Dakota Recreation Report: November 13, 2023

Outdoor notes:

*Beware of the potential for thin ice on wetlands and lakes when hunting, including when bird hunting with dogs.

*Please park out of the way of other vehicles and farm equipment on prairie roads and trails and avoid tearing up them up with muddy conditions across much of the state.

*Nov. 18: Ducks Unlimited and Pekin Rod & Gun Club wild game feed, Pekin Community Center, 5 p.m.

*Nov. 23: Happy Thanksgiving.

*Nov. 26: Deer gun season closes.

*Nov. 26: Mountain lion Zone 1 season closes.

*Nov. 27: N.D. Game and Fish Dept. public advisory meeting, Esmond Fire Hall, 7 p.m.

*Nov. 27: Mountain lion late season Zone 1 opens.

Fishing:

*Devils Lake elevation, Nov. 7: 1,449.3 feet above mean sea level (MSL).

*Stump Lake elevation: 1,449.28 MSL.

*Lake Sakakawea elevation: 1,840.21 MSL; 17,000 cubic feet per second average (CFS) Garrison Dam daily releases.

*N.D. Game and Fish Dept. Dist. game wardens: No reports from area lakes, Devils Lake or the Missouri River System.

*Devils Lake, Ed’s Bait Shop, Devils Lake: Devils Lake quiet with anglers waiting for the transition to ice fishing.

*Devils Lake, West Bay Resort, Minnewaukan: Limited activity but the occasional angler out could still find some nice walleye along the west end of Devils Lake.

*Devils Lake, Woodland Resort, Devils Lake: No activity.

*Foster County area lakes, Dry Dock, Carrington: No activity throughout area lakes.

*Jamestown Reservoir, Pioneer Bait & Tackle, Jamestown: No new reports from area lakes or Jamestown Reservoir.

*Jamestown Reservoir, Sooper Stop, Jamestown: Some walleye activity on James River using minnows but a lot of anglers waiting for ice-over on area lakes.

*Lake Ashtabula, Bayshore, Valley City: Main Lake Ashtabula remains open with a few anglers shore-fishing along the crossings with fair success for some nice-sized walleye. No panfish reports. All docks are out of the water.

*Lake Sakakawea, Cenex Bait & Tackle, Garrison: No reports from Lake Sakakawea or Lake Audubon.

*Lakes Audubon and Sakakawea, Hwy. 83 Lawn & Leisure, Garrison: No activity on Lake Sakakawea or Lake Audubon.

*Lake Sakakawea/Lake Audubon/Missouri River, Scott’s Bait and Tackle, Pick City: Missouri River tailrace remains quiet for both anglers and success. Best success is still from boats at night in the chutes with some walleye activity during the day in the spillway channel.

*Lonetree WMA area lakes, Harvey: Area lakes quiet.

Hunting:

*Deer: Look for a fair opener but some units have fewer numbers of licenses available.

*Upland: Birds generally remain in heavier cover despite the warming weather.

*Waterfowl: Some lingering waterfowl in north-central and northeastern N.D. but a large number moved out. Fair numbers remain on open water in the southeast Look for some diving ducks still on Devils Lake with better duck numbers moving in around Missouri River below Garrison Dam. Fair numbers of Canada geese along the east end of Lake Sakakawea but birds are inconsistent where they’re feeding and moving around to different open fields. A few birds still in the northwestern part of the state on large open water bodies with some on the open water of the upper end 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: (701) 328-9921.