NDG&F Release The North Dakota Game and Fish Department’s 2024 bighorn sheep survey, completed by recounting lambs in March, revealed a minimum of 350 bighorn sheep in the grasslands of western North Dakota, down 4% from 2023 and 6% above the five-year average. Despite a slight decrease from the record count in 2023, the 2024…

By Nick Simonson A strong forage base is the foundation of a great fishery. Having a dynamic food web ensures little fish become big fish, and there’s one protein-packed element in many midwestern lakes and rivers that powers everything from perch to bass to walleyes and that is the scud.  Better known as freshwater shrimp,…

NDG&F Release A total of 42,416 North Dakota deer hunters took approximately 23,300 deer during the 2024 deer gun hunting season, according to a post-season survey conducted by the state Game and Fish Department. Game and Fish made available 50,100 deer gun licenses last year. Overall hunter success was 55%, with each hunter spending an…

By Doug Leier  If you haven’t purchased your new fishing license, it was due April 1. I’d encourage you to give it a try on the Game and Fish app. Last year I did it for the first time exclusively on the app. I did the same this year and it was even quicker than…

By Nick Simonson After a mild winter with little concern for winterkill due to good ice conditions and limited snow cover, lakes in the southeastern portion of North Dakota are set for a solid spring and summer of openwater fishing.  Those four major waters in the region – Lake Ashtabula, Jamestown Reservoir, Pipestem Reservoir and…

By Mike Peluso So normally this time of year my reports on walleye fishing activity on the Missouri River in and around Bismark consists of water clarity, ice conditions, boat ramps and so on, but not this spring! Things are in full swing already on the Missouri River, and I couldn’t be happier.  There are…

By Nick Simonson The season for big fish has arrived.  Whether it’s huge prespawn crappies on a Minnesota backwater, or those walleyes and pike making their migratory runs up a river in North Dakota or the channels of Devils Lake, spring presents the best chance to catch the fish of a lifetime. It also provides…

By Nick Simonson Caddisflies provide a spring and summer target for all species from trout to panfish, and there are tons of great imitators out there.  When these insects are flitting about the surface and getting ready to deposit their eggs in a given water, hungry fish are on the lookout for an easy meal….

By Nick Simonson Online angling research has a way of spurring on preparations that have been back-burnered for some time. Well behind the curve in my annual fly-tying efforts, I found the motivation I required to catch up on the usual off-season work at the vise over the past week following a storm which cooped…

By Doug Leier I’ve always enjoyed my own little mental debates. Would I rather have a fast-food double cheeseburger that’s a little less expensive than a sit-down burger and fries? For me, the answer depends on a combination of how hungry I am and if I’m going to just simply chow down and get back…

By Nick Simonson From the attention paid by my dogs as we walk the last paved road on the edge of town in the pre-dawn darkness of winter’s coldest nights, I know they’re there.  Usually in a pair or a trio, but sometimes in a group of five, the resident jackrabbits hold steady until we’ve…

By Mike Peluso The past week has been a roller coaster for ice fishing up here on Devils Lake.  This weather we have been experiencing has been absolutely insane. If it’s not extreme cold, it’s extreme wind with major ups and downs with the pressure changes putting the lake’s perch and walleyes in lockdown mode…

By Nick Simonson “Big fish don’t get big by being dumb,” is a favorite outdoor saying of mine, but perhaps it only exists to provide those trophy fish with a bit of anthropomorphized intellect justifying my difficulty in catching them. Whether that’s a walleye heading up to the 30-inch mark, a smallmouth bass eclipsing 20…

NDG&F Dept. Release North Dakota’s spring light goose conservation order opens Feb. 15 and continues through May 11. Residents must have a 2024-25 (valid through March 31) or 2025-26 (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 The H5N1 strain of avian influenza, commonly called bird flu, has grabbed headlines as it impacts poultry and egg production across the United States.  With each operation showing signs of infection often resulting in the euthanization of thousands of chickens or turkeys in its barns, concern mounts that the virus – or…

By Doug Leier As winter tightens its grip on North Dakota, the landscape transforms into a vast, frozen tundra. Snow blankets the plains, rivers freeze solid, and the air becomes crisp with a bite that chills the bones. For many of us, it can be easy to view the season as a time to retreat…

By Mike Peluso This winter is starting to feel like the movie “Groundhog Day” with brutal weather day in and day out making ice fishing and getting around on Devils Lake extremely difficult.   The one thing I absolutely hate during the winter – especially on Devils Lake – is when we get just a…

By Nick Simonson Even in the depths of winter, unique signs of life abound.  From the corner of the concrete bridge that spans my home water of Lake Ashtabula north of Valley City, I watched amazed through the lens of my brother’s camera phone in my text feed as a river otter tended to its…

NDG&F Dept. Release If you were born after 1961, are 12 years or older, you must take a home study or traditional classroom certified hunter education course before you can get a firearm or bowhunting license in North Dakota. The home study, or hybrid course, requires 7-10 hours of online and six hours of in-person classroom time….

By Nick Simonson The physics of line twist can impact the quality of a presentation under the ice, at a time when everything needs to come together to convert fish in midwinter, the toughest of angling seasons. Knowing what causes line twist and the resulting spin of a lure, and the solutions to the problem,…

By Nick Simonson The lean months have arrived, and if the sub-zero readings on your thermometer as you fire up the truck and head to your favorite frozen water aren’t an indication of how tough things are this time of year, the behavior of some favorite panfish under the ice certainly will be.  Winter brings…

By Mike Peluso I wish I had a better Devils Lake ice fishing report for everyone this week. I know since the cold snap we have experienced up here in North Dakota the fishing has become a lot tougher, especially if you want to catch perch. The walleyes, however, have been saving the day somewhat….

By Nick Simonson During that Chuck Norris phase of the pre-social internet, where all the memes, themes and funny sayings hyped up the legend of TV’s most famous Texas Ranger and movie-making martial artist, my favorite adage to come out of the grassroots online production was: “Chuck Norris never retreats, he just attacks in a…

By Nick Simonson The shine of the holidays may be fading into the white blur and chill of winter, but the sparkle can continue all season long at the vise until spring settles in and crappies are on the bite as the water opens and shallows warm.  As a child, a story my father would…

NDG&F Release The North Dakota Game and Fish Department’s annual Earth Day Patch Contest is an effort to heighten awareness about the environment. Students who participate will develop a patch design using five colors incorporating an aspect of Earth Day such as environmental awareness, respect Earth, water quality, wildlife, or habitat conservation in North Dakota.  The contest…

By Doug Leier North Dakota’s hunting, fishing, trapping and conservation heritage is well known and even those who don’t hunt or fish enjoy the outdoors of our great state. It’s part of why we live here. The great outdoors is everchanging from the impacts of weather, loss of habitat to cyclical nature of populations that…

By Nick Simonson Last week, after the Senate passed it via unanimous consent in December, President Joe Biden signed into law House Resolution 6492, better known as the Expanding Public Lands Outdoor Recreation Experiences (EXPLORE) Act.  Aimed at opening more access for hunters and anglers on federal lands, and encouraging better promotions of those opportunities…

By Mike Peluso The ice fishing has been tough, Tough, TOUGH up here on Devils Lake over the past week. This cold snap we received has made things a bit on the difficult side, especially on us guides. We are catching fish, but we are not catching the numbers we would like to see right…

By Nick Simonson After a chilly final afternoon of pheasant hunting, my bare fingers made contact with the barrel of my 20 gauge as I stashed it into the case and under the back seat of my pickup truck for the drive home.  Zero degrees, I always feel is a doable temperature for a hike…

NDG&F Release The North Dakota Game and Fish Department and North Dakota Department of Agriculture are again opening the Coyote Catalog, a statewide effort designed to connect hunters and trappers with landowners dealing with coyotes in their areas. Landowners can sign up on the Department of Agriculture website, ndda.nd.gov. Hunters and trappers can sign up at the…