Official Newspaper of Eddy County since 1883
Official Newspaper of Eddy County since 1883
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By this point in the ice season, what was once a well organized ice house is now a disaster. Okay, well, not a complete disaster, but definitely showing the signs of use to a point where it needs a mid-season clean up. Where at the end of December the well-worn unit was folded nicely, cleaned out and loaded into the bed of my pickup truck, replacing the dog kennel and deer hunting box containing the essentials – paper towels, hand warmers, nonperishable field snacks and the like – now my fli...
With warmer-than-average temperatures and little snow cover to impede their travel and foraging, North Dakota's deer herds are doing well, according to Jason Smith, Big Game Biologist with the North Dakota Game & Fish Department (NDG&F). Last year's conditions, particularly in the southeastern corner of the state and the region surrounding Smith's Jamestown office, were much colder and quite snowy in comparison to the rest of the Peace Garden State, inhibiting movement and feeding and impacting...
To say this winter has been unusual would be an understatement. According to the University of Illinois’ Midwestern Regional Climate Center, this winter has tracked along the line of that season in 2011-2012 as the all-time mildest for Bismarck, and remains in the very mild category for Fargo. While the general population has been enjoying easier movement, less shoveling, and firmer footing when walking about, the state’s wildlife and fisheries have benefitted from the moderate conditions exp...
Outdoor notes: *Ice is never completely safe. Avoid areas with vegetation, moving water, pressure ridges and springs. Check conditions as you go along on the ice and don’t move around at night. *Feb. 10: Spring turkey applications due. Fishing: *Devils Lake elevation, Jan. 26: 1,448.52 feet above mean sea level (MSL). *Stump Lake elevation: 1,447.47 MSL. *Lake Sakakawea elevation: 1,838.53 MSL; 16,300 cubic feet per second average (CFS) Garrison Dam daily releases. *N.D. Game & Fish Dept. g...
Volunteer instructors are again offering Hunters Education classes in New Rockford this spring. Interested individuals should register for the class online and attend the in-class FREE of CHARGE. For individuals taking the course online, there will be a registration fee. Classes will be held at the New Rockford Eagles Club from 6:00 - 8:45 p.m. on the dates listed below: • Thursday, March 11 • Friday, March 12 • Monday, March 15 • Tuesday, March 16 • Wednesday, March 17 • Thursday, March 18 • Friday, March 19 The final exam will be taken on...
Advertisements for boat shows, the arrival of 2021 tackle catalogs, and a pileup of daily email blasts highlighting new rods and reels are all signs that we're turning the corner toward spring. While it's still January and there's plenty of on-ice action left, the promise of spring and openwater fishing keeps anglers moving toward warmer days and the disappearance of a slipfloat in some northern bay for crappies, or that subtle take of a jig-and-minnow combo by a light-biting walleye. I do my...
Shortly after purchasing my first boat, a used 1986 Grumman Sportsman found on the classified ad page of a regional fishing website that has long since gone under, I added a Humminbird 300 TX fish finder to the console and snaked the black wire back to the transom of the craft. With its three-beam transducer, the gray LCD screen was able to show fish to the right, left or directly under the boat as my buddies and I cruised the river and nearby lakes around my hometown. It was the cat’s meow a...
Outdoor notes: *Ice is never completely safe. Avoid areas with vegetation, moving water, pressure ridges and springs. Check conditions as you go along on the ice and don’t move around at night. Tournaments (check with event organizers for scheduling updates): *Jan. 30: Devils Lake, 6-Mile Bay. Fishing: *Devils Lake elevation, Jan. 19: 1,448.53 feet above mean sea level (MSL). *Stump Lake elevation: 1,448.57 MSL. *Lake Sakakawea elevation: 1,838.8 MSL; 16,500 cubic feet per second average (...
We need to point out a few important news items this winter that won’t help you catch more fish through the ice, but are important, nonetheless. Agencies Partner to Help Landowners with CRP Offers The U.S. Department of Agriculture is accepting applications for its voluntary Conservation Reserve Program. Private landowners can sign up at their local USDA Farm Service Agency office through Feb. 12. This popular USDA program provides options for environmentally sensitive land by reducing soil e...
In every session of the North Dakota Legislature, numerous bills come forward that affect our public lands, waters, fish and wildlife resources. In addition, the North Dakota Game and Fish Department (NDG&F) needs to craft a budget that meets the needs of those resources, as well as the North Dakotans who enjoy wildlife, fish, and our lands and waters in numerous ways. It is critical that hunters and anglers pay attention to what is going on in Bismarck and lend their voice when it is needed....
Crappies through the ice remain one of my favorite winter angling pastimes. While slightly more mysterious in their ways than other panfish, when found they can provide fast action and teach anglers a lot about timing, tackle choices and tactics. What follows are some tips to turn the attention of winter slabs and add to the on-ice excitement. A Time to Every Water For several winters, I regularly fished three lakes for crappies: a crystal clear shield style lake, a swampier and more stained lak...
"I bet you can't eat just one" was the long-time slogan of Lay's potato chips, and really with about half a century of food science and consumer studies behind the product at the time, the tagline for the easy-to-consume junk food was right on, and still probably is. The light and airy chip covered in just the right amount of laboratory-balanced salts and oils was impossible to resist, especially after the first one – or handful – was consumed. Whether it was a snack-sized bag at some sum...
Outdoor notes: *Ice is never completely safe. Avoid areas with vegetation, moving water, pressure ridges and springs. Check conditions as you go along on the ice and don’t move around at night. Tournaments (Check with event organizers for scheduling updates): *Jan. 30: Devils Lake, 6-Mile Bay. Fishing: *Devils Lake elevation, Jan. 12: 1,448.53 feet above mean sea level (MSL). *Stump Lake elevation: 1,448.43 MSL. *Lake Sakakawea elevation: 1,838.59 MSL; 16,300 cubic feet per second average (CFS)...
Wildlife management and biology – science as a discipline – is a function of learning through time, research and analysis. Really not much different than life where we better understand, with a little more time and learning, the past to help plant the future. Years back when discussions were being held on the management of mountain lions in North Dakota and it was asked how many we had in North Dakota, I'd honestly and lightheartedly explain how mountain lions really don't like being cou...
Winter Anglers Reminded to Clean Up Ice The North Dakota Game and Fish Department reminds winter anglers to clean up the ice after fishing. This not only applies to trash, but fish as well. It is not only unsightly, but it is illegal to leave fish, including minnows used for bait, behind on the ice. According to state fishing regulations, when a fish is caught, anglers must either immediately release the fish unharmed, or reduce them to their daily possession. It is common practice for some anglers to fillet fish on the ice, which is allowed,...
Winter is already the slow time for fish. Due to their cold-blooded nature, they're generally less energetic and aggressive than they are in summer when water is warmer. That doesn't mean they're not biting, and fast action can often be found during stable weather and at peak times, such as dawn and dusk for walleyes, crappies and other fish that feed in low light. However, when roaring winter fronts rip through the region and high winds, snow and inclement weather are followed by cold and...
The woolly worm is a fly pattern steeped in the history of fly angling itself, and many branches and regions of that history claim it as their own. From trout in Europe to bass in the American southeast to panfish in the upper Midwest, the pattern has many origin stories for its popularity and resurgence, due simply to its easy-to-tie nature and adjustability to any situation and species. From its telling red tail to the simple hackle-over-chenille body, the woolly worm has come about in many...
The ball had dropped, the calendar had turned. 2020 was officially in the rear-view mirror. As I made my way through the field-side tree rows and up the winding draws, however, the year did not seem over until I returned to the truck on the final day of the upland hunting season. In tow were a pair of rooster pheasants that held tight in the brush, with the unseasonably warm southerly gales giving the auditory cover for my dog and I to get close enough for the final shots of the season. It was...
The holiday season is crazy, especially during a pandemic, so I'm guessing a few worthy news and notes from the outdoors may have slipped by. Here's a few I think even non-hunters and anglers may find interesting. Salmon in North Dakota? Yes, we do have a viable salmon population in North Dakota and fisheries crews have completed their annual salmon spawning operation on the Missouri River System, after collecting more than 2.1 million eggs. Russ Kinzler, North Dakota Game and Fish Department Mi...
Outdoor notes: *Ice is never completely safe. Avoid areas with vegetation, moving water, pressure ridges and springs. Check conditions as you go along on the ice and don’t move around at night. *North Dakota state parks remain open with trails usable for hiking. Check with individual parks for other available amenities this winter. Tournaments (check with event organizers for scheduling updates): *Jan. 16: Lake Josephine, Lake Ashtabula. Fishing: *Devils Lake elevation, Jan. 5: 1,448.51 feet a...
Smartphone Apps for Ice Fishing Advancements in technology, easily retrieved on the North Dakota Game and Fish Department’s website, allow ice anglers access to more than 200 lake contour maps, providing yet another tool in the angler’s tackle box. “Back when we first started mapping in the early 2000s, anglers pretty much had to print a paper lake contour map at home and take it with them to help navigate and find the underwater features,” said Jerry Weigel, Department fisheries production and development section supervisor. Times have ch...
While the upland bird hunting seasons have ended in North Dakota, the work for the staff of the state's Game and Fish Department (NDG&F) is just getting underway in an effort to tally hunter hours in the field, their relative success and also the data from submitted samples to help gain the information needed through surveys and wings submitted by sportsmen. Through those hunter surveys and sample envelopes, biologists and staff can determine sportsman effort, estimated total harvest of...
Outdoor notes: *Ice is never completely safe. Avoid areas with vegetation, moving water, pressure ridges and springs. Check conditions as you go along on the ice and don’t move around at night. *North Dakota state parks remain open with trails usable for hiking. Check with individual parks for other available amenities this winter. *Lake Metigoshe State Park Wild Outdoor Women (WOW) registration now open. Go to (https://bit.ly/2021WinterWOWTickets) to register and (https://bi...
With a record number of lakes stocked with walleye fingerlings in 2020, the North Dakota Game & Fish Department (NDG&F) is not resting on its laurels. According to NDG&F Director Terry Steinwand, the trend of stocking more lakes with more walleye fingerlings than ever before will likely continue in 2021, satisfying the growing demand for the state's most popular angling target in the coming year. With many new lakes stocked with walleyes last season, thanks in part to a wet 2019 which expanded...
Here and there the frozen trickle of the creek bed shown through in the little draw. The last remnants of a dry summer and fall, it was fueled in places by tiny hillside seeps which were almost invisible, save for the change in density and variety of vegetation growing around them. The golden grasses with just the slightest trim of white from the dusting of snow the night before created small pathways winding up the valley. In those spaces the trails of four-toed tracks would weave and merge in...
