Official Newspaper of Eddy County since 1883
Official Newspaper of Eddy County since 1883
Sorted by date Results 151 - 175 of 1018
Not much has changed with catfishing on the Red River since last week's reports. Water temperatures remain in the mid-70s and catfish are still in the middle of the river for the most part. If the weather is stable, they are in the heads of the holes and in the faster water. If there is a front that comes around, they are more to the middle of the hole or even up on the flat shallow water in the off-current areas. It's also a good idea to check for catfish on the back of an inside bend. All...
Outdoor notes: *First-come, first-served leftover deer licenses for antlerless, either species, available in units 3A1 and 3F2 and antlerless whitetails in 3F1, 3F2, & 4F. Go to the N.D. Game & Fish Dept. website, (gf.nd.gov) for information and application. *PLOTS guide now available online at the Game & Fish Dept. website. Printed editions available in late August. *Anglers reminded to follow ANS regulations, including draining live wells and removing plugs. *Applications such as Onyx now have...
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...
I split this week between fishing for walleyes on Lake Sakakawea and Devils Lake. I've talked about this in the past how guiding on three different bodies of water help make me a better fisherman and guide. You cannot get complacent and must stay on top of things, especially during the dog days of summer. So, I will start with Lake Sakakawea. The biggest change on Sak right now is that the walleyes are sliding out deep. They are being found very deep at times, which is creating a fish to kill...
"How do you want to push these cattails," my uncle asked me on a bluebird day in Central Montana. My uncle already knew the answer as he had been hunting this section of state land for years. He knew where the pockets and bends were that always seemed to produce a flush. After checking the wind, I apparently gave the right answer, as he responded, "Let's get the dogs then." Wearing his extra pair of rubber boots and shooting the Benelli he had gifted me earlier that year, I pushed through the ca...
This past week on the Red River has been a little bit slower for catfishing, but overall it is still very good. The big change has been the water levels and flows are falling. Some rain going down the stretch would be great. The bite is steady with the catfish mostly hanging out mid-river. The pattern has been to sit on them for 25 to 30 minutes to catch the fish in the holes and move on. Bait selection has been challenging as they just can't seem to make up their mind as to what they want. One...
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...
Outdoor notes: *Anglers reminded to follow ANS regulations, including draining live wells and removing plugs. *Applications such as Onyx now have updated electronic posting information for the upcoming 2022 hunting season. *Blue-green algae updates, N.D. Dept. of Environmental Quality: No area advisories or warnings listed but conditions could change daily. Several N.D. lakes have low toxin levels, including Buffalo Lodge Lake, McHenry Co.; Nelson-Carlson Lake, Ward Co.; Hecker Lake, McLean...
I'm back on Lake Sakakawea this week and the walleye fishing certainly isn't a letdown. This lake has been on fire since the very beginning this year and it hasn't let up a bit. The walleyes are moving around some. You can still find some really nice fish up shallow. You just need to be a tad more patient with those fish, but in the end the reward is worth it. If you slide out deeper in let's say, 16-to-30-feet of water, you'll find plenty of fish out there also. It just seems like those are a...
Catfishing on the Red River has been quite stellar this week. We have had lots of big fish coming in. If you know where you want to fish, things have been pretty easy as the catfish have been hanging out in the mid-river holes toward the front. One thing that has been constant is you must give them an honest 20-minute sit to get the best results from the bite. Frogs have been the hands down best bait this past week with fresher sucker chunks as a second choice. The faster water seems to be produ...
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...
Outdoor notes: *Anglers reminded to follow ANS regulations, including draining live wells and removing plugs. *Blue-green algae updates, N.D. Dept. of Environmental Quality: No advisories or warnings listed but conditions could change daily. Several N.D. lakes are under investigation, including Hobart Lake, Barnes Co. or have low toxin levels, including Hecker’s Lake, Sheridan Co.; Jamestown Reservoir, Lake No. 5, Kidder Co., and Reule Lake, Stutsman Co. Go to the agency website, (deq.nd.gov) f...
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...
The walleye fishing has been good on Devils Lake this past week! Bug hatches, tons of new food like baby perch and white bass, and lots of freshwater shrimp, give fish plenty to eat, yet the walleyes on Devils Lake just continue to bite! What's working? Well, it's Devils Lake, and it seems like whatever you like to use will work! What's working best? In my opinion if you want to put fish in the boat pull a bottom bouncer and a spinner tipped with crawlers. For me it's been a rotation of spinner...
The big news this week for catfish anglers on the Red River is that both boat ramps in Drayton are open. That means that all ramps on the Red River are now open and usable. Fishing this week has shifted to a full-on summer pattern. The fish are spread out and doing their summer catfish thing. They are sticking to holes that are near both faster and slower water. Depending on the day and weather is what side of the hole you will find them. Sit times have been a day to day thing. One day the bites...
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...
Outdoor notes: *Blue-green algae updates, N.D. Dept. of Environmental Quality: No advisories or warnings listed but conditions could change daily. Several N.D. lakes under investigation, including Hecker Lake, Sheridan Co.; Hobart Lake, Barnes Co.; and Jamestown Reservoir or have low toxin levels, including Lake No. 5, Kidder Co.; and Reule Lake, Stutsman Co. Go to the agency website, (deq.nd.gov) for more information. *Aug. 3: Pronghorn applications due. *Aug. 3: Registration opens for the...
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...
I reluctantly left Lake Sakakawea earlier this week to travel east to Devils Lake, and all the discussion as of late has been regarding how good the fishing has been on both of these waters. I'm here to tell you Devils Lake is holding its own. Both bodies of water have been blessed with increased water levels this summer. Lake Sakakawea has risen over 11 feet since ice out and Devils Lake has gained three feet. Fresh water into these systems is a huge shot in the arm for the future of their...
It appears we had a second spawn or late spawn this year. It really doesn't matter but it is noticeable this week that we have a bunch more beat up and skinny fish. The bite continues to be good if not great up and down the Red River. Water levels are down to what many would call perfect. It is easy to get anywhere you want. The catfish have been coming in the mid-river holes and even starting to move to the outside bends in the faster water. The hardest part of catching them this week is figuri...
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...
Outdoor notes: *Blue-green algae updates, N.D. Dept. of Environmental Quality: No advisories or warnings listed but conditions could change daily. Several N.D. lakes under investigation or have low toxin levels with Lake No. 5, Kidder Co., and Reule Lake, Stutsman Co., listed as “Low Toxin Level”. Go to the agency website, (deq.nd.gov) for more information. *Aug. 3: Pronghorn applications due. *Aug. 3: Registration opens for the Sept. 16 - 18 Wild Outdoor Women workshop, Lake Metigoshe Sta...
Photographers who are interested in sending photos for the North Dakota Game and Fish Department’s Watchable Wildlife Photo Contest must follow guidelines for submitting their work. Photographers should go to the Game and Fish Department’s website at gf.nd.gov/photo-contest. Then it is a matter of providing some pertinent information about the photo and uploading it. Doing so helps both with ease of submitting photos for the photographer and managing those images for department staff. The contest is now open and the deadline for submitting pho...
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 walleye bite at times is absolutely insane for both numbers and quality fish on Lake Sakakawea this past week, with overall fishing success continuing to be good. Walleyes on most days have been trending deeper in the 16-to-20-foot range, but if wind and water clarity are right fish can still be had up shallow, in depths under 10 feet, but don't overlook that 20-to-30-foot range either. The bulk of the fish throughout the lake (east to west) are crushing slow death rigs and propeller rigs ba...
