Official Newspaper of Eddy County since 1883
Official Newspaper of Eddy County since 1883
Sorted by date Results 301 - 325 of 328
Except in those instances where the steelhead were running hard and fast up the tributaries of Lake Superior, or the walleyes were so thick one could nearly walk across them on Devils Lake’s famed Channel A in the spring, I’ve rarely fished in a scenario that would cause my line to tangle with another person’s. Over the last few years, at least 90% of my hunting outings have been solo trips for grouse, pheasants or deer, with the experience of being alone with the animals – huntable and watchab...
In that gap between the last snow melting and the sure signs of spring like budding trees and greening grass, the tom turkey is king of the corridor throughout the rills and rivers of the region. For those starting in turkey hunting or looking to increase their success in harvesting a gobbler this season, keying in on the basics, such as knowing the times and patterning places and portions of the season where turkeys are most active will make for a memorable spring. With early spring conditions...
Whether fishing for trout making their spring sprint up tiny coldwater streams or going after those species that get stocked in any number of rivers and lakes around the region, having some sort of spawn imitator in a fly box is important. Here are three simple recipes that make for some egg imitations that are as flashy as those real ones that are going to get dipped in cups full of Paas dye in the coming weeks. Glo Bug Hook: Curved Egg, 2X Strong, Size 12-8 Thread: 6/0 to match Body: McFly Foa...
A few hours of staring at unpopped flags on a small pike lake didn't pay off a couple weekends ago for me and my oldest son, but the glare from the snow on the ice did provide my first sunburn of the season. Last weekend's fast-melting conditions made a trip for trout with my boys on a small impoundment enjoyable, as we were able to run about freely on the ice and splash in the growing surface water. The fish were less than active despite the warm and stable weather. So, with temperatures...
With spring planting just around the corner, farm and ranch operators throughout the upper Midwest are preparing to implement their plans coming off a very wet 2019. Where lower areas spent much of late summer and early fall flooded with excessive water, many are considering better options for those acres with habitat restoration in the mix to help increase profitability and their hunting this autumn. Pheasants Forever (PF) Precision Agriculture and Conservation Specialists Melissa Shockman and...
I can recall the sun rising over the eastern waters of Devils Lake as I headed to the hotel to meet my parents for a weekend of early spring fishing on the just-opened channels of the north end of the sprawling lake. The rays shimmered on the lightly rippled bay and dulled as they fell nearer to shore where a couple hundred feet of ice extended out into the water. A half a mile over the bridge, I was amazed to see two die-hard ice anglers working a series of holes cut into the gray ice as the...
With the recent warm stretch and receding snowline in the upper Midwest, many outdoors enthusiasts have their eyes to the skies watching for the return of waterfowl species to the region. Snow goose hunters in particular are preparing for the here-today-gone-tomorrow nature of migratory light geese that pass through the area and provide short-lived but exciting spring hunting opportunities. Ducks Unlimited (DU) Conservation Programs Biologist Dane Buysse is on top of all the recent developments...
A twisting garden worm on a gold Aberdeen hook under a split shot just a couple feet below a red-and-white bobber; that's how most of us start fishing and certainly how it began for me. The setup – and it feels like that term makes it seem all too complex, as if it were somehow part of an intricate angling method – caught perch and bluegills from the dock, swarms of bullheads from the grassy banks of the river and the occasional largemouth bass from the old farm pond throughout my chi...
The rating on a box of shotgun shells reads 1180, 1205 or more than 1300 feet per second, the speed at which the pellets are disbursed in pursuit of a thrown clay or an incoming goose. The bent coil at the base of a tip-up flag is precariously held in place by the notch in the T-bar at the top of the plastic and metal fish trap, ready to go off with the tug of a pike below the ice. In that moment to begin the first open water foray, the weight of a jig and twister suspended in the air of a back...
While winter and spring aren't often associated with hunting in the upper Midwest, the months of January through May are an important time in the lives of young hunters as the bulk of hunter education courses are offered to those looking to get licensed in time for next fall's seasons. With the help of hundreds of volunteer instructors throughout the state, agents of the North Dakota Game & Fish Department (NDG&F), like Hunter Education Supervisor John Mazur, look to provide participants not...
If it's fly tying season and you're thinking spring is coming outdoors, you've got to be thinking summer when it comes to finishing off your patterns. The later stretches of the cold weather season often reflect the planning for the latter stages in the warm water season, and tying projects often revolve around those bigger bites and more aggressive patterns that are employed in summer for trout and panfish. While there might not appear to be much that is tiny about the Mini Chernobyl, in compar...
Like most of my minor honey-dos from the end of year, going through old clothing to donate to the local thrift store ended up getting done two months into the following tax calendar; mostly due to deer hunting and some late season pheasant tromps that took up the last seven weekends before the end of December. No matter, the box of shirts, old jeans and a couple of sweaters will still likely be worth the same on next year’s filing as it would have been on this one, save for the fact that as I s...
With the issuance of its 2020 Whitetail Report, the Quality Deer Management Association (QDMA) noted among its findings that more deer hunters than at any other time in the group’s surveys are passing on harvesting yearling bucks in favor of mature bucks that are 3.5 years old or older. In 1989, the initial year surveyed by the organization, yearling bucks comprised more than 60 percent of the annual harvest of deer. In 2018, that percentage dropped to 30 percent of the 2.9 million bucks that w...
Even with the rather kind spell that mother nature has afforded us over the last few weeks with no blizzards, light winds and even some melting temperatures scattered in here and there, winter can still feel a little long. Spending afternoons huddled over an ice hole can wear on a die-hard open-water angler in the middle of the offseason and any chance to stretch the legs and the casting arm is one I’ll take advantage of. With the temperatures creeping above freezing and light winds out of t...
With North Dakota's legislature meeting every other year, the winter of 2020 would seem like many to be a quiet one for the state's lawmakers, but for Senator Larry Robinson of District 24, serving Barnes, southwestern Cass and northwestern Ransom Counties since 1989, his three decades of experience dictate otherwise. With concerns of sportsmen and conservationists at the forefront of the 2019 session, he knows those issues are carrying over and looming large for the next assembly in 2021 and...
Sometimes a fly isn't just about fur and feathers. With all the incredible synthetics and compounds we have available in the modern era of tackle crafting, we've been given the amazing ability to create something out of nothing, or to take that something and make it spectacular. The epoxy fry is an example of how a little fast-drying glue under a UV light creates a glassy, just-hatched imitator that no fish that eats fish could ever turn down! Dress it up with permanent marker in colors to match...
I can recall rolling down the gravel driveway of the shooting range to attend my first high school trap team meeting after moving to town in 2017, overwhelmed by the excitement and possibilities the 13 trap houses presented. Through a connection on Facebook I got the time and the date from one of the shooters' parents and found my way to the gun club located a few miles north of my house. I learned in the first night that the group I was joining drummed up enough interest against an approaching...
Whether in winter or summer or fishing opportunities in between, when it comes down to it, the hook point is where the business of catching fish happens. Having a sharp and stable hook on a spoon below the ice, a crankbait behind the boat, or a fly adrift in a riffle is key in connecting with fish of any species. What follows are a handful of tips to make sure hooks are at their best so you can be certain of every connection. 1. Invest in Quality. Like rifles, optics, rods and just about every...
I'm a dabbler. A jack of all trades. A fisher of multi-species. There's so much in the outdoors to do that it's impossible to do it all, but it's sure fun to try, or at least think of trying. Some of my forays into various forms of hunting have now become passions, others have simply become passes. It didn't take much for my first pheasant hunt to turn into a life-long pursuit. It didn't take long for my first spring turkey hunt to end in the flicking of hundreds of wood ticks from my socks,...
The arrow barely hung from its tip stuck smack dab in the middle of the blue circle on the large black block 10 yards out from the line on the floor which my now six-year-old son straddled in the open shoot section of the archery range. If I didn’t see it myself, I wouldn’t have believed it, but there it was, flung by the half-draw of an excited little boy holding the beginner compound bow with a string so loose it had popped off the top cam just a few shots before. It was his seventh arrow eve...
As January fades into memory and anglers eye up a faster bite as the back half of winter settles in, a number of conditions are at play which will help angling improve through the ice and provide a portent for what can be expected for spring and summer populations when waters open up. With dissolved oxygen and light penetration being significant items of concern, and forage not as much of an issue, North Dakota Game & Fish Department (NDG&F) Fisheries Management Supervisor Paul Bailey shares...
The Gotcha is another simple shrimp imitator for saltwater species that has become a secret weapon for slab crappies up north. With its shimmering krystal flash tail, gummy ribbing and flowy wing of fur and flash, the Gotcha can claim a top spot in any panfish box when spring arrives and to be without a selection of them from sizes six to two is to be without a compact, flashy offering that drives specks wild. Craft a few dozen up in the off season to be ready when the spawn hits in just a...
I’ve often wondered if people would be more concerned if the increasing reports of Chronic Wasting Disease in North Dakota made the jump from a limited population of mule and whitetail deer into more uncommon species like the resident moose and elk in the state, as has occurred in Montana. It seems likely that more anglers would take notice if sedimentation, or worse, toxic chemicals from a trickle upstream ended up affecting the fishing on their favorite flow or at its end in the Gulf of M...
January in the upper Midwest is the sportsman's most challenging month. Major hunting seasons have ended, the flash of fins from early ice begins to slow down as the winter doldrums set in, and typically the temperatures are the lowest of the year and the conditions are the most challenging. Add in a foot or two of snow and mobility on the landscape or the lake can even become a deterrent to getting out there and enjoying winter hunting and fishing opportunities. While the days may seem to drag...
Give or take, it’s about 250 days until upland seasons open again. It’s really 253, but at this stage in the beginning of the long wait until that semi-warm, dew-covered morning in mid-September brings the first chuckling grouse flushing from some CRP along an alfalfa field, rounding down is the best thing to do for my psyche. The false hope and excitement generated in my lab by the toting of a cased shotgun into the house and down to the basement mirrors my own that these days will pass qui...
