Winter Current Walleye Fishing

By Nick Simonson My prediction from last month – that winter would eventually get colder – was way off; so much for making the safe bet. The ice in most areas hasn’t grown much, and with unprecedented January temperatures crossing the 50- and 60-degree barriers across the upper Midwest in recent days, it has receded [...]

Ice Fishing Techniques – Cameras

By Jason Mitchell The education we get from ice fishing techniques such as underwater cameras is invaluable. Having the mental picture of how the presentation or lure looks in the water, how the fish approach the lure and what actions caused particular reactions from the fish sets some anglers apart. Anglers who have this education [...]

Trolling Crankbaits

Our Outdoors By Nick Simonson In cooler waters of May and June the shallows can seem almost bare.  Nothing but the occasional waterboatman or roaming bluegill disturbs the water bordering shore.  Then as summer peaks, it seems the shallows are suddenly alive and teeming with small fish, as if the table was set for a [...]

ND Fishing Questions

By Doug Leier Questions tend to flow with the seasons and while hunting is starting to gain ground, fishing continues to lead my list of phone, email and random inquiries. Here’s a sample of some the North Dakota Game and Fish Department typically receives, with answers from the Game and Fish website at gf.nd.gov. Why [...]

Fresh Live Bait

by Bob Jensen Fish in the summertime can be a finicky bunch. Some days they want a crankbait moved quickly halfway between the surface and the bottom, other days they want a jig tipped with soft bait bounced aggressively right on the bottom. And then there are the days when they want something worked very [...]

Leadcore Walleye Fishing

With Jason Mitchell Over the past ten years, trolling with lead core line has gained in popularity amongst the walleye crowd. Lead core enables anglers to put any crank bait in the tackle box in front of fish regardless of how deep. This in itself is a huge advantage but you can also accomplish the [...]

Fishing Mudlines

By Jason Mitchell Wind and chop on the water often makes or breaks walleye fishing success. As wind directions and velocities change through the course of a day, adapting to the opportunities created by wind requires some flexibility. Mid summer often finds extended periods of stable weather with varying wind. One of the top patterns [...]

Snap Shot Ruler Review

Now you can prove the big one didn’t get away! The new SNAP SHOT RULER easily attaches to any fishing line, grip, or scale and measures fish length vertically so there is less handling of your prized catch. Accurate and photo friendly, this innovative ruler is great for anything from catch and release measurements to [...]

Time to Go Fishing

by Bob Jensen It used to be that anglers planned their fishing trips way in advance, and many still do. However, in conversations with resort owners and tourism people, more and more, anglers are becoming very spur-of-the-moment planners. They decide on Tuesday they want to go on a fishing trip for the upcoming weekend, maybe [...]

Walleye Master

Our Outdoors – by Nick Simonson I heard the audible click of a bail opening at the front of the boat and the whisper of line being played out and I chuckled. I turned and watched the same scene that I had observed multiple times last Sunday night. There in the spotlight was the star [...]

Live Bait Rigs for Walleyes

With Jason Mitchell Live bait rigging is all about angles.  The amount of weight on the sinker combined with the amount of line out determines the angle that the line takes from the rod tip to the water.  The direction that you hover or move either across structure or up and down through structure determines [...]

Fishing Walleyes on Flats

By Jason Mitchell If there is one spot, one pattern that is capable of producing a lot of walleyes for us each season early in the summer, my vote would go to large shallow flats that protrude to deep water.  Shallow is relative along with deep but what we are looking for are flats that [...]

Aquatic Nuisance Species

By Doug Leier It feels like just yesterday, when in fact it’s been over a year and a half, since the first official discovery of zebra mussels in the Red River watershed. First, these aquatic nuisance species were found established in a Minnesota lake upstream of the Red River. Then, to no one’s surprise, they [...]

Canadian Night Crawlers

With fishing season coming to light, it’s a great time to start looking into cheap bait.   You can now buy premium Canadian night crawlers for a lot cheaper then your local bait shop.  Canadian night crawlers are considered the highest quality, largest crawlers available.   One of our newest sponsors now has a special [...]

Early Season Fishing Success

By Bob Jensen More and more, anglers are getting on and in the water. Some folks are fishing from boats, some are wading, and some are fishing from docks or shore. Some anglers are catching fish, some aren’t catching too much. If you want to catch more fish early in the fishing season, following are [...]

Blade Baits

By Eric Olson Water clarity can be such an important variable that affects our success regardless the time of year.  Walleye and sauger both can be affected by poor visibility.  On rivers in particular when heavy rains or sudden run off can dirty the water and create poor visibility, anglers have to make the adjustments [...]

Good North Dakota Fishing

By Doug Leier The late Dean Hildebrand was North Dakota Game and Fish Department director from 1996 through 2005 and he had a well-developed vocabulary of catch phrases and sayings. One description I heard repeatedly for years was his exclamation that, “We’re living in the good old days when it comes to hunting and fishing.” [...]

Long Lines for Spring Walleye

By Jason Mitchell Over the years, an incredibly effective tactic for us is to long line a light jig or split shot rig through shallow water.  In states where we could use two rods in particular, we often used the long line rig on the extra rod in the rod holder.  There are probably several [...]

Early River Walleyes

By Bob Jensen Across the Midwest, March and April mean one thing to most walleye anglers: Rivers! In some states, walleye season doesn’t open until early to mid-May. If you want to go fishing for walleyes, you need to go to a border river where walleye season is continuous. In other regions, the lakes are [...]

Open Water Fishing Is Here

by Bob Jensen I drove on the bridge over the Mississippi River at Prairie du Chien Wisconsin this past weekend. The ice was gone and there were boats on the water. Reports were that fishing for walleyes and sauger was good. The open water fishing season for 2011 has started. When you get the chance [...]

Shallow Water Fishing

By Jason Mitchell The fact that shallow water fishing is productive during the early part of the open water season is no secret.  This general pattern is fairly universal with both warm water and cool water fish that spawn in the spring.  Whether the targeted species is bass, walleyes, northern pike or even pan fish, [...]

Open Water Fishing

LOOKING FORWARD TO OPEN WATER FISHING by Bob Jensen Winter arrived in the Midwest early this year and has hung on pretty aggressively. Everything has looked clean and white for a good number of weeks, but now it’s time to move on. Don’t get me wrong, there’s still lots of ice-fishing to do. In fact, [...]

Spring Walleyes

By Jason Mitchell So often when targeting big walleyes early in the season, less is more.  The most productive techniques are often simple and subtle.  On natural lakes in particular, we often find fish shallow, relating to the shoreline.  Good locations might include protected shallow bays or shallow gravel and sand flats that warm up [...]

When The Ice Gets Tough

By Jason Mitchell There is something to be said for swimming down stream, pushing the ball down hill… the path of least resistance.  With fishing, we often have much more success by following these same basic principles like fishing when the fish are biting, fishing lakes that have good populations of fish and using lures [...]

Walleyes on Dead Stick Rods

By Jason Mitchell There are many environmental factors and conditions that can pin you down and keep you from making a lot of moves on the ice.  Extreme white out conditions, arctic winds, deep slush and heavy snow cover can slow down the mobility concept in a hurry.  There are situations where you can’t go [...]

NDTrax 2010 Released

NDTRAX 2010 Released Kirsch’s Outdoor Products completed the fall release (v3.2) of NDTRAX 2010 in mid-August. “The feedback from the 2009 version and spring 2010 versions (v3.0) has been remarkable.” said Korey Kirschenmann, Owner of Kirsch’s Outdoor Products. “In the 2010 fall update, we were able to include both additional features as well as land [...]

Fall Fishing Bonanza

By Doug Leier It comes as no surprise that when August begins losing to September, for many North Dakota residents hunting starts to win out over fishing in the competition for free-time activities. But I’d also suggest, if you’ve bagged plenty of days pounding the North Dakota prairie, without experiencing the thrill of fall fishing, [...]

Walleye Confidence

By Jason Mitchell We all have something we are very confident in. That confidence lure or tactic may vary from lake to lake or change over the years but we all have our go to weapon. One of the most difficult things I encounter as an angler is fishing when I have no or little [...]

Slot Limits

By Doug Leier I’ve got one lunker fish to my credit and I won’t lie, it was more about luck than skill, and that’s how it usually works for me. Save for the hardcore anglers who spend more time fishing than sleeping, the majority of us are not on the water fishing three hours a [...]

Fishing Gear to Remember

By Bob Jensen When we go fishing, so often we spend a lot of time making sure we have the right lures, fresh line, charged boat batteries, and all those other things that are part of the actual fishing process. And, no doubt, those are important considerations. But there are some other things we should [...]

Small Baits Big Fish

By Jason Mitchell On many walleye fisheries across the Midwest, young of the year fish hatches play a huge role in where to fish and what to fish with. Really strong reproductive efforts of just about any fish species are taken advantage of. Heavy predation has been documented on just about every species of fish [...]

Understanding Walleyes

Things to Think about while Wishing for Walleyes Surefire walleye techniques that’ll be served hot in my boat this spring and summer. By Brian “Bro” Brosdahl It’s early in the season. The labor of spawning is a fling of the past – the breeders are well rested. Water temps are in that magical range – [...]

Horizontal Jigging

By Nick Simonson Have you ever watched the way minnows move? When I was in Grand Forks, N.D. attending “The School that Shall Not Be Named” I had multiple chances to jump the Red River into East Grand Forks, Minn., and watch as trout, bass and pike preyed upon minnows that the staff had dumped [...]

Hair Jigs

The hair transplant was a success: Bucktail Jigs make a big comeback with the walleye bigwigs By Tom Neustrom I was a twelve-year-old dock boy living the dream at a resort in Northern Wisconsin. By day, I’d hang out with minnows and men who tell fish stories, while earning a little walking around money for [...]

Bobber Fishing Tips for the Spring

The Ultimate Live Bait Rigging Solution? By Tony Roach with Doc Samson In the “Roach world” pretty much everything revolves around convincing walleyes and other fish to bite. Even when I’m not in the boat doing what I need to do to make that happen, I just can’t stop my mind from swimming around different [...]

Shallow Walleye Fishing Tips

By Jason Mitchell If the weather is stable, walleyes can often be found in shallow water during spring and early summer… shallow being less than ten feet. Obviously, every fishery is different, not to mention a multitude of factors like forage or weather can relocate fish. During May and June however on many bodies of [...]

Walleyes and Water Temps

By Jason Mitchell Factors like water temperature and wind seem increasingly important during spring. Often, the most important piece of equipment is a temperature gauge as activity often revolves around water temperature. A temperature gauge also enables an angler to gauge the influence of wind. Water temperature is relative in the sense that there is [...]

ND Fishing Reg Changes

By Doug Leier Rather than wholesale changes on a yearly basis, the bulk of North Dakota’s fishing rules and regulations are implemented every two years, and 2010 is one of the years when we get a new fishing proclamation. The new regulations begin April 1 and are in place until March 31, 2012. By no [...]

Fishing Diary

By Nick Simonson There have been a lot of changes in my life over the past five years. I’ve lived in two states and three towns and have had six different jobs, with this one being the most consistent. In that time I’ve fished over 60 lakes and rivers, gaining some level of familiarity with [...]

President Obama Attacking Fishing Industry

Sport Anglers Alarmed by Proposed Obama Policy A controversy has erupted in the sport fishing community over a new federal management plan for oceans and Great Lakes waters. Recent opinion pieces circulating on the internet and reported on numerous radio stations have stoked the flames through revelations that the policy, if implemented, would prohibit recreational [...]

Catch and Release Fishing

‘Swimming Pools’ for Fish A Little Advice on Caring for Your Catch By Tony Roach Have you ever caught the same fish twice in a single day? How about the same fish two or three times inside a week? I’ll bet many of you have. Even on a massive fish factory like Mille Lacs in [...]

Walleyes on Soft Plastics

Walleyes Come as No Fluke By Brian “Bro” Brosdahl with Mark Courts Admittedly, I’m a meat and potatoes sort of guy. I’m eyeing the porterhouse steak on the menu long before the canary food, organic “meals under 500 calories”. In fact, I’ll take the whole right side of the menu, please. This instinctive weakness for [...]

Building Fish Habitat

By Doug Leier More than 40 years ago the North Dakota Game and Fish Department, in an effort to create structure for fish and create artificial habitat within Heart Butte Dam (Lake Tschida) in Grant County, sunk some old car bodies into the reservoir. As you might expect, the practice of using car bodies for [...]

Life List Lunkers

By Nick Simonson There are hundreds of days booked in my fishing logs and countless others banked in my memories. From watching a field of tip-up flags pop for northern pike on a chilly winter morning to a steamy July evening spent fishing an inexhaustible school of white bass, it is tough to keep track [...]

Trolling on the Ice

“New Wave” Fish Finding Tactics on Ice By Tony Roach When you spend your winters guiding on a huge lake like Central Minnesota’s Mille Lacs, doing all the things it takes to find biting fish can test your resolve. There’s only one way to the fish – drilling lots and lots of holes. My guides [...]

Live Bait Rig Fishing

Walleye fishing icons Gary Roach and Doc Samson won’t be giving up live bait anytime soon By Ted Pilgrim Livebait is back, baby. You better believe it. Despite the buzz about plastics, the reality is, walleyes eat live bait. Period. In the end, all artificial lures lack two potent, inimitable ingredients: organic random movement and [...]

Raising Nightcrawlers off the Bottom

‘Nightcrawler Secrets’ Revisited By Ted Pilgrim with Tom Neustrom “Never before have I asked you, or anyone, to keep an angling secret. I’m going to break this rule now and ask you point-blank NOT to pass on this information. It is much too deadly, it took many years to accumulate, and it’s worth too much [...]

Learning Crawler Rigs and Roach Rigs on Walleyes

Please Pass the Meat…the Fresh Stuff Walleye fishing icons Gary Roach and Doc Samson won’t be giving up live bait anytime soon By Ted Pilgrim Livebait is back, baby. You better believe it. Despite the buzz about plastics, the reality is, walleyes eat live bait. Period. In the end, all artificial lures lack two potent, [...]

Man Made Walleye Heaven

By Chris Hustad I caught up with an old high school friend from Fargo earlier this spring. Evidentially he found his way to the Nodak Outdoors forum during the spring snow goose season and we stayed in touch. We spent some time catching up on a couple short fishing trips across the region and he [...]

Backwards Walleye Movements

By Jason Mitchell For years, anglers have had this preconceived notion pounded into their heads. This notion is that walleye will lounge or rest in deeper water and feed in shallow water. Many anglers imagine fish resting in deeper water relating to the break, moving up the break and feeding in the shallow water. This [...]

Walleyes and the Wind

By Jason Mitchell The affect of wind on walleye is almost cliché.  Follow the wind or fish the windy shore.  Wind stacks up baitfish and then the walleye follow.  The reality is however that this cliché is only right half the time so this theory is just another half truth.  There are so many scenarios [...]

Trolling the Night Bite for Walleyes

By PJ Maguire   There are a lot of theories in walleye circles about when the peak feeding time is for walleyes throughout the year. It’s well documented that walleyes with their cloudy, marble eyes were designed to prey on baitfish in low-light conditions. So with that being said you’d expect the peak to often [...]

Walleye Trolling Concepts

By Jason Mitchell Regardless of whether you look for walleye in a river, lake or reservoir, trolling crank baits are incredibly effective come mid to late summer.  The reasons that trolling can be so effective stem from the fact that fish will generally pull out into areas that are easy to troll.  When fish suspend [...]

Bottom Bouncers

By Jason Mitchell The bottom bouncer is an incredibly effective and versatile piece of equipment for walleye anglers. Over the past few years, there seems to have been an emphasis on using the bottom bouncer as more of a rigging tool. The bottom bouncer can become a tool for efficiently presenting a live bait snell [...]

Fish Tags

By Doug Leier Most hunters are aware of bird bands. Those most familiar are the metallic leg bands on ducks and geese. The band will typically include instructions for reporting identifying numbers or letters related to the organization doing the research. Hunters have always embraced and understood their roll in these scientific studies, and banded [...]

Trolling for Walleyes

By Chris Hustad This is a 2-part series on a beginners guide to trolling for walleyes. Also see the 2nd part of the series – Walleye Trolling Boards and Trolling Deep My newest passion in walleye fishing the past couple years has been trolling. I will admit it, I flat out love trolling for walleyes. [...]

Walleye Trolling Boards & Trolling Deep for Walleyes

By Chris Hustad This is a second part of a 2-part series on a beginners guide to trolling for walleyes. Also see the 1st part of the series – Trolling for Walleyes I  am a big fan of planer boards for walleyes, but it wasn’t always this way. My first time using planer boards was [...]

Fishing Leadcore

By Jason Mitchell Over the past ten years, trolling with lead core line has gained in popularity amongst the walleye crowd. Lead core enables anglers to put any crankbait in the tackle box in front of fish regardless of how deep. This in itself is a huge advantage but you can also accomplish the same [...]

A Reason for Walleye Restrictions

By Doug Leier Over the years, North Dakota Game and Fish has developed a body of fishing regulations based on sound fisheries biology and management practices. A general rule of thumb is that if a regulation isn’t going to help the resource, then don’t put it in place, and conversely, if a regulation is no [...]

Suspended Walleyes & Slip Bobbers

By Jason Mitchell Walleye suspend an awful lot, much more I bet than most anglers want to imagine. I say, “want to imagine,” because many anglers do in fact hate the idea of fishing in “no man’s land.” That is off the bottom. The bottom is such a nice constant, something so definite. When we [...]

Walleye River Fishing Tips

By Bill Ortiz With all of the tools available now to the modern walleye angler, one of the oldest and most effective tools for catching walleye on rivers early in the year continues to be a good anchor. What surprises me is how many fishing rigs don’t even have anchors or at least anchors that [...]

Fine Tuning Your Boat Control

By Sheldon Meidinger Easily keeping the boat on a small spot for most of the day can help anglers catch just about any kind of fish from bass and sunfish to musky and walleye. The greatest evolution on boat control however, has been in walleye fishing applications. From reservoirs and natural lakes to rivers and [...]

Follow the Leader

By Jason Mitchell The idea that walleye may indeed follow a lure for a significant distance before striking surprises many anglers. Many anglers have this mental picture that fish just lash out and strike a lure as the lure appears, like an ambush. While there is no doubt that plenty of ambushing is going on [...]

Spring Open Water Fishing is Here

By Jason Mitchell Spring fishing is always good for people. The signs of spring put people in better state of mind. For many lake anglers in the upper Midwest, this month is the time to get the boat out. The first time to use a long rod in over six months. We wait for spring [...]

River Walleyes on Plastics

By Troy Morris Plastics have really made an impact on river walleye fishing. Plastics allow anglers to change shapes, colors and size with an ease that cannot be accomplished with the traditional minnow or shiner. Jigs tipped with a plastic body often shine in river fishing conditions for a variety of reasons. First off, the [...]

Fishing Opener

By Doug Leier I  might miss the North Dakota fishing opener this year, but I will have my own first day of open water fishing. It may come earlier than last year or a few days later, depending on how spring arrives, but it will be here soon and I can’t wait. If you’re a [...]

Redifining Rock Structure in the Winter

By Jason Mitchell Look for hard bottom areas to catch more fish this winter. Bars, points and saddles that are covered with rock are a good bet if you are looking for perch or walleyes. At least that is what I have been told. Walleye anglers in particular are infatuated with this structural element. Watch [...]

It’s About the Little Things

Our Outdoors Nick Simonson   It’s the little things in life that matter; a couple bluegills on the flyrod to pass a sunny afternoon at the lake or a few golden walleye fillets sizzling in the frying pan for an evening meal. And it is these little things that make angling so much fun. Getting [...]

Devils Lake Walleyes

By PJ Maguire   Minnesota is the land in which nothing is legal. Every year it seems as though they tighten restrictions on outdoor activities. Especially when it comes to the most popular fish in the land of 10,000 lakes, the walleye. It should come as no surprise that people look to North Dakota, for [...]

Walleyes – You Gotta Love ‘Em

By Chris Hustad Versatility – that’s what makes walleye fishing so unique. Over the course of the open water season in the upper Midwest, I will typically fish for walleyes, pike, musky, smallmouth & largemouth bass, catfish, crappies, and a whole assortment of other species by accident. When I think about fishing for panfish, smallies [...]

Spring River Walleye Fishing

Our Outdoors Nick Simonson Spring in the upper Midwest is unpredictable; seventy-two and sunny one weekend, twenty-seven and snowing the next. However, there is one thing about spring that is a given; fish will go through the same process in preparation to beget more fish. It is during this time of year – the prespawn [...]

Fishing in May

Our Outdoors Nick Simonson “Life moves pretty fast. If you don’t stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it.” This line, an eye-to-eye plea by Matthew Broderick as the title character in the 1986 film Ferris Bueller’s Day Off, sums up our very existence. For anglers, month of May moves even [...]

The Reason for Year Around Fishing

By Doug Leier Every year about this time, a few anglers question North Dakota’s year-round fishing season. It’s not so much an opposition as it is a curiosity, because many North Dakotans are aware that Minnesota closes its season for game fish from late February to mid-May. South Dakota’s regulations are much like North Dakota’s. [...]

Spinner Rigs

By Ted Takasaki and Scott Richardson   You can’t beat live bait…or can you? There is a presentation that combines both the natural scent, look and feel of live bait and the flash and attraction of a lure. Spinner rigs offer the best of both worlds and they work especially well on many different lakes [...]

Walleyes in the Weeds

By PJ Maguire   The lake that I fish the most is not what you would classify as a “traditional” walleye lake. The lake does not contain any mud flats or rocky points. It is a weedy lake, and the walleyes are weed walleyes. I have found that cabbage flats that are ten to fourteen [...]

Weight Forward Spinners

By Lindy Fishing Tackle The dramatic comeback of Lake Erie walleye fishing has brought widespread attention to a lure that’s been around for a long time, the weight forward spinner. The weight forward spinner is basically a chunk of lead with a shafted spinner and a trailing hook. It is generally fished with a live [...]

Walleye Fever – Trophy Walleye Fishing

Our Outdoors Nick Simonson   Call it the result of a lucky catch, call it an unwanted side effect of Minnesota fishing opener (I guess now I see why ND really got rid of opening dates for fishing) but I’ve been stricken with walleye fever. Chance Encounter The symptoms started last Tuesday when fishing with [...]

Devils Lake Walleye Fishing

By PJ Maguire It’s canny how some of my most memorable outdoor experiences have been last minute operations. Once again, a last minute trip was planned for Devil’s Lake while I was at work. When I got done at 9 pm, I packed up my fishing gear and forgot about everything else going on in [...]

Jig Fishing Tips

By Lindy Fishing Tackle   The leadhead jig is probably the most universal of artificial lures. Originally used for saltwater species, the jigging method became a freshwater angling “revolution” in the 1950′s and early 1960′s. Anglers soon discovered that jigs take all inland sport fish, especially walleyes, crappies, and bass. Even with today’s assortment of [...]

Lindy Rigs – Everything You Need to Know

Lindy Fishing Tackle Lindy Rigging revolutionized live bait fishing in the 1960′s and is still one of the most popular and productive methods for taking walleyes throughout the country. Lindy Rigs can take panfish, walleyes, bass, northern pike, trout and any bottom feeding fish wherever they are–in natural lakes, man-made reservoirs, rivers and streams. With [...]

Midsize Baits and Sundry Traits of the Midday Walleye

By Noel Vick   Dave Genz, admittedly, dislikes morning bites. Well…in reality, that’s not completely fair. He digs a buttocks-over-teakettle morning feed as much as the next guy. What he despises, however, is a bombastic daybreak that evolves into an afternoon of nothingness. Genz, in fact, has devoted a lifetime to finding fish at high [...]

Shallow Water Walleyes…in 100-Degree Heat

By Chris Hustad Scenario: It’s the end of June, almost 100 degrees and high humidity…what do you do? Well, I would say it all depends on the lake and the ecosystem in place. I would assume most walleye anglers would’ve been seeking out the deeper breaks looking for baitfish off deep ledges and humps. In [...]

Suspended Walleyes

By Chris Hustad Scenario: You wake up and spend all morning working deep or shallow water walleyes off structure, humps, points and breaks. The results…nothing. While the graph is showing a few spotty fish here and there off the bottom, you move on trying to work another piece of structure in search of fish. The [...]

Walleye Fishing Rods, Reels and Line

By Eric Hustad The story goes like this: I was fishing with my dad last spring for walleyes. I was talking up the new rods I had picked up for feeling those light walleye bites while dad was using his “old faithful.” I kept giving him a hard time because “old faithful” doesn’t have as [...]

Walleye and Crappie Fishing Rods, Reels, and Line Reviews

By Eric Hustad This spring I put some new walleye gear to the test and I promised opinions on where a person should throw some hard earned money. I put G. Loomis’s IMX rod up against St.Croix’s Legend Elite, and I have to say that I was really impressed with the St. Croix rod. It [...]

Walleye Recipes

Here’s some favorite walleye recipes of ours. Broiled Walleye Recipe : 2 lbs of Walleye fillets Cut fillets into about 1/2″ strips 4-5 Tablespoons of Lemon Juice 3-4 Garlic cloves, minced 3 Tablespoons of Soy Oil 3 1/2 Tablespoons White Wine 3 pinches of fresh chopped sweet Basil Salt & Pepper to Taste Blend all [...]

Tips for Spring Walleyes in Minnesota

By Eric Hustad I can always tell when winter is coming to an end because I put another new tackle box together. I spend hours figuring out inventory, and deciding what I need for the upcoming spring. Don’t forget the time spent checking out the latest in new fishing lures at the sporting goods stores. I [...]

North Dakota Water Levels

Baldhill Dam Cannonball River – Breien Devils Lake – Devils Lake Fort Peck- Garrison Dam Heart River – Mandan Jamestown Dam Knife River – Hazen Lake Darling – Foxholm Lake Oahe Lake Oahe – Lake Sakakawea Missouri River – Bismarck Missouri River – Washburn Missouri River – Schmidt Missouri River – Stanton North Dakota Statewide [...]

Missouri River & Lake Oahe Boat Ramp Access Update

Updated 5-18-04 Elevation 1581.2 Site Type Bottom Status Contact Langeliers Bay (main) 32′ wide concrete Unusable Alex Jahner 254-5491 Langeliers Bay (low-water) 14′ wide slide-in metal Unusable Alex Jahner 254-5491 State Line Area (low-water) 14′ wide slide-in metal Unusable State Line Resort 336-7765 Cattail Bay 15′ wide concrete/plank Unusable Ralph Gabrysh 255-0015 Fort Yates 30′ [...]

10 Steps to Better Jigging

By Ted Takasaki   Most anglers believe that they know all about jigs just because jigs have been around ever since man first pinched lead shot on a hook. But, that’s just not so. Jigging basics may seem simple enough and mastering the fundamental of jigging technique can mean the difference between catching fish and [...]

Devils Lake – Lake Sakakawea Water Conditions

By Doug Leier Like night and day. Comparing apples to oranges. Pick your cliché that refers to contrasting situations, and apply it to North Dakota’s two largest bodies of water, Lake Sakakawea and Devils Lake. Sakakawea, a reservoir on the Missouri River, is at its lowest water level since it first filled nearly 40 years [...]

Matching Floats for Slip Bobber Fishing

From Lindy Fishing Tackle There are a lot of opportunities at slip bobber fishing, and this method can be used for a lot of fish species. Thill® has done a lot with their bobbers, or they call, “floats” to increase your fishing success. These aren’t the bobbers of yesterday, and we’ve come a long ways [...]

Missouri River Fishing

By Jed Fluhrer The stretch of the Missouri River in North Dakota from the tailrace to the North Dakota South Dakota State line offers anglers a variety of challenges. This portion of the river is know for its exceptional walleye fishing but also offers anglers the chance at northern pike, rainbow trout, brown trout, cutthroat [...]

Fishing Deepwater Crankbaits

Lindy Tackle Team The Lindy Tackle team has put together some tips to help you target and effectively use crankbaits in deepwater situations. On Deep Mud Flats:   Many of the country’s reservoirs contain large mud flats. Walleyes will inhabit these flats, especially when insect hatches are coming off the mud. When it’s calm, the [...]

Fishing Rod Building Tips

By Taylor Fitterer Making your own custom fishing rods can be a fun experience. Each rod normally takes about 2-3 hours to manufacture, and the finish drying time can take from a few hours to a few days depending on the type of finish, temperature and humidity. We have learned through trial and error and [...]

No Snag Secrets to Lindy Rigging

By Ron Lindner – Use a lighter line from the swivel to the hook, preferably 2-4lb less than the main line on your reel. – Because of the unique cam action, you may feel some resistance, much like an increasing pressure. Usually a sharp tight-line yank will pull it free–or set the hook on a [...]

The Red River of the North

July 2005 – Fishery of the Month The Red River of the North is quietly one of the state’s best fisheries. It’s one of the country’s best location to target big catfish; and some would argue hold’s the next state record walleye. One thing if for sure though, there’s a lot of big fish in [...]

Big Bang Baitfish

Our Outdoors Nick Simonson In cooler waters of May and June the shallows can seem almost bare. Nothing but the occasional waterboatman or roaming bluegill disturbs the water bordering shore. Then as summer peaks, it seems the shallows are suddenly alive and teeming with small fish, as if they exploded out of nowhere! This big [...]

The Heck with Tech

Our Outdoors Nick Simonson     Some of the best days I can recall involve zipping up the Sheyenne River in an old canoe using paddle power until I reached my favorite feeder creek. With a jig and minnow, I felt for the subtle tap of a walleye or the vicious strike of a smallmouth. [...]

The Rapala X-Rap

Our Outdoors Nick Simonson     Whether your treasure on the water is colored gold, bronze or silver, the X-Rap by Rapala (www.rapala.com) marks the spot for great fishing. My experience with crankbaits has been limited; being predominately a river angler has restricted my usual arsenal to jigs and soft plastics which are comparatively inexpensive [...]