LAST DAY IN THE DEEP FREEZE. Fitting that the final day of the year is the last day in this cold snap.  Warmth flows in on southwest breezes overnight.   We’re double-digits above all week for highs, so break out the tank tops and board shorts. Today we get a little science nerdy and talk about…

LET’S GO FISHING!  It’s a free fishing weekend in North Dakota – perfect timing with the holiday, a little rough with the weather.  Temperatures might once again relegate the mobile ice angler to indoor activities today as the worst of this week’s arctic air settles in for the weekend, but promises of a warm up…

By Doug Leier, NDG&F Dept. If your winter ice fishing or spearing success and satisfaction lean more toward a limit of walleye, or a trophy pike, I’m not the guy to talk to. Same goes for furbearer hunting or trapping. While I enjoy and appreciate these pursuits, I’m no expert. But I do know that…

BIG CHILL COMING. If you thought any of the last week was bone-chilling, just wait until tomorrow!  With highs in the negative teens and lows in the negative 20s, we’re calling Saturday an “inside day.”  Signals for a warm up are strengthening and (don’t get your hopes up) next weekend might see highs above freezing….

By Nick Simonson Few firearms symbolize the holidays more than the Red Ryder BB gun received by Ralphie in the classic yuletide movie A Christmas Story. While his first experience with the peacemaker does not go well – nearly shooting his eye out as forewarned by his mother, teacher and even Santa Claus – the…

INSIDE INSIGHTS.  With the windchill advisory extended for much of the state into mid-day today, now is the time to finalize all those last-minute items and gear checks for ice fishing.  Charge those batteries, prep your permanent house and re-line a few reels, because the end of this cold snap is in sight, and good…

CHILLED.  Today might be your “get out there day” with temps creeping back above zero.  Finish off some late season upland hunting, or venture out on those newly (re)frozen waters, but dress warm, as winds will keep those chills below zero. Alternatively, stay in tie up some flies or jigs, and think of spring, as…

By Nick Simonson The matuka is a streamer that can be tied with just about any long feather on the pheasant’s body, but traditionally it’s tied with the elongated church window feathers from the upper back. It makes for a shad-like profile so it looks like a big baitfish and has a subtle shimmy in…

THE BIG CHILL. Cold conditions continue today as we emerge from a post-Christmas-dinner coma.  No matter if it was turkey, ham or venison, it’s back to chilly reality as ice conditions improve and sub-zero highs keep us all inside.  Get those rods and tip-ups ready, however, as a warm up a week out looks to…

A COOL YULE!  Merry Christmas from all of us at Dakota Edge Outdoors.  It’s going to be a bit on the bitter side today, so snuggle up by the fireplace in the warmth of friends and family and celebrate this day. There will be time for the ice or field mid-week when things warm up…into…

NDG&F Press Release This month, the North Dakota Game and Fish Department honored its top-performing employees from around the state, working to protect and promote the incredible natural resources, hunting options, and angling opportunities. Kinzler Named Game and Fish Employee of the Year Russ Kinzler, Missouri River System fisheries biologist for the North Dakota Game…

AN ICE CHRISTMAS.  While we’re under freezing all day today, it’s about to get a whole lot colder!  In fact, for those worried about solid ice, rest assured that this week’s holiday chill will have a solid foot or so on most lakes by the time New Year’s Eve rolls around. Here’s hoping you didn’t…

ANCIENTS ON ICE.  The pursuit of sturgeon by rod is relatively new in the upper Midwest, but spearing a sturgeon has spawned songs and legends, especially in Wisconsin.  As we look forward to safe, hard water here in ND, we cast our gaze outward and into the future for sturgeon on ice in today’s Three…

LESS WAITING!  Welcome to the cold part of winter you’ve been waiting for…at least since the hints in early November.  Ice making season is upon us in the main part of ND and where there was just enough ice for angling,  we will have thicker stuff come Christmas.  As we await what’s to come, we…

By Nick Simonson Thirteen years ago, while walking the north side of the railroad fill at my grandmother’s farm on Christmas eve day, my old lab Gunnar gave me the best holiday gift.  Hard off our downhill sprint into the ten-foot wide cattail ditch that paralleled the blacktop highway, he crashed into the reeds, sending…

TIED DOWN.  What does a day with 25 mph winds, cold temps and the threat of snow spawn?  Indoors time and a couple hours to get some snells for walleye spinners tied up for friends’ and family’s stocking stuffers! Whatever your indoor projects were yesterday we hope you got them done, because today is a…

GRIN & BEAR IT.  The northern tier of the state is in the crosshairs for the approaching winter storm, with amounts up to 10 inches possible in some parts of northwestern ND.  The gradient sets up hard along the I-94 corridor, and Bismarck could see anywhere from a trace to four inches, depending on system…

FLAKE OUT? A slight chance of snow is approaching for the region, but models keep pushing down the amounts.  Will it be a dusting that highlights your hunt or a dump that dampens it?  Stay tuned, it might depend on where you are in ND.  In the meantime, we talk more about measuring up our…

By Nick Simonson ‘Twas the night before first ice, and all through the lake, Not a fish had been stirring, not even a splake. The buckets were filled with my rods and my tackle, In hopes that the perch would like jigs trimmed with hackle. The tip-ups were strung with nylon and leaders, To deal…

MONDAY MAGIC.  Take today off and string your weekend out for another 24, as forecasted winds are low and temperatures again top 40.  With the final day of muzzleloader deer season in the books, the fields will see way less pressure in the coming two weeks as we approach the holidays.  The new moon phase…

ON THE FENCE? Don’t be!  It’ll be another great day to get out and about, as above average temperatures persist today with relatively moderate southwest winds.   We check out the upcoming cold swipe and talk more about fences as they relate to hunting in today’s Three Things. (Featured Photo: A fenceline along some PLOTS land…

ANYTHING BUT A MIXED BAG.  This weekend is in-field perfection while you wait for solid ice.  Light winds, moderate temperatures and a major moon phase align for a final fantastic late fall weekend before colder conditions settle in next week.  Enjoy! We talk about more late season secrets in today’s three things. (Featured Photo:  A…

By Doug Leier, NDG&F Dept. Ice fishing is certainly a hot topic in North Dakota this year. I can’t remember a year when I’ve heard so much positive chatter, and many anglers who haven’t already ventured out to their favorite lake, or a promising new destination, are waiting in anticipation of good ice to get their…

DON’T GET IT TWISTED.  Lure spin under the ice can seriously turn fish off, as potential energy of spooled or twisted line causes jigs, spoons and other offerings to turn unnaturally, making fish wait for a moment to bite, and when it doesn’t come, they take off. We give some recommendations as to how to…

COMING DOWN.  Winds dip today and nearly disappear tomorrow making for the start of another great weekend that most will spend in the field except in those places with solid ice up near the Canadian line. While it’s still a week off, we’re starting to see models pattern out a temperature drop into the single…