By Nick Simonson While some autumn days feel more like an extension of summer, it won’t be long until colder temperatures start impacting the way animals behave, move, and identify their seasonal safe havens.  Pheasants are no different, and when things get cold – whether it’s an unseasonal dusting of snow on opening weekend, or…

By Nick Simonson Once in a great while on the water, or in the tree stand, or even just out for an early morning run, I catch a glimpse of the rising sun before it disappears under the clouds for the day as a system begins to move through.  I often find myself thinking with…

By Brad Durick You can tell it is Mid-September on the Red River. The mornings have been cool, with warmer weather during the middays. Right now, the catfish are a bit sluggish and hanging just off the drops to the holes on the off-current sides and tight in log jams and snags that are not…

By Mike Peluso I have another split on the schedule this week, with the first part on Devils Lake and the second half on Lake Sakakawea. I am hoping by the end of the month to see some walleye action on the Missouri River, but for now I will stick with the DL and Sak…

By Nick Simonson The rolling hills around Big Detroit Lake in western Minnesota typically kick off my autumn, but it isn’t the scattering of ruffed grouse in its surrounding woods that elicit my echoing footfalls and that of hundreds of others on the weekend after Labor Day.  Instead, the woodland birds, whose Minnesota opener is…

By Doug Leier Hard to believe North Dakota’s hunting seasons opened more than a month ago with the early Canada goose season on Aug. 15. Other hunting openers have followed and more to come, and every hunter should know the North Dakota Game and Fish Department’s Private Land Open To Sportsmen Guide for 2022 is…

By Brad Durick What a difference few cool nights can make in the catfish bite on the Red River. It is that time of year, and when things change like this, the fish can get moody. The cold fronts bring the water temperatures down and that can shock the fish in the short term. A…

By Mike Peluso There is a lot of transition happening on Devils Lake right now, and I’m guessing this is the story for most of our waters in North Dakota. It’s just that time of year! Water temperatures fall at night and warm during the day. Weed growth begins to die off, and lots of…

By Nick Simonson Fall brings a disjointed weather pattern and longer nights and cooler days to the upper Midwest which can often set the fishing on fire when a warm conditions stay put for a spell.  In those times of stability, no fish provides greater fun that the smallmouth bass.  As they binge for what…

By Nick Simonson With the completion of the roadside brood surveys for North Dakota’s upland game, and the sharptailed grouse and Hungarian partridge season opener set for this Saturday, hunters may find a better crop of younger grouse in comparison to 2021 and might likely encounter more Hungarian partridge in their walks this fall.  North…

By Nick Simonson Often now it seems that summer extends past Labor Day weekend.  Where I used to be sprinting around the front yard at the cabin in blue jeans and a sweatshirt, tracking down a lofted spiraling football in my youth, the warmth of the elongated summer has been more conducive to board shorts…

By Brad Durick If you can believe it catfishing got better that it already has been on the Red River. The pattern has remained mostly the same from the past two weeks and fish can be found right in the middle of the river at the heads of holes. They are in the areas that…

By Mike Peluso In this week’s fishing report I’m going to change course just a tad. With my recent cancellations, it has given me an opportunity to scout the upper stretches of the Missouri River near my hometown of Bismarck, N.D. I like to get out on the river a few times in the late…

By Nick Simonson North Dakota’s populations of mule deer heading into the start of archery season are doing well after weathering the rigors of this spring’s late snow storms and the drought of 2021, and it is likely that a strong population of mature muley bucks will be available for those patient and cautious enough…

By Nick Simonson Hunts are best viewed in hindsight.  The thrill of the flush and the clamor of the shot often overpower the memory of the longer, quieter stretches of the walk leading up to those moments. But it is in that prologue to the excitement where we begin to realize what came together to…

By Doug Leier Pretty much everyone who hunts and fishes in North Dakota knows they have to buy a license first, and most of those people understand that license dollars go to the North Dakota Game and Fish Department. What is less understood, despite decades of promotion by state and federal agencies across the country,…

By Brad Durick It has been a good week for channel catfish on the Red River once again. There are lots of fish that are willing to play. Fish right in the middle of the river at the heads of holes or back in the middle of them. The catfish seem to not be liking…

By Mike Peluso Walleye fishing up on Lake Sakakawea remains insane this week, and Devils Lake also remains good. I keep waiting for a major slow down, but it just hasn’t happened yet. Like I’ve talked about in past reports, the bulk of the walleyes are deep on Lake Sakakawea. Not all, but a vast…

By Nick Simonson A winter filled with heavy snows across southeastern North Dakota is a distant memory, as the moisture packed in those drifts gave way to growing fields of grass and a greening landscape following the drought of 2021.  This, along with spring and early summer rains, helped provide nearly ideal fawning habitat for…

By Nick Simonson Excitement is building for the upcoming hunting seasons, from archery deer and grouse just around the corner, to pheasant opener and the firearms big game seasons starting later in the autumn, and anticipation grows for these fall events that cannot be contained by the four lines which bound their square on the…

By Doug Leier I’m a fan of numbers and statistics to a point where they fascinate me. Not just what the numbers say but how the numbers are generated. When I took my college statistics course, I knew going in I was about to experience a learning curve in the most real time. Thankfully, the…

By Mike Peluso It is hard to believe it’s late August already. Kids are back in school, football season is starting, and the seasons are about to change. This means a few things for me. One, I don’t stop guiding. In fact, I’m guessing since I guide for walleyes on the Missouri River in spring…

By Brad Durick Not much has changed with catfishing on the Red River since last week’s reports.  Water temperatures remain in the mid-70s and catfish are still in the middle of the river for the most part. If the weather is stable, they are in the heads of the holes and in the faster water….

By Nick Simonson While lusher and greener conditions this year may be considerably different than the dry and arid elements of last summer’s drought which greatly impacted pheasant populations across North Dakota, the read at the halfway point of the North Dakota Game & Fish Department’s (NDG&F) annual roadside survey which estimates populations of partridge,…

By John Bradley “How do you want to push these cattails,” my uncle asked me on a bluebird day in Central Montana. My uncle already knew the answer as he had been hunting this section of state land for years. He knew where the pockets and bends were that always seemed to produce a flush….

By Nick Simonson Past performance is not indicative of future results. If you’ve ever caught the last five seconds of an investment commercial on the radio promising big returns in real estate, or how profitable opening your own franchise might be, you’ve likely grabbed that phrase out of the disclaimers crammed in a fast-talking, Micro…

By Brad Durick This past week on the Red River has been a little bit slower for catfishing, but overall it is still very good. The big change has been the water levels and flows are falling. Some rain going down the stretch would be great. The bite is steady with the catfish mostly hanging…

By Doug Leier Much of my work as an outreach biologist is understanding the point of view hunters and anglers are coming from. It’s important to appreciate the context of a young angler expressing interest in stocking new bodies of water when I think of how we have more bodies of water with more fish…

By Mike Peluso I split this week between fishing for walleyes on Lake Sakakawea and Devils Lake. I’ve talked about this in the past how guiding on three different bodies of water help make me a better fisherman and guide. You cannot get complacent and must stay on top of things, especially during the dog…

By Nick Simonson The steep bank of the small lake’s southern shore was first guarded by a stand of green pencil reeds.  An overhanging willow covered the pocket of water behind the verdant sentries and a tangle of sticks and other wooden debris denied entry to the hole which had “largemouth bass” written all over…