By Nick Simonson In the dreamsicle light of dusk on the backwater bay, I led a line of young anglers out onto the snow-covered water in hopes that a few willing crappies would fill the couple of hours between our afternoon of sledding and a planned pizza dinner back at the cabin.  The line, however,…

NDG&F Release Elk, moose and bighorn sheep applications are available online at the North Dakota Game and Fish Department’s website, gf.nd.gov. The deadline for applying is March 23. A total of 563 elk licenses are available to hunters this fall, an increase of 40 from last year. A total of 404 moose licenses are available, a decrease…

By Doug Leier My duties as an outreach biologist for the North Dakota Game and Fish Department are varied. One day I’m helping a hunter better understand the deer lottery, the next I may be checking on possible zebra mussels, urban wildlife and the invariable inquiry about where the hot fish bite is. I also…

By Mike Peluso You definitely have to love what you do to be able to endure the pure punishment ice fishing can throw at you. Cold weather, heavy winds, and finicky fish are just part of the equation. Mix in some green clients, high expectations of magazine cover pictures and you have a recipe for…

By Nick Simonson Like any new adventure in the outdoors, fly fishing takes best when bolstered by early and frequent success. No other species provides more heart-stopping strikes, wrist-jolting runs, and a sense of accomplishment out of the gate for new fly rodders than the northern pike. That early and oft-occurring spring excitement they bring…

By Nick Simonson Like many other youth-oriented activities, the National Archery in Schools Program (NASP) powered its way through the pandemic year, with virtual events serving in place of the state tournaments normally held each March in North Dakota.  With more than 15,000 participants in grades 4 through 12 in the state and an in-person…

By Nick Simonson The wakeup temperature on Saturday morning was seven above.  Slackjawed, I stared at the readout in the upper right corner of my watch and laughed.  I thought no way was that single digit reading ever going to reach the 48 degrees promised on the far side of the curve as I stepped…

NDG&F Release With most chronic wasting disease (CWD) testing completed, the North Dakota Game and Fish Department reports 26 deer tested positive during the 2021 hunting season. Fourteen were from hunting unit 3F2, eight from unit 3A1, and one was found in unit 3B1. Single positive deer were also found in three units (3C, 3D1…

By Doug Leier Anyone who has hunted in North Dakota might have received a hunter harvest survey in the mail from time to time. And right now is one of those times to watch for a survey in your email inbox. For most surveys, the North Dakota Game and Fish Department selects recipients at random,…

By Mike Peluso As my ice guiding season nears its end, one thing comes to mind and that is it has been a super tough winter with the conditions we have faced. One common theme has been wind; it hasn’t been just a little breezy at times, but darn near hurricane-like. This has got to…

By Nick Simonson The final weeks of February are a crucial time for fish under the ice across the northern plains.  It’s at this point in the winter when dissolved oxygen levels are typically at their lowest and the risk for winterkill on smaller bodies of water increases.  With heavy snow cover on lakes throughout…

By John Bradley 2022 marks the 85th anniversary of the Federal Aid in Wildlife Restoration Act, more commonly known as the Pittman-Robertson Act. For hunters and conservationists, this anniversary stands as a testament to the power of the sportsman-conservation community and should fuel within us a sense of pride. Given the current state of politics…

By Nick Simonson Through the magnification of the reading glasses which middle age now requires me to wear at the lure making desk, I caught sight of the hook point on the most recent in a series of streamer patterns I was tying for crappies.  More accurately, it was the blunted end of what should…

By Doug Leier Questions about fishing have been frequent this winter and the North Dakota Game and Fish Department has a full section on its website (gf.nd.gov) to help inform anglers. Here are a few common questions that have come up this season. Why doesn’t the Game and Fish Department pay for opening access to…

By Mike Peluso We have finally seen a bit of a warming trend up here in North Dakota. We have also seen some strong winds and major pressure changes along the way as well. All of these changes seem to shift the mood of the fish. Unfortunately, it usually means the fish get finicky. We…

NDG&F Dept. Release North Dakota’s spring light goose conservation order opens Feb. 19 and continues through May 15. Residents must have a 2021-22 (valid through March 31) or 2022-23 (required April 1) combination license; or a small game, and general game and habitat license. Resident youth under age 16 only need the general game and habitat license….

By Nick Simonson With the deadline looming for spring turkey hunting applications to be submitted by Feb. 16, there’s reason for optimism across North Dakota, and increased opportunities have set the stage for new hunters looking to explore the pastime.  The thoughts of warmer spring days to come paired with expanded habitat programs spearheaded by…

By Nick Simonson To help anglers better connect with an array of fisheries information complied by the North Dakota Game & Fish Department (NDG&F), the agency recently upgraded the search functions associated with its “Where to Fish” page.  Where previously the landing page provided separate links to various pages and files containing information, it now…

By Nick Simonson I recognize a strange duality in the way I approach the outdoors with technology – going low teach or high tech – and the options I’m provided for any given trip on the water allow me to indulge either side of that coin.  On the ice, I was an early adopter of…

By Doug Leier While ice fishing in North Dakota kicked into full gear back in December, it’s never a bad idea for a refresher on rules and regulations. Winter fishing regulations include: ● A maximum of four rods is legal for ice fishing. ● Tip-ups are legal, and each tip-up is considered a single rod….

By Mike Peluso I have definitely learned one thing these past few winter seasons. Don’t try and predict anything, that’s a waste of time. Just as soon as you think you know, or think you know what is going happen, the ice fishing gods like to mess with you. Mother Nature has really been a…

By Nick Simonson While many school sports struggled coming out of the pandemic in 2021, the USA High School Clay Target League (USA CTL) and its North Dakota State High School Clay Target League (ND CTL) affiliate were back on track, providing shooting sports activities for thousands of students across the country and the Roughrider…

By Hannah Hayes It’s the little things that draw me to the uplands. Fishing, hunting, and falconry are just a few of the many hobbies I enjoy. I love ice fishing and open water angling, upland hunting and duck hunting, and it doesn’t get more exciting than catching rabbits with my red-tailed hawk. However, in…

By Nick Simonson A heightened wind gust flapped at the canvas of my flipover shack as my youngest son, Jackson, sat next to me sounding out the longer words in his brother’s book which I had tucked into the pocket of my ice fishing jacket and provided to him after our run of fishing had…

By Doug Leier With so many state, national and local news stories wrapping up 2021 and previewing 2022, life in North Dakota’s outdoors can get lost in the shuffle. Without further delay, Jeb Williams, North Dakota Game and Fish director, provides a look back on some of the issues for the department, hunters, anglers and…

By Mike Peluso In this week’s Devils Lake report, I’ll touch on what is taking place up here for us right now and also the next chapter of my fishing adventures, which is approaching extremely fast! What’s going on right now on Devils Lake? Well, for me and most of our crew things are definitely…

By Nick Simonson In addition to providing a means for anglers in North Dakota to flex their muscles with the fly rod and pursue a species that normally would not be present in our region, stocked trout offer incredible fun on the ice and are generally ready biters throughout the winter.  What follows are some…

By Nick Simonson The Holographic streamer came about as a modification of the Holographic wet fly, a smaller pattern used on eastern waters for trout.  When modified to the tastes of crappies and white bass – with its highly customizable components of tinsel, marabou, ice dub and hackle – the Holographic streamer can be tailored…

By Nick Simonson Midwinter is the trough of the natural world, and the challenges above the ice reflect what’s going on below it.  Conditions are rougher, colder and there’s less movement out there.  Everything that runs, flies or swims sometimes seems to be saving up its energy for the warming days coming in just a…

By Doug Leier When we think about proper catch-and-release, we often think of stressed fish in warm water during the dog days of August. Most anglers who choose to release fish they catch, or may be required by law – for instance, undersized fish on waters where length regulations exist – take great pride in…