Dakota Recreation Report: Feb. 14, 2022

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.

*Remember to keep fish caught in 25 feet and deeper; they rarely survive coming up from deep depths.

*Feb. 16: Spring turkey applications due.

*Feb. 18 – 21: Great Backyard Bird Count. Go to (www.birdcount.org) for details.

*Feb. 19: Spring light goose season opens.

Tournaments:

*Feb. 19: Jamestown Reservoir, Pelican Point; Lake Audubon.

*Feb. 20: Crystal Springs.

*Feb. 26: Alkaline & Fresh lakes

Fishing:

*Devils Lake elevation, Feb. 8: 1,447.27 feet above mean sea level (MSL).

*Stump Lake elevation: 1,447.2 MSL.

*Lake Sakakawea elevation: 1,827.82 MSL; 15,900 cubic feet per second average (CFS) Garrison Dam daily releases.

*N.D. Game & Fish Dept. Dist. game wardens: No east-central area lakes or Devils Lake reports. Missouri River System generally slow yet.

*Devils Lake, Ed’s Bait Shop, Devils Lake: Try Lake Irvine for walleye but heavy snow on the lake makes tracked vehicles a necessity. Look for increasing activity on Pelican Lake. Main Devils Lake remains slow.

*Devils Lake, Lakeview Lodge, Minnewaukan: Overall success remains slow for both walleye and perch.

*Devils Lake, West Bay Resort, Minnewaukan: Warmer weather helping to improve access on Devils Lake. Fair for walleye around the Flats.

*Devils Lake, Woodland Resort, Devils Lake: Hit and miss walleye success with several areas of plowed trails for access.

*Foster County area lakes, Dry Dock, Carrington: A few more anglers starting to get out on area lakes with fair to good success on local perch lakes.

*Jamestown Reservoir, Pioneer Bait & Tackle, Jamestown: Activity remains limited due to poor access with tracked vehicles needed on many area lakes.

*Jamestown Reservoir, Sooper Stop, Jamestown: Increasing number of anglers moving around on area lakes with fair success using jigs and minnows for walleye and wax worms for perch.

*Lake Ashtabula, Ashtabula Crossing, Luverne: Lots of activity around the crossing and lake itself but limited reports on success.

*Lake Ashtabula, Bayshore, Valley City: Continued fair to good for a nice mix of walleye and perch. Access is still limited but anglers getting around OK with tracked vehicles. Baldhill Creek producing some pike for spearers with OK water clarity.

*Lake Sakakawea, Cenex Bait & Tackle, Garrison: Not many reports from the east end of the Lake Sakakawea but some anglers are finding occasional walleye from Douglas and Steinke bays. Lots of anglers on the west end of Lake Audubon with good access of the Totten Trail boat ramp. Spotty walleye success, however.

*Lakes Audubon & Sakakawea, Hwy. 83 Lawn & Leisure, Garrison: Work shallow water in the evening; deeper in the afternoon for walleye on Lake Audubon. Slow to fair bite at best and not steady. Occasional walleye on Steinke Bay and the south shore at Wolf Creek in 20 to 25 feet on the east end of Lake Sakakawea. Water is clear enough for pike spearing in those areas. Look for a little bit of a better pike bite on the east end of Sakakawea but inconsistent yet. OK access onto Audubon from the Totten Trail boat ramp and getting on around Wolf Creek on Sakakawea.

*Lake Sakakawea/Lake Audubon/Missouri River, Scott’s Bait and Tackle, Pick City: Missouri River tailrace activity remains slow. Low water continues creating issues, as well. Fair angler numbers on Lake Audubon with a few anglers on the east end of Lake Sakakawea but walleye success remains slow. Some pike spearing around Wolf Creek and Scoria Bay on the south shore but limited success.

*Lonetree WMA area lakes, Harvey: Area lakes remains slow with poor and limited access.

N.D. Parks & Recreation Dept. trails:

*Turtle River, Arvilla: Ungroomed trails open for hiking, snowshoeing, or fat tire biking. Sledding hill also open with snow cover. Warming house open daily, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Downhill skiing. Conditions can vary.

Contact for updates and days of operation:

*Bottineau Winter Park, Bottineau, (701) 263-4556: 18-inch base with 1 chair, 2 magic carpets, 4 runs, and all tubing runs open. Terrain Park closed.

*Buena Vista Ski Area, Bemidji, Minn., (218) 843-2231: 24- to 48-inch machine groomed base. 14 runs open with terrain features available on Snowflake.

*Frostfire Ski Area, Walhalla, (701) 549-3600: 24-inch base. Trails open Saturdays and Sundays.

*Huff Hills Ski Area, Mandan, (701) 663-6421: 18- to 26-inch base with 5 lifts and 14 runs open.

Snowmobile N.D. (conditions can vary):

*Cattail (Barnes, Cass, Steele, & Traill counties): 11- to 17-inch base with trails open and in fair condition with some drifts.

*East-central Valley (Cass & Richland counties): 10- to 15-inch base with all trails open and in fair condition.

*Lake Region (Nelson & Ramsey counties): Trails open with 12- to 20-inch base. Fair condition.

*Missouri Valley (Emmons & Burleigh counties): 4- to 8-inch base with trails open and in fair condition with ice and some drifting.

*North-central (Benson, McHenry, Pierce, Ramsey, & Towner counties): Trails open with 10- to 20-inch base. Fair condition with some drifting.

*Northeast (Cavalier, Pembina, & Walsh counties): 15- to 23-inch base. Trails open with exception of portions of Sandhills trail. Trails in fair condition with some drifts.

*Peace Garden (Bottineau & Rolette counties): 16- to 22-inch base. Trails 1, 1A, 2, 2C, 3, 4, 4A, 4B, & 7 open but beware of slush and ice.

*Red River North (Walsh & Pembina counties): 12- to 16-inch base. Trails open and in fair condition with some drifting.

*Red River South (Grand Forks & Walsh counties): 12- to 20-inch base with all trails open. Some drifts on trails.

*Sakakawea (McLean & Ward counties): 6- to 12-inch base with trails open and in fair condition but many drifts and some rough areas.

*Sargent County trail closed for the season.

*Sheyenne Valley (Barnes, Dickey, LaMoure, Ransom, & Stutsman counties): 12- to 16-inch base. Trails open and in fair condition.

*Sno-trails (Bottineau, McHenry, Renville, & Ward counties: 6- to 12-inch base. Trails open and in fair condition. Some drifting in areas

*Southern Valley (Richland County): 12- to 16-inch base with trails open and in fair condition with some drifts.

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 & Fish Department, Jamestown office: (701) 253-6480.

*Report All Poachers: (701) 328-9921.