Official Newspaper of Eddy County since 1883
Official Newspaper of Eddy County since 1883
Sorted by date Results 26 - 50 of 328
Often now it seems that summer extends past Labor Day weekend. Where I used to be sprinting around the front yard at the cabin in blue jeans and a sweatshirt, tracking down a lofted spiraling football in my youth, the warmth of the elongated summer has been more conducive to board shorts and tank tops in the sunshine. The fish too hold on to their summer habits, as bluegills remain around the dock, the forest of lake grass stays green and tall in the depths and species such as walleyes and bass...
With the completion of the roadside brood surveys for North Dakota's upland game, and the sharptailed grouse and Hungarian partridge season opener set for this Saturday, hunters may find a better crop of younger grouse in comparison to 2021 and might likely encounter more Hungarian partridge in their walks this fall. North Dakota Game & Fish Department (NDG&F) Upland Game Management Supervisor Jesse Kolar suggests that while early nesting efforts by grouse may have been hampered by weather,...
Hunts are best viewed in hindsight. The thrill of the flush and the clamor of the shot often overpower the memory of the longer, quieter stretches of the walk leading up to those moments. But it is in that prologue to the excitement where we begin to realize what came together to make those thrilling instants happen. This autumn, as upland game season starting dates begin to peel off the calendar – starting with this week's mourning dove opener on Sept. 1 – keep in mind the big four for all upl...
North Dakota's populations of mule deer heading into the start of archery season are doing well after weathering the rigors of this spring's late snow storms and the drought of 2021, and it is likely that a strong population of mature muley bucks will be available for those patient and cautious enough to spy them and sneak up on them, according to North Dakota Game & Fish Department (NDG&F) Wildlife Division Chief Casey Anderson. "Obviously with that drought we were a little skeptical on what wo...
Excitement is building for the upcoming hunting seasons, from archery deer and grouse just around the corner, to pheasant opener and the firearms big game seasons starting later in the autumn, and anticipation grows for these fall events that cannot be contained by the four lines which bound their square on the calendar. Undoubtedly, much planning has gone into each of them already, as phone calls exchanged by friends setting up traditional morning-of meetings and sweaty summer evenings at the...
A winter filled with heavy snows across southeastern North Dakota is a distant memory, as the moisture packed in those drifts gave way to growing fields of grass and a greening landscape following the drought of 2021. This, along with spring and early summer rains, helped provide nearly ideal fawning habitat for the region's whitetail deer as ground cover grew tall to help conceal the young from predators and provide a boost to forage to help the herd recover from winter's stressors, according...
Past performance is not indicative of future results. If you've ever caught the last five seconds of an investment commercial on the radio promising big returns in real estate, or how profitable opening your own franchise might be, you've likely grabbed that phrase out of the disclaimers crammed in a fast-talking, Micro Machines-style word salad spewed by the narrator in the final moments of the pitch. Oftentimes, it seems like the time devoted to the caveats and buyer beware portion of the adve...
The last time I was fishing in a kayak, I was lazily rolling down the canal which connected the back of our VRBO south of Ft. Meyers, Florida, to the intercoastal waterway, where flounder, sailcats and the seatrout that I hoped most of all to connect with, waited along the drop off at the juncture. Soaking in the warmth of the spring day, I gazed out to the transition from brown sand to deeper blue water and lost myself in the moment. Suddenly, a paddle length to my right, the water exploded as...
Late summer brings the bling on big baits and small ones too, and for any angler in just about any realm of fishing, flashy blades are a part of every late season arsenal. From big double-bladed bucktails cast for muskies, to crawler harnesses trolled for walleyes, to spinnerbaits burned for bass of both stripes, to in-line spinners deployed for stocked trout as the season fades, hungry fish are willing to chase a quickly pulled bait and are drawn to the rhythmic thump of a spinning blade and...
About this time of year, the young loons on the calm morning water of the lake begin to become more apparent. Half feathered and not quite yet the sleek black-and-white of their parents, they flex their independence or congregate in hangouts in front of the dock which rival teenagers getting together on a Friday night. Not long from now, usually before Labor Day, their parents will take off for warmer climates, leaving the last of the youngsters to mature, group up, and follow suit a week or...
There are many good adages that come from and apply to angling. From wind from the north, don't venture forth to ninety percent of the fish inhabit ten percent of the water, big and little lessons alike are summed up in quick catchphrases that are easy to remember and applicable in most angling scenarios. Of all of them, my favorite is: if you aren't snagging, you aren't bragging. Taking the idea that most fish relate well to structure and look for cover and food in some of the craggiest, woodie...
It was by far the biggest walleye my ten-year-old eyes had ever seen. Back in those days at the lake cabin, when septic fields slowly filtered their way into the water, and weeds grew thick this time of year from the warm, fertile shallows out into the depths, walleyes were a bit rarer than they are now. The lush vegetation and algae-stained water were better suited to the herds of hammer-handle pike that dominated the food chain at the time, and walleyes were those rarities my uncle would pick...
North Dakota's recently released sharptailed grouse counts are a strong predictor of what hunters will encounter each fall in the field. This year's tally of birds seen on spring mating grounds, called leks, showed an overall decline across the Roughrider state and early nesting attempts were likely hampered by late April blizzards across the birds' western range, along with colder and damper conditions statewide into the month of May. On top of the decreased counts, this combination of...
While preparing for the upcoming salmon season, and tying a few extra spinners for summer walleye trolling, my fingers began to find the smoothest of patterns on the various rigs coming together at my desk. The turns and twists of line around the metal of the hook shank and gentle tug that snugged the loops of monofilament into a cylinder of solidarity against the hook eye became a seven-second symphony, replayed over and over and over. With hardly a missed beat, a couple dozen new flasher rigs...
The summers of my junior high school years were memorable ones, punctuated with week-long trips at the lake cabin spent with cousins, classmates and friends from the small houses that lined the sandy shores. Among all the contests we held – paddle boat races, sand fights, pick-up football games that spanned the front lawns of four cabins – those where we seemingly threw ourselves to the mercy of gravity and surface tension in our efforts to make the best belly flops were the most memorable. On...
The neat thing about labs is they never want to quit. Whether it's in the field or on a summertime swim, it most often comes down to their owners to know when to say "when." On about the twenty-seventh stick thrown from the end of the dock yesterday morning, the mounting blue clouds on the far side of the lake signaled the end of the sunrise swimming session for both Ole and me. One last time in the hazy light of the rising sun behind us, he jumped in after the stick which had been chewed on...
With the lottery application process wrapped for this fall's firearms deer season, many hunters' minds are already turning to the cool days of autumn, despite the confirmation from a warm, sweaty suggestion that summer has just started. In this time of preparation, no other tool is more important in the process of previewing what's to come than the trail camera. With the right deployment and a few tips, and some considerations for a changing landscape, getting the best pictures of the herd to...
Whether it's taking my pick of one out of 10,000 lakes on my Independence Day holiday road trip, or floating down the Missouri River back home, the presence of freshwater is a major part of my summer and presumably that of any other boater or angler enjoying the warmer temperatures of the season. Casting for bass, trolling for walleyes or fly fishing for trout and sunfish all require access to a stream, river, or lake and involve access to that water. On top of abundance, that water must be...
With the Fourth of July in the rear-view mirror, it won't be long until birds take to the skies in front of hunters across the northern plains. Keeping shooting form and eye function at their peak requires practice during the off season and one of the best ways to do it is on a sporting clays course. Through the presentation of a variety of targets thrown in ways that simulate any one of the dozens of flushes and incoming birds in the field or along a slough, sporting clays provides a fun and ex...
Into the back half of summer is when crappie fishing really gets fun. The evenings are warm, the fish are on the feed, and save for the occasional swatting of a mosquito, the outings are often both pleasant and productive. Targeting crappies in this stretch of the season requires some searching, but keying in on structure and food sources will help up the odds and the weight of the panfish basket filled with a few specks for a weekend fish fry. Pointing the Way Crappies are known rovers,...
When it comes to angling, I’m a huge fan of matching the hatch to catch more fish and will often start with something natural on that first cast if I know what bass, walleyes, pike and other species I pursue are eating. Silver jig-and-twister patterns shine for walleyes when the spottails are running in the creek. Perch crankbaits are dynamite when those three-to-four-inch schools are available in a water for predator fish. A trolled spinner or slow death rig with a deep blue, purple, or h...
This spring's decrease in crowing counts for rooster pheasants was not unexpected according to North Dakota Game & Fish Department Upland Game Biologist RJ Gross. And while the statewide decrease of 22 percent year-over-year of roosters heard marking their territories in the early morning hours on the countryside seems large, he points to the fact that in terms of actual numbers, the decrease isn't as significant. Additionally, with the spring's moisture and habitat projects hitting the ground...
As fishing lures went, the bait I found buried among the myriad muskie offerings on the wall in the old boathouse was a first generation bucktail. The fluted Indiana blades came from a bulk order I placed when I was first tying up the in-line spinners for muskie fishing more than a decade ago when the fever bit my brother bad, and I indulged his early passion by supplying him with the lures to pursue the fish of 10,000 casts, while joining in on occasion. The slip-on coil adorned with white...
Two months ago today, it snowed and snowed and snowed; and it wasn’t just for a day, but for nearly four straight days that the skies remained gray under a stalled low-pressure system, where the wind howled, and drifts of ten feet in depth – that blocked traffic into and out of my neighborhood for nearly a week – were left in the wake of the continuous northwest gusts. That was the start of our so-called spring. This weekend’s state high school clay target league tournament on the cusp of the...
No other season seems to go by as quickly as summer. In these northern tiers, the warmth often feels like it's here and gone in a matter of days, as opposed the three months the seasonal calendar actually allots. With the heat and the warming of the region's waters - the fish too move quickly and capitalizing on their chase for food that mirrors our own sprints from May graduation buffets, to Fourth of July barbecues, to Labor Day's last hurrah pig roast on the beach - is key in finding summer...
