When I visit LaMoure I still drive past…

By Nick Simonson Slip floats are one of spring’s timely tactics for a variety of fish, from pre-spawn crappies to post-spawn walleyes.  However, deploying them correctly requires a bit of knowledge and experience from setting them up to watching them go down.  Make sure things slide smoother this season with the right slip float setup…

By Mike Peluso Big Muddy Tournament Week has come and gone. It’s always a bittersweet time for the spring walleye fishing on the Missouri River. Things really slow down, at least traffic wise, for fishermen after the Big Muddy. For me it means my days are numbered for the spring guiding on the river; not…

By Nick Simonson Long Bridge on Big Detroit Lake is a place that most anglers would refer to as a slump buster for its plentiful panfish.  Even now, a week ahead of the walleye opener in Minnesota, it’s a destination because it’s a guarantee that something will bite in the waters along the concrete pilings…

NDG&F Dept. Release North Dakota’s 2024 deer season is set, with 50,100 licenses available to hunters, down 3,300 from last year. In addition, muzzleloader licenses decreased by 66 and restricted youth antlered mule deer licenses remained the same. Casey Anderson, North Dakota Game and Fish Department wildlife division chief, said population, harvest and survey data…

NDG&F Dept. Release May 5-11 is Aquatic Nuisance Species Awareness Week in North Dakota in an effort to raise the public’s understanding of the preventative steps recreationists need to follow to stop the introduction and spread of ANS in the state’s waterways. ANS are nonnative plants, animals or pathogens that can affect the ecology of our lakes…

By Doug Leier When it comes to phone apps, I’ll be the first to admit I’m not the next generation. I’m at best the past generation and hopefully not the lost generation. While I admit I do enjoy having access to all the Game and Fish Department information on my mobile device, I’m much more…

By Nick Simonson While the weather has been a bit unstable for the front half of the North Dakota spring turkey hunting season, hunters have been finding some success and likely will still have opportunities to fill their tags with a bit of scouting and patience, according to RJ Gross, Upland Game Biologist for the…

By Mike Peluso As it’s the week before the Big Muddy fishing tournament, I’m sad to report there are no walleyes being caught between Cannonball River and the Wilton Boat Landing on the Missouri River. All kidding aside, a lot of change is happening right now with the fish migration and the spawn. It’s a…

By Nick Simonson Whether it’s been a converted gravel pit, a dammed-up stretch of creek bottom or gully, or even just an area dug out from the earth itself for the purpose of providing a fishing opportunity, ponds have provided a great deal of insight into the angling process and have held a lot of…

NDG&F Department Release Zebra mussels were confirmed in the lower end of Lake Oahe in South Dakota in December 2023 by South Dakota Game, Fish and Parks staff. As a result, the North Dakota Game and Fish Department is working closely with South Dakota to monitor the colonization of mussels in Lake Oahe during the…

By Nick Simonson While teaching my first fly-tying and lure making course in some time, I was asked by a student as we entered the free-tying phase at the end of the second night, “what’s your favorite way to fish: spinning, baitcaster or fly rod?” I paused hard and thought about it, and knowing it’s…

By Doug Leier A highlight of my early years with the Game and Fish Department as a district game warden was the variety of field-training opportunities. New wardens learn different required skills from seasoned wardens at stations literally in every corner of North Dakota. My primary training warden was Kurt Aufforth, who was stationed in…

By Nick Simonson The U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service’s (FWS) Valley City Fish Hatchery has been host to a number of notable fish species which are raised from eggs and fry up to stockable fingerling sizes each spring and summer.  From more common sportfish such as walleyes and pike, to a notable tiger muskie program…

By Mike Peluso As promised last week, I would let you know what this week’s water temperatures on the Missouri River look like. As of Saturday, they had dropped anywhere from 8 to 12 degrees depending on where you were on the river. As a result, this has slowed the action down when it comes…

By Nick Simonson “You should have been here yesterday,” is paradoxically one of my favorite and least favorite sayings about the outdoors. When I’m issuing it, it recalls a day of excitement, and likely invokes a bit of good-natured envy from a fellow angler, who with me in the newest moment, probably isn’t doing as…

By Nick Simonson For those anglers looking to explore one of the region’s most underutilized but powerful river fish, channel catfish provide a trophy experience and some consistently good fishing, especially on the Red River from Fargo to the Canadian border in North Dakota.  While it may require a bit of specialized gear and a…

NDG&F Dept. Release The North Dakota Game and Fish Department will be conducting numerous tagging studies on walleye populations across the state over the next several years to gain a better understanding of how anglers are utilizing these fisheries. This year, walleye tagging efforts will occur at Coal, Twin, Coe and West Napoleon lakes. These…

By Nick Simonson With each slide of the small bucktail fly over the two rocks in the shallows, I elicited a strike on nearly every cast from the crappies staging on the edge of the flat in the warming spring afternoon.  A slow drag of the brightly-hued minnow imitator kept it moving out and away…