WELCOME TO FALL! The season unofficially begins for avid outdoorsmen at noon today as we kick off the 2018 deer archery season.  Winds will be shifty in the morning followed by strong gusts behind a light front.  Play the breezes and dress lightly, as temps will touch 80 today – we talk about that and…

By Nick Simonson Summer, as it so often does, has flown by in a blur of green and warmth, punctuated by memorable days on the water with snapshots and postmarks of places fished. The season seems to disappear doubly quick when we get a late start and a transition from winter to warmth in a…

SOUTHERLIES. Our warm up continues into today before winds turn to the north tomorrow.  We talk about the power of south winds and how to play any breeze in the upcoming bow season as part of today’s Three Things.     Featured Photo: Ears Up! A doe perks up on trail camera in a crisp…

COLD RAIN. It’s looking like an indoor day today as cool, cloudy and drizzly conditions blanket the state.  Perfect timing for you to gear up for the upcoming openers and get set for a new season.  We talk about some autumn highlights in today’s Three Things.     Featured Photo: Won’t be long. September’s first…

BOAT TO BOW. Nah, we’re not doing yoga today, but we are talking transitions to fall.  Get those last few fish over the gunwale and send those last few arrows into a favorite foam target as we prep for what’s to come in today’s Three Things.   Featured Photo: Kick back and relax.  Salmon trollers…

HOT STEPPER? Weird weather and dry conditions are topics of discussion today as we look through the week toward Friday’s bow opener.  Will this be the chill that helps get deer moving, or will things get warm again for a sweltering sit at the start of the season?  We’ll see, in today’s Three Things.  …

By Nick Simonson Do you hear that tick-tick-ticking? It’s either the second hand of the hall clock marking off the moments until deer seasons open up around the region or it’s the beginning of field combat between this year’s herd of whitetail bucks in an attempt to establish dominance. From Sunday morning hunting shows to…

By Nick Simonson With the opening day of both sharptailed grouse and Hungarian partridge seasons set for Sept. 8, it won’t be long until the prairies and breaks of North Dakota are once again patrolled by the orange-and-brown-clad hunters out in search of the season’s first upland opportunities.  While not as widely pursued as ringneck…

A FULL WEEKEND!  With the full moon firing up and inline with other major celestial times, fishing should be fantastic.  We talk about moon influence and more in today’s Three Things. Featured Photo: The moon nears its full phase, which should kick off a late season feeding frenzy on area waters! Simonson Photo.   DAILY…

By Nick Simonson While sitting in the waiting area of the dentist’s office last week, wistfully staring at the nice day setting up outside and dreading the usual scraping and poking to come, a quote flashed on the screen of the television on the wall.  Fittingly, it had been awhile since I had read it…

SOME RUMBLINGS. While today will bring with it a chance for thunder, there’s growing concern from the area wildlife populations that seasons are about to begin!  Has it ever seemed that animals can read “Posted – No Hunting” signs? We discuss that idea and more, in today’s Three Things. Featured Photo:  A rooster pheasant warily…

BASK IN IT.  Warm, but not hot, conditions return for a few days, setting up a good full-moon weekend and the start of the late-summer/fall fishing season.  Gear up for salmon, surging walleyes and big bass bingeing on bait for the cool water season.  We talk about that and more in today’s Three Things. Featured…

NO DRAGGIN’ HERE!  We’re getting geared up for fall and squeezing the last out of summer here at Dakota Edge and hope you are too!  Today will feel a bit like autumn, but a late-summer surge is set for the back half of the week.  We go around the horn with some potpourri in today’s…

HANG ON! Cool conditions dominate today and tomorrow behind yesterday’s front.  Things warm up in the back half of the week and stabilize going into the weekend as you close up your pre-holiday summer fishing.  We talk about that and more in today’s Three Things. Featured Photo: A monarch butterfly clings to a branch on…

By Nick Simonson With the approaching chill of fall, an underutilized fishing opportunity materializes in the deeper prairie lakes of North Dakota.  Those waters with depths of 40 feet or more which were stocked with trout in the spring provide an exciting fishery in fall as summer survivors that holed up in the depths and…

FULL FRONTAL.  The overnight front and the strong winds behind it will keep many off the water today.  While we wait for the rebound of better conditions, we go around the horn in today’s Three Things. Featured Photo: Loons flock up before heading south. Simonson Photo. DAILY CONDITIONS: WEATHER (Bismarck Forecast): Today: Sun 8/19 – Early…

By Nick Simonson The heat and sun of summertime is perfect for warming up waters and pinning bass in places that give them the shade, ambush points and access to shallow food they need to bulk up for the coming cold-water season.  Nothing fits the bill for such a haunt like the sprawling dock complexes…

HARD AT IT!  Get those casts in now and enjoy the day, but start looking west after dinner as a front rolls in bringing a good shot at rain and noticeably cooler temperatures for tomorrow. We check out that and all that’s to come Featured Photo: Anglers ply the waters of Big Detroit Lake early…

CLASSIC SUMMER.  Today and tomorrow will be your classic late summer weekend, with heat and humidity building in through early Sunday morning.  Then a cold front will having you thinking fall.  We look ahead and talk tags in today’s Three Things. Featured Photo: A cloud-shrouded, smoke-enhanced sun sinks in the west. Simonson Photo DAILY CONDITIONS:…

By Nick Simonson Late summer brings with it fast fishing, but it can provide challenging conditions as well.  Gearing up for the home stretch of the season and the start of fall, which produces some of the biggest and fastest bites of the year, requires anglers to rethink some strategies, remain persistent on others and…

VELVET ELVIS. Ahhh…thank ya, thank ya very much. We celebrate the king of autumn as antlers grow and mature in these last few weeks approaching early September and we talk about how velvet works and its “magical” properties in today’s Three Things. Featured Photo: A velvet-antlered buck creeps into camera view. Simonson Photo DAILY CONDITIONS:…

RUN IT! We’re in the homeward sprint toward fall hunting seasons, with Goose Management opening today and archery deer and upland seasons just two and three weeks away. Feel the rush as we talk through those topics and more in today’s Three Things. Featured Photo: Ole the lab plows through the grass on a hike…

MAKE IT COUNT.  Gear up for the fast-approaching hunting seasons and be ready for whatever comes.  We talk about that in today’s Three Things and address our quick cool down before summer returns tomorrow. Featured Photo: Grey Ghost.  A 4×4 whitetail visits a trail camera site during low-light conditions. Simonson Photo. DAILY CONDITIONS: WEATHER (Bismarck…

WRAP IT UP. As we head into the homeward stretch of summer fishing, and what can be some great fall action, take the time to check the status of the line that has kept you connected to fish all season long. We talk about those tips and more in today’s Three Things. Featured Photo:  Filaments….

HOP ALONG HEAT.  Strong southerly winds will bring one more day of extreme warmth to the region before a cool front rolls in overnight and sends the steamy weather south.  We look ahead at that and what’s to come in today’s Three Things. Featured Photo: Good morning, Mr. Toad. A Woodhouse’s toad rests under the…

GETTING WARMER.  It’s a sizzling Saturday, with temps cracking 100.  Of the two warm days this weekend, this will be the best – with light winds and sunny skies.  Tomorrow, expect gusty conditions and an old-school drought feel.  Speaking of no rain, we address the recent dry stretch in our region and more in today’s…

By Nick Simonson For avid lure makers, there’s nothing more valuable than a few quick shortcuts at the bench to crank out high-quality, customizable homemade baits.  With salmon season firing up, the addition of banded mylar strips to a tackle-crafter’s material list is a must have this time of year.  These stretches of mylar which…

GETTING WARMER.  We’re headed into a super-warm weekend, with Saturday and Sunday’s highs hitting 101. On southern breezes, expect warm and windy to be the tale of the two-day stretch until things cool down into the 80s on Monday.  We talk about that and more in today’s Three Things.   Featured Photo: Time Flies. The…

By Nick Simonson While strolling the aisles of the nearby megamart it hit me like a ton of bricks, or a pile of spiral-bound notebooks, as it were.  The creeping metal twist through covers of blue and yellow binding college-ruled papers brought a slight feeling of melancholy. It was as if I had been transported…