NDG&F Dept. Release Hunter success during the spring turkey hunting season was 49%, according to the North Dakota Game and Fish Department. The department issued 8,137 licenses for the 2024 spring season, and a record 6,847 hunters took 3,336 birds, the highest spring harvest on record. RJ Gross, upland game management biologist, said spring turkey…

By Nick Simonson The heat of summer often means fast fishing, and with that comes added stress to all the things that help us catch fish.  Line gets nicked by sharp teeth and structure, knots shift and slip, reels require maintenance and all sorts of other little things can get overlooked as fish after fish…

By Doug Leier  There’s never enough time and space to cover all the common questions anglers have. Some are in-depth and the Department does its best to answer these questions via North Dakota OUTDOORS, videos, podcasts, all of which can be found for free on the Department’s website at gf.nd.gov.  Many topics warrant deep discussion…

By Seth Owens For many of us, pheasants only exist in the fall, when we can chase them behind our four-legged companions. We often see a rooster crow from a gravel road, or a pair strutting through a stubble field in May, but the birds pretty much drop off our radar. Though our minds turn…

By Mike Peluso Is summer finally here for our walleye fishing in North Dakota? We have gotten a couple warm days in a row and the water temperatures are climbing out of the 50s and hitting the 60s, which is actually still really cold for this time of year. Since my return to Lake Sakakawea,…

By Nick Simonson I just finished re-reading J.R.R. Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings series, the first set of real books I can recall reading on my own as a young teenager.  In between that time and now, Hollywood managed to turn out nine hours’ worth of award-winning films covering the trilogy, and, though a bit…

NDG&F Dept. Release The number of roosters heard crowing during the North Dakota Game and Fish Department’s 2024 spring pheasant crowing count survey was up 37% statewide from last year. “This is really good news but expected, considering we had such great production last year and the mild winter we had certainly wasn’t hard on…

By Nick Simonson This far into my fishing experience, the numbers don’t matter as much as the memories.  Where 20 years ago I’d brag about a 28-inch walleye or a 19-inch smallmouth caught on the little river running through my hometown and throw the fish’s estimated weight in for good measure; nowadays, the only number…

By Brad Durick The water is rising yet again on the Red River. This time appears to not be as bad as the previous two but it is still changing things when it comes to angling for channel cats.  The catfish have moved back from the middle break line to the shoreline or the drop…

By Doug Leier The fish and wildlife variety in North Dakota is truly impressive. From paddlefish and pallid sturgeon in the Missouri River, to trophy catfish and the recent repopulation of sturgeon in the Red River. We’re home to mountain lions, moose and elk, also the unique furbearers including river otters, fishers, bobcats and American…

By Nick Simonson As a kid at Boy Scout camp, I watched the large leopard frogs leap from the grass as my troop wandered around the stock ponds at the fish hatchery’s rearing facility located near our day camp location north of town.  A trio of us jumped back in surprise as the water swirled…

By Mike Peluso I’ve split my time this week between Devils Lake and Lake Sakakawea. I’d say the walleye fishing has been good on both, but I still feel like we are a little off from a rockstar bite on either. Devils Lake proved itself as a top walleye fishery this week while casting shallow…

By Nick Simonson I relate best to animals when I anthropomorphize, that is give them human qualities that help explain, at least in my mind, how they react to the world around them in a way that I might better understand those reactions.  It makes sense at first, because like fish, or deer, or pheasants,…

Through a partnership between Pheasants Forever (PF), the property mapping application company onX, and the South Dakota Game Fish and Parks agency (GFP), hunters will find greater access to prime pheasant habitat this fall.  Thanks to the cooperative effort between the three groups, more than 11,000 acres of public-access hunting have been added to the…

NDG&F Dept. Release The North Dakota Game and Fish Department’s 77th annual spring breeding duck survey conducted in May showed an index of about 2.9 million birds, down from 3.4 million last year. The 2024 breeding duck index was the 30th highest on record and stands at 17% above the long-term (1948-2023) average, according to…

By Brad Durick We are back in the business of chasing big channel catfish on the Red River! Grand Forks ramps are open. East Grand Forks ramps are just a few days away. Fargo and south will be about a week yet as will the towns north of Grand Forks. The river has fallen nicely…

By Doug Leier Even if you don’t hunt, I hope you’ve at least heard about chronic wasting disease. If you haven’t, let’s start today. Chronic wasting disease is a fatal disease of deer, moose and elk that can cause long-term population declines if left unchecked. There is no treatment or cure, and once established in…

By Nick Simonson Bluegills are America’s fish.  They’re found in freshwater from sea to shining sea and provide fast fishing all summer long. They don’t discriminate based on bait, as they’ll take a gob of nightcrawler speared on a gold hook as readily as they’ll inhale the finest fly.  They taste great coming out of…

By Mike Peluso Now I’m definitely starting to sound like a broken record when it comes to walleye fishing on Devils Lake. Wind, windy, hurricane, and more wind has been the story of this past week. I’m honestly getting super tired of it. I’m not going to lie. So, I’ll start with Devils Lake. This…

By Nick Simonson While flipping a small jig for some panfish this weekend, I looked over the slightly faded orange wrappings on the tip of a favorite light action rod as I worked the offering back and elicited the strike of a few willing bluegills.  So many seasons had passed since I conducted the impromptu…

By Nick Simonson The Memorial Day weekend and all its recognition of the past and celebration of a new season’s beginning has come and gone.  In North Dakota, the passing of that holiday and the start of June also correlate with the end of the firearms deer lottery application period.  Now, hunters will anxiously await…

By Doug Leier As a kid growing up in the 1980s, fishing was about opportunity. Thankfully, North Dakota forefathers set up most communities near a waterway for transportation and goods. For me it was less about necessity and more about my ability to ride a bike to the river where I was certain to catch…

By Nick Simonson A number of my favorite crappie lakes are designated “no live baitfish” waters.  Whether that’s in an effort to keep invasive species such as carp or suckers from entering the water, or just to provide an added challenge to anglers on these typically smaller lakes which receive some solid pressure, adjusting to…

By Mike Peluso These North Dakota winds and cooler temperatures have been playing havoc on the walleye fishing on Devils Lake. The water temperatures just won’t warm up to get these fish back on the feed. The story has been over the last week that you can see a lot of fish on the electronics,…

By Nick Simonson I’ve always been fascinated by the hatching of insects throughout the summer season, and it amazes me how varied it is in different locations.  Under the humming lights of Brothers Three in my hometown of Valley City, N.D., some 25 years ago, when I witnessed my first mayfly hatch as big, green…

By Nick Simonson Safety is a key element in enjoying the outdoors, and I constantly wear and preach the need for a life jacket in all my fishing adventures involving a watercraft and setting up a location list and check-in schedule before departure on even the shortest planned trips.  But there are other elements of…

NDG&F Dept. Release North Dakota residents who want to give fishing a try can fish for free June 1-2. That is the state’s free fishing weekend, when all residents 16 and older can fish any North Dakota water without a license. Residents 15 and younger do not need a fishing license at any time of year….

By Brad Durick There’s been a change of plans for the current Red River situation, allowing for some catfishing in areas in and around Grand Forks. NOAA was off on their projection for the river in this area by more than five feet and it remains open to some careful angling. While very high, it…

By Doug Leier “Never wait on safety reminders… it might be too late.” It’s a philosophy I’ve carried personally and professionally. Don’t wait until after the first weekend of deer season for a gun safety refresher. And the same applies for recreating on the water. Truth of the matter is, if you don’t have a…

By Nick Simonson The tick-tick-tick of a rocky stretch against a bottom bouncer, or the jolting carom of a crankbait off a small boulder is a comforting feeling when fishing in summer.  While the sensation may be a bit jarring, it’s a welcome reminder that an offering is in the right place as patterns set…