Dakota Recreation Report - Nov. 19, 2018

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.

*Nov. 25: Deer gun season closes.

*Nov. 25: Mountain lion Zone 1 early season opens.

*Nov. 29: Dove season closes.

*Nov. 30: Deer muzzleloader season opens.

Fishing:

*Devils Lake elevation, Nov. 13: 1,448.18 feet above mean sea level (MSL).

*Stump Lake elevation: 1,448.12 MSL.

*Lake Sakakawea elevation: 1,840.94 MSL; 29,000 cubic feet per second average (CFS) Garrison Dam daily releases.

*N.D. Game and Fish Dept. Dist. game wardens: Anglers advised to stay off any area lakes with ice because they are generally unsafe yet. Devils Lake and the Missouri River System have open water.

*Devils Lake, Ed’s Bait Shop, Devils Lake: Some walk-on activity on northern feeder lakes but use extreme caution if venturing out. No activity on Devils Lake with its open water.

*Devils Lake, Lakeview Lodge, Minnewaukan: No new reports with little activity.

*Devils Lake, West Bay Resort, Minnewaukan: Main lake still open. Back bays starting to skim over with ice but no activity advised.

*Devils Lake, Woodland Resort, Devils Lake: Lake has open water yet with no activity.

*Foster County area lakes, Dry Dock, Carrington: Area lakes gaining ice but no activity yet.

*Jamestown Reservoir, Pioneer Bait & Tackle, Jamestown: No activity with anglers waiting for better ice.

*Jamestown Reservoir, Sooper Stop, Jamestown: Some activity yet on area lakes but no reports on success.

*Lake Ashtabula, Ashtabula Crossing, Luverne: Back areas of the lake starting to ice over but conditions aren’t good enough to access for fishing.

*Lake Ashtabula, Bayshore, Valley City: Lake icing over but no activity except a few anglers fishing opening water along the crossings.

*Lake Sakakawea, Cenex Bait & Tackle, Garrison: Lake Audubon back bays just getting a skim of ice. No Lake Sakakawea activity.

*Lake Sakakawea/Lake Audubon/Missouri River, Scott’s Bait and Tackle, Pick City: Little activity on the Missouri River tailrace but look for continued walleye bite, weather permitting. No Lake Sakakawea reports.

*Lonetree WMA area lakes, Harvey: Coal Mine Lake closed to fishing until it ices over.

*Pipestem Reservoir, Pioneer Bait & Tackle, Jamestown: No activity.

*Pipestem Reservoir, Sooper Stop, Jamestown: No new reports.

*Spiritwood Lake, Pioneer Bait & Tackle, Jamestown: No activity.

*Spiritwood Lake, Sooper Stop, Jamestown: No reports.

Hunting:

*Deer: Hunters generally seeing fair numbers with some rut movement underway. Cold and windy weather had them sitting tight in many areas, however, during opening weekend.

*Waterfowl: Birds moved out of north-central N.D. Devils Lake main lake still open with divers on the water but most other waterfowl, including Canada geese, moved out. Most ducks and geese moved out of the Lake Sakakawea region with the exception of Canada geese still on the open water of Lake Sakakawea.

Numbers to know:

*N.D. Game and Fish Department, main Bismarck office: (701) 328-6300, website: (http://gf.nd.gov).

*N.D. Game and Fish Department, Devils Lake office: (701) 662-3617.

*N.D. Game and Fish Department, Jamestown office: (701) 253-6480.

*Report All Poachers: (800) 472-2121 or (701) 328-9921.